Bill Snyder understands that Kansas State bouncing back at Texas this weekend after a 55-0 trashing at the hands of Oklahoma begins with him.

"If I can't present the right attitude and approach, then I can't expect the players to," the Wildcats' coach said. "It's a dramatic disappointment, but we all have to fight back (so) that disappointment turns into anger.”

Snyder was so embarrassed by his team’s performance against the Sooners -- his second-worst loss ever at K-State -- that he wrote a letter to the K-State student body apologizing for how poorly the team represented the school.

Bill Snyder sends message to students following 55-0 loss to OU: #KStateFB pic.twitter.com/9ScZaRZETc — Tate Steinlage (@SteinlageT) October 19, 2015

Despite what he termed "an amazing amount of disappointment," Snyder noted there wasn’t much to say Saturday after the game, or on Sunday when the wound was still fresh. But he believes his team will answer the challenge this week after being so thoroughly humiliated.

“You have no option,” he said. “I think they will respond very positively. They are good, young guys, and they care. They care about each other and they care about their program. If you care enough, you’ll do what you have to do to make positive things happen. I believe in them, in that respect.”

How K-State responds at Texas figures to go along way in determining how its season shakes out.

The Longhorns themselves are an example of how a team can completely reverse its standing in just a matter of days. Just one week after getting annihilated 50-7 by TCU, Texas came back to stun the Sooners in Dallas.

K-State desperately needs a similar turnaround.

After last-second losses to Oklahoma State and TCU, the Wildcats are 0-3 in the Big 12 and in danger of missing out on a bowl for the first time since 2009, when Snyder returned as K-State's coach following a three-year hiatus.

Getting off to a fast start in Austin will be paramount for the Wildcats, who need to regain their confidence and need to play to their strength. The Snyder blueprint to victory has always hinged on building an early lead, then protecting it with solid, smart and stingy play. The opposite of that happened against the Sooners.

K-State passed six straight times to begin the game. By the time the Wildcats finally called a running play, they already trailed 14-0. Soon, K-State would have to abandon the run completely, and from there, the lead only ballooned.

“I just have to get our guys ready to play. It falls on my shoulders,” Snyder said. “I don’t think our guys gave up by any stretch of the imagination, but we have to be better prepared to enter the ballgame. We fell behind very quickly and you can’t fall behind teams like that and try to play catch-up football. That’s not what we do very well.”

What K-State does well is run the quarterback, play hard-nosed defense, and limit mistakes. If the Wildcats can get back to that, they’ll have a chance to get back on track at Texas, even after the debacle against Oklahoma.

“I’m hoping all of that disappointment. ... will turn into anger,” Snyder said. “With a commitment to do the things we have to do to become a better football team.”