D
Derek Young
Guest
OFFENSE
Let’s start with the quarterback and Skylar Thompson won’t quickly want to remember this game, especially his first half. He was just 6 for 16 at halftime for only 70 yards after beginning the game 3 for 14. He wasn’t sharp. Even his accuracy suffered on more than one occasion which isn’t typical of him. A few balls were under-thrown, a few were thrown late, and a few were forced.
Thompson threw one late over the middle that was dropped by the defense. He threw one into coverage in the second half that should have been intercepted but instead was deflected right to Winston Dimel for a long gain. Even a completion to Zuber in the end zone on the touchdown drive that made it 21-20 right before half was underthrown. Had it been accurate, it might have been a touchdown pass. Skylar did throw an interception on a screen pass in the first half which we will jump into further a bit later on. He was better in the second half but he did throw an ill-advised ball at an inopportune time. He telegraphed a throw in the red zone during the fourth quarter, while trailing 28-23, that was picked off by WVU.
The interception was a big one. K-State’s defense was able to get a big stop but the Mountaineers flipped field position and the Wildcats couldn’t generate any movement after starting deep inside their own territory with only six minutes remaining in the game. They punted it away and WVU began on the KSU side of the field.
There were more balls he should have hung onto as well. It wasn’t his best game, by far, and he would admit that to you as well. First career start, but nonetheless, it was not pretty. He forced balls into coverage at times when he could have run. It seemed like he was instructed not to run but then in the second half they were calling more quarterback designed-runs.
He’s got a great arm and is a natural by far. But his internal clock is questionable, at best, at this stage of his career. He can tend to hang onto the ball too long or not feel the pressure early enough.
Terrale Johnson was 100 percent correct in what he projected about the offense and in what he told our Matt Hall. He said that they would take the play clock all the way down and be susceptible to delay of game penalties because all the calls and checks would come from the sideline. He was on the money with that. That was an issue at times. I thought they could have saved themselves a few times in the first half with just a timeout. It’s not like they ended up needing them, or even used them.
There’s a lot of room for criticism on an end of the half sequence once again. I understand mailing it in and going into halftime without trying to score, running out the clock, and not pushing it downfield. But commit to it. Don’t half-way do something. They were patience, didn’t rush it but then threw a pass. If you’re going to run it out, run it out and go into halftime. If you’re going to be aggressive, throw the ball and try to score, call your timeouts and do it. There’s no commitment or real plan when you don’t call timeouts but also don’t chew the clock up.
A big problem in this game was that K-State forced four first half turnovers from the Mountaineers. However, they only came away with six points off those takeaways. McCrane connected on a 21-yard field goal following D.J. Reed’s fumble recovery and he nailed home a 43-yard field goal, the record-breaker, following Reed’s interception. Both those drives started in pretty strong field position as well so they didn’t really move the ball all that much. They were forced to punt after Denzel Goolsby’s interception. Joe Davies’ fumble recovery was not fruitful as K-State turned it over themselves quickly afterwards.
It was an interesting day from Dalvin Warmack. His first seven carries went for 101 yards. His next seven totaled -5 yards. It was a strong performance from him for the most part, though. He’s not someone with a ton of speed, or unbelievable burst, but he does have incredible vision and can see holes and cutback lanes that others can’t. It also might be a little easier to do that against a 3-3-5 scheme.
But, simply put, the offense didn’t do enough to win this game. Six points off four turnovers is inexcusable. They also couldn’t convert and capitalize on all the defense’s stops in the second half. Kansas State shut the Mountaineers out in the second half but KSU only scored three points themselves. That’s where the unnecessary interception right before halftime comes back to haunt you. Don’t do that and the context of the second half changes.
DEFENSE
It was a tale of two halves. Will Grier tore them up in the first half but 14 of those 28 first half points came in cheap fashion because the Kansas State defense couldn’t finish plays. They didn’t supply enough pressure, and when they did, they couldn’t bring Grier down and forced the secondary to cover for longer than they could. Two of the four touchdowns in the first half came on heaves into the end zone. It was playground football and just isn’t acceptable. It is solved if they can flush him completely out so that he is unable to extend plays, or make a tackle.
The pass rush was better, believe it or not, but it proved to be ineffective because Grier was able to evade the rush, scramble, and re-set to deliver on-time and accurate throws.
