D
Derek Young
Guest
OFFENSE
Sports aren’t always predictable and today is a perfect example and illustrates that beautifully. The Wildcats surprised everyone when they defeated Oklahoma State 45-40. It did not come without some adventure, though.
A couple roster notes do need mentioned. Dalton Schoen did not play as expected and Dominique Heath saw most of his snaps. Dayton Valentine was unable to go as well, which was anticipated, and Blaise Gammon filled that void. Alex Barnes did get the start at running back and we didn’t see a whole lot of Dalvin Warmack or Justin Silmon. Carlos Strickland did get into the game at wide receiver for a snap and was targeted. He was able to get open but Thompson delivered him an inaccurate ball.
The game started off great with a 10-play first drive that went for 71 yards and resulted in a touchdown. All 10 plays came on the ground, with Thompson recording six of those for 65 yards and the touchdown rush. But most of the damage the rest of the day would, surprisingly, come through the air.
Thompson had a great game on the ground. Barnes added a few big plays as well. But the firepower came from Skylar’s arm. It was a career day for him, albeit a short career. But these numbers from him will be tough to duplicate. He finished the game 10/13 for 204 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions, and rushed the ball 17 times for another 93 yards and another score.
He finished the game with three touchdown passes, all to Byron Pringle, for 46, 47, and 70 yards. The first throw was a bit under-thrown, but as I always say, that’s better than over-throwing it when they’re that wide open. It gives your guy a chance to haul it in. The second ball was perfectly set-up and was a play-action pass by Thompson where Pringle got behind the defense. Pringle got behind them once again on the third throw because of a double-move that left the defenders in their tracks and unable to recover. That’s why we always say, Byron Pringle isn’t catching the ball, but is route-running and blocking is on another level. That was on full display Saturday night at Oklahoma State.
Why was the vertical passing game all a sudden there today? We hadn’t seen it really since the first two contests against Central Arkansