D
Derek Young
Guest
This is a collaborative effort between myself and Chris Nelson! And a little Matt Hall because he good.
OFFENSE
There’s not a lot to say other than to be critical about how Bill Snyder chose to handle his quarterbacks tonight. Describing the situation as being mishandled is probably being extremely generous, to be honest.
Skylar Thompson started the game and completed the team’s first three drives of offense. During that time, Thompson was far from sharp and his ball location was off the mark, but he did lead the best drive of the entire half. And then he was removed in favor of Alex Delton and did not return until one of the final drives of the half. But he only got a drive before being replaced by Delton once again.
Thompson only re-entered in the second quarter once Delton had thrown a pick-six. He also replaced Delton during the third quarter after some lackluster play from the junior. In particular, Delton was not sharp on his throws, his location was off and his timing was very questionable. He also nearly threw another pick-six to begin the second half.
Thompson took over mid-way through the third quarter and finished the game. On the first play of the fourth quarter, he laid in a perfect ball that should have went for a touchdown to Dalton Schoen but it was dropped and tipped into the hands of a South Dakota defender for an interception. He backed up by throwing a beautiful ball to Isaiah Zuber for a touchdown on the following drive.
Neither played a good game but Thompson was probably more effective, and less of a problem. Kansas State had three good drives on offense tonight and they were all engineered by Skylar. Thompson’s second half, had Schoen hung onto the ball that was picked off, would have had him 6/8 for at least 110 yards and at least one touchdown.
Neither was given much faith in them by the coaching staff, seemingly punished for poor performance and had their confidence likely stricken. This game did nothing to clear up the quarterback situation, hampered the confidence of both and has each of the players still looking over their shoulder ahead of one of the biggest contests of the season.
That arguably isn’t even the most disappointing part of the offense’s performance. That likely is the play of the offensive line. In fact, there’s not one of the five that you can point to that you can confidently say had a very good game, not even All-American candidate Dalton Risner. In fact, Abdul Beecham was replaced multiple times by Josh Rivas. He seemed to do okay when he was inserted into the lineup. But the offensive line, in general, was dominated. And they play one of the nation’s best defensive lines in a week.
Credit to them for responding in the fourth quarter. Barnes ran for 1.5 yards per carry in the first quarter, 2.3 in the second quarter, 2.5 in the third and 9 yards per carry in the fourth quarter.
Dalton Schoen was the best wideout. That isn’t saying much, but it was clear. He was open all night. However, he had a few drops, including one that turned into an interception at a critical juncture of the game. So, was he the best? He’s the only one that was making opportunities for himself but he made some disastrous mistakes as well.
One of the poorest coaching moves during the game was when Kansas State didn’t call a timeout on third and one with a minute left. They instead took a delay of game call. That is inexcusable. A first down could have won the game and they backed themselves five yards back when they had two timeouts remaining. That is a coaching blunder.
It didn’t hurt. Skylar Thompson threw for a first down the next play on third and six. Except they could have ran the clock after a running play on third down, but instead threw it and had to go out of bounds. They could have run more time off, kneeled on it and won the game. Instead, going out of bounds because there was six yards to gain, and not one, made them run an extra play that ended up being a turnover.
Had they called timeout to prevent the delay of game penalty and ran for a first down, South Dakota never gets the ball back again.
DEFENSE
In a bit of a surprise, one of the bright spots for K-State was the performance of their defensive line. They applied consistent pressure on the quarterback, even when rushing only four. They also were very stout against the run.
A bit of the pressure did dissipate in the second half but it wasn’t non-existent. This was a unit that probably out-performed expectations by far. In particular, Reggie Walker and Wyatt Hubert were great on the edge. On the inside, Dishon was impressive for the most part and Davies affected the quarterback on a regular basis while in the game. Jordan Mittie was the first reserve on the interior and made some plays in the run game and helped Reggie Walker out with a key sack in the fourth quarter.
Boom Massie was not in the jet package during the first quarter (possible suspension) but he was the rest of the game, along with Kyle Ball, Wyatt Hubert and Reggie Walker.