D.J. Reed was great again, and much better than he was a week ago in Lubbock. He had an interception, and forced a fumble on a sensational individual performance. He threw down his man, just being stronger and more physical, went onto the ball-carrier and just took the ball away. That’s what great players do. They make plays even when they are not there. There was another play where he nearly had a pick-six. I think he took last week’s game to heart and wanted to prove folks wrong today.
There was also another play today where they got beat with a long touchdown pass because of a mismatch. They were playing press coverage and Kendall Adams got burnt badly for a score in a one-on-one situation. K-State probably can limit the amount of yardage they surrender some when they play more press coverage, but it is making them more vulnerable to the big play the last few weeks.
The defense forced four turnovers. Both the turnovers created by Reed were excellent plays by him. Goolsby got an interception as well but it was an overthrown ball by Will Grier to an open receiver. Joe Davies recovered a fumble near the end of the second quarter.
David Sills is really, really good. Some of what he did today was not on Kansas State. Sometimes great players make great plays. He is that. What was surprising was the day Ka’Raun White had. His numbers were insane; 8 receptions for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The defense responded so well, though. They may have given up four touchdowns, with two of them being in bizarre fashion, but they pitched a shutout in the second half. The Mountaineers could have scored at the end of the game but it was their best half of football in a long, long time. It’s just really marred by the two obscure touchdowns on hail-mary-like throws from Will Grier. They even forced another punt after Skylar’s second interception of the day that took place in the fourth quarter.
Reflecting on this game now, the defense did enough to win this game. The offense did not.
A game note here is that Chase Johnston saw the field on defense and took some meaningful snaps today as a defensive end. I thought that was worth mentioning.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Again, Kansas State’s special teams was far superior. D.J. Reed had two excellent punt returns that almost went the distance. He did put one on the ground, but who cares. He’s phenomenal. They were so afraid of him, that they always left it short on kickoffs. But why did they punt to him? It’s strange.
McCrane was not perfect but he was still pretty good. His lone miss wouldn’t have dramatically changed things. He still put through three field goals and broke the all-time record at Kansas State. Salute. Nick Walsh was probably even better. He pinned WVU down inside their five twice, and should have done it four times. KSU special teams did botch away the other two opportunities where he kicked it beautifully to be downed. They just missed that chance and it resulted in a touchback.
Also, credit to Sam Sizelove. He had a terrific block that sprung a long Reed return in the second half.
Let’s start with the quarterback and Skylar Thompson won’t quickly want to remember this game, especially his first half. He was just 6 for 16 at halftime for only 70 yards after beginning the game 3 for 14. He wasn’t sharp. Even his accuracy suffered on more than one occasion which isn’t typical of him. A few balls were under-thrown, a few were thrown late, and a few were forced.
Thompson threw one late over the middle that was dropped by the defense. He threw one into coverage in the second half that should have been intercepted but instead was deflected right to Winston Dimel for a long gain. Even a completion to Zuber in the end zone on the touchdown drive that made it 21-20 right before half was underthrown. Had it been accurate, it might have been a touchdown pass. Skylar did throw an interception on a screen pass in the first half which we will jump into further a bit later on. He was better in the second half but he did throw an ill-advised ball at an inopportune time. He telegraphed a throw in the red zone during the fourth quarter, while trailing 28-23, that was picked off by WVU.
The interception was a big one. K-State’s defense was able to get a big stop but the Mountaineers flipped field position and the Wildcats couldn’t generate any movement after starting deep inside their own territory with only six minutes remaining in the game. They punted it away and WVU began on the KSU side of the field.
There were more balls he should have hung onto as well. It wasn’t his best game, by far, and he would admit that to you as well. First career start, but nonetheless, it was not pretty. He forced balls into coverage at times when he could have run. It seemed like he was instructed not to run but then in the second half they were calling more quarterback designed-runs.
He’s got a great arm and is a natural by far. But his internal clock is questionable, at best, at this stage of his career. He can tend to hang onto the ball too long or not feel the pressure early enough.
Terrale Johnson was 100 percent correct in what he projected about the offense and in what he told our Matt Hall. He said that they would take the play clock all the way down and be susceptible to delay of game penalties because all the calls and checks would come from the sideline. He was on the money with that. That was an issue at times. I thought they could have saved themselves a few times in the first half with just a timeout. It’s not like they ended up needing them, or even used them.
There’s a lot of room for criticism on an end of the half sequence once again. I understand mailing it in and going into halftime without trying to score, running out the clock, and not pushing it downfield. But commit to it. Don’t half-way do something. They were patience, didn’t rush it but then threw a pass. If you’re going to run it out, run it out and go into halftime. If you’re going to be aggressive, throw the ball and try to score, call your timeouts and do it. There’s no commitment or real plan when you don’t call timeouts but also don’t chew the clock up.
A big problem in this game was that K-State forced four first half turnovers from the Mountaineers. However, they only came away with six points off those takeaways. McCrane connected on a 21-yard field goal following D.J. Reed’s fumble recovery and he nailed home a 43-yard field goal, the record-breaker, following Reed’s interception. Both those drives started in pretty strong field position as well so they didn’t really move the ball all that much. They were forced to punt after Denzel Goolsby’s interception. Joe Davies’ fumble recovery was not fruitful as K-State turned it over themselves quickly afterwards.
It was an interesting day from Dalvin Warmack. His first seven carries went for 101 yards. His next seven totaled -5 yards. It was a strong performance from him for the most part, though. He’s not someone with a ton of speed, or unbelievable burst, but he does have incredible vision and can see holes and cutback lanes that others can’t. It also might be a little easier to do that against a 3-3-5 scheme.
But, simply put, the offense didn’t do enough to win this game. Six points off four turnovers is inexcusable. They also couldn’t convert and capitalize on all the defense’s stops in the second half. Kansas State shut the Mountaineers out in the second half but KSU only scored three points themselves. That’s where the unnecessary interception right before halftime comes back to haunt you. Don’t do that and the context of the second half changes.
DEFENSE
It was a tale of two halves. Will Grier tore them up in the first half but 14 of those 28 first half points came in cheap fashion because the Kansas State defense couldn’t finish plays. They didn’t supply enough pressure, and when they did, they couldn’t bring Grier down and forced the secondary to cover for longer than they could. Two of the four touchdowns in the first half came on heaves into the end zone. It was playground football and just isn’t acceptable. It is solved if they can flush him completely out so that he is unable to extend plays, or make a tackle.
The pass rush was better, believe it or not, but it proved to be ineffective because Grier was able to evade the rush, scramble, and re-set to deliver on-time and accurate throws.
D.J. Reed was great again, and much better than he was a week ago in Lubbock. He had an interception, and forced a fumble on a sensational individual performance. He threw down his man, just being stronger and more physical, went onto the ball-carrier and just took the ball away. That’s what great players do. They make plays even when they are not there. There was another play where he nearly had a pick-six. I think he took last week’s game to heart and wanted to prove folks wrong today.
There was also another play today where they got beat with a long touchdown pass because of a mismatch. They were playing press coverage and Kendall Adams got burnt badly for a score in a one-on-one situation. K-State probably can limit the amount of yardage they surrender some when they play more press coverage, but it is making them more vulnerable to the big play the last few weeks.
The defense forced four turnovers. Both the turnovers created by Reed were excellent plays by him. Goolsby got an interception as well but it was an overthrown ball by Will Grier to an open receiver. Joe Davies recovered a fumble near the end of the second quarter.
David Sills is really, really good. Some of what he did today was not on Kansas State. Sometimes great players make great plays. He is that. What was surprising was the day Ka’Raun White had. His numbers were insane; 8 receptions for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The defense responded so well, though. They may have given up four touchdowns, with two of them being in bizarre fashion, but they pitched a shutout in the second half. The Mountaineers could have scored at the end of the game but it was their best half of football in a long, long time. It’s just really marred by the two obscure touchdowns on hail-mary-like throws from Will Grier. They even forced another punt after Skylar’s second interception of the day that took place in the fourth quarter.
Reflecting on this game now, the defense did enough to win this game. The offense did not.
A game note here is that Chase Johnston saw the field on defense and took some meaningful snaps today as a defensive end. I thought that was worth mentioning.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Again, Kansas State’s special teams was far superior. D.J. Reed had two excellent punt returns that almost went the distance. He did put one on the ground, but who cares. He’s phenomenal. They were so afraid of him, that they always left it short on kickoffs. But why did they punt to him? It’s strange.
McCrane was not perfect but he was still pretty good. His lone miss wouldn’t have dramatically changed things. He still put through three field goals and broke the all-time record at Kansas State. Salute. Nick Walsh was probably even better. He pinned WVU down inside their five twice, and should have done it four times. KSU special teams did botch away the other two opportunities where he kicked it beautifully to be downed. They just missed that chance and it resulted in a touchback.
Also, credit to Sam Sizelove. He had a terrific block that sprung a long Reed return in the second half.