Linebacker play was a bit of a mixed bag. Da’Quan Patton had a very good debut, his pursuit to the ball was eye-popping and he was extremely active and even used as a blitzer. Sam Sizelove’s quickness did get exposed at times and he, along with Kyle Ball, missed a tackle at a significant moment.
The cornerbacks had their share of struggles throughout the game and were disappointing. There were times in the game where they were in position to make a play and didn’t, but also times when they just got beat. It definitely was not one of Duke Shelley’s better games. Kevion McGee replaced A.J. Parker and had a strong second half outside of being defeated on a post pattern when he first entered the game.
We will say this, Blake Seiler definitely showed trust in his corners. He put them on an island late in the game when the Coyotes were airing it out. McGee was whistled for pass interference late, but let’s be honest, that was an awful call..
Kansas State’s defense wasn’t perfect but it was far from the problem. They produced two three-and-outs once the Wildcats pulled within five. They also only allowed 17 points as 7 of the 24 were defensive points for South Dakota. 3 of the 24 also came off of Barnes’ fumble inside his own territory. When considering that, the defense only allowed two scoring drives and pitched a shutout in the second half to help secure the win.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Sean Snyder has reason to smile. His unit did not disappoint. His unit was excellent as they have always been. Though Duke Shelley’s punt return for a touchdown was called back, Isaiah Zuber’s wasn’t, and that really changed the tide in the game.
On top of that, South Dakota missed one of their two field goal attempts and Kansas State’s new kicker Blake Lynch smacked all four of his through the pipes.
PERSONNEL
Kansas State was surprisingly digging into their bench quite a bit throughout the game. It is unclear whether that was by design or based on some health situations that we were unaware of, previously.
They rotated more than we are accustomed to seeing, and perhaps that is the biggest change we have seen with the new and younger coordinators.
Four defensive ends played, four defensive tackles played, four different linebackers, five cornerbacks and three safeties. That is 20 players deep on defense.
They played two quarterbacks, three running backs, one fullback, two tight ends, six offensive linemen and five receivers. While the offense had much less depth, they still played 19 different players.
OFFENSE
There’s not a lot to say other than to be critical about how Bill Snyder chose to handle his quarterbacks tonight. Describing the situation as being mishandled is probably being extremely generous, to be honest.
Skylar Thompson started the game and completed the team’s first three drives of offense. During that time, Thompson was far from sharp and his ball location was off the mark, but he did lead the best drive of the entire half. And then he was removed in favor of Alex Delton and did not return until one of the final drives of the half. But he only got a drive before being replaced by Delton once again.
Thompson only re-entered in the second quarter once Delton had thrown a pick-six. He also replaced Delton during the third quarter after some lackluster play from the junior. In particular, Delton was not sharp on his throws, his location was off and his timing was very questionable. He also nearly threw another pick-six to begin the second half.
Thompson took over mid-way through the third quarter and finished the game. On the first play of the fourth quarter, he laid in a perfect ball that should have went for a touchdown to Dalton Schoen but it was dropped and tipped into the hands of a South Dakota defender for an interception. He backed up by throwing a beautiful ball to Isaiah Zuber for a touchdown on the following drive.
Neither played a good game but Thompson was probably more effective, and less of a problem. Kansas State had three good drives on offense tonight and they were all engineered by Skylar. Thompson’s second half, had Schoen hung onto the ball that was picked off, would have had him 6/8 for at least 110 yards and at least one touchdown.
Neither was given much faith in them by the coaching staff, seemingly punished for poor performance and had their confidence likely stricken. This game did nothing to clear up the quarterback situation, hampered the confidence of both and has each of the players still looking over their shoulder ahead of one of the biggest contests of the season.
That arguably isn’t even the most disappointing part of the offense’s performance. That likely is the play of the offensive line. In fact, there’s not one of the five that you can point to that you can confidently say had a very good game, not even All-American candidate Dalton Risner. In fact, Abdul Beecham was replaced multiple times by Josh Rivas. He seemed to do okay when he was inserted into the lineup. But the offensive line, in general, was dominated. And they play one of the nation’s best defensive lines in a week.
Credit to them for responding in the fourth quarter. Barnes ran for 1.5 yards per carry in the first quarter, 2.3 in the second quarter, 2.5 in the third and 9 yards per carry in the fourth quarter.
Dalton Schoen was the best wideout. That isn’t saying much, but it was clear. He was open all night. However, he had a few drops, including one that turned into an interception at a critical juncture of the game. So, was he the best? He’s the only one that was making opportunities for himself but he made some disastrous mistakes as well.
One of the poorest coaching moves during the game was when Kansas State didn’t call a timeout on third and one with a minute left. They instead took a delay of game call. That is inexcusable. A first down could have won the game and they backed themselves five yards back when they had two timeouts remaining. That is a coaching blunder.
It didn’t hurt. Skylar Thompson threw for a first down the next play on third and six. Except they could have ran the clock after a running play on third down, but instead threw it and had to go out of bounds. They could have run more time off, kneeled on it and won the game. Instead, going out of bounds because there was six yards to gain, and not one, made them run an extra play that ended up being a turnover.
Had they called timeout to prevent the delay of game penalty and ran for a first down, South Dakota never gets the ball back again.
DEFENSE
In a bit of a surprise, one of the bright spots for K-State was the performance of their defensive line. They applied consistent pressure on the quarterback, even when rushing only four. They also were very stout against the run.
A bit of the pressure did dissipate in the second half but it wasn’t non-existent. This was a unit that probably out-performed expectations by far. In particular, Reggie Walker and Wyatt Hubert were great on the edge. On the inside, Dishon was impressive for the most part and Davies affected the quarterback on a regular basis while in the game. Jordan Mittie was the first reserve on the interior and made some plays in the run game and helped Reggie Walker out with a key sack in the fourth quarter.
Boom Massie was not in the jet package during the first quarter (possible suspension) but he was the rest of the game, along with Kyle Ball, Wyatt Hubert and Reggie Walker.
Linebacker play was a bit of a mixed bag. Da’Quan Patton had a very good debut, his pursuit to the ball was eye-popping and he was extremely active and even used as a blitzer. Sam Sizelove’s quickness did get exposed at times and he, along with Kyle Ball, missed a tackle at a significant moment.
The cornerbacks had their share of struggles throughout the game and were disappointing. There were times in the game where they were in position to make a play and didn’t, but also times when they just got beat. It definitely was not one of Duke Shelley’s better games. Kevion McGee replaced A.J. Parker and had a strong second half outside of being defeated on a post pattern when he first entered the game.
We will say this, Blake Seiler definitely showed trust in his corners. He put them on an island late in the game when the Coyotes were airing it out. McGee was whistled for pass interference late, but let’s be honest, that was an awful call..
Kansas State’s defense wasn’t perfect but it was far from the problem. They produced two three-and-outs once the Wildcats pulled within five. They also only allowed 17 points as 7 of the 24 were defensive points for South Dakota. 3 of the 24 also came off of Barnes’ fumble inside his own territory. When considering that, the defense only allowed two scoring drives and pitched a shutout in the second half to help secure the win.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Sean Snyder has reason to smile. His unit did not disappoint. His unit was excellent as they have always been. Though Duke Shelley’s punt return for a touchdown was called back, Isaiah Zuber’s wasn’t, and that really changed the tide in the game.
On top of that, South Dakota missed one of their two field goal attempts and Kansas State’s new kicker Blake Lynch smacked all four of his through the pipes.
PERSONNEL
Kansas State was surprisingly digging into their bench quite a bit throughout the game. It is unclear whether that was by design or based on some health situations that we were unaware of, previously.
They rotated more than we are accustomed to seeing, and perhaps that is the biggest change we have seen with the new and younger coordinators.
Four defensive ends played, four defensive tackles played, four different linebackers, five cornerbacks and three safeties. That is 20 players deep on defense.
They played two quarterbacks, three running backs, one fullback, two tight ends, six offensive linemen and five receivers. While the offense had much less depth, they still played 19 different players.
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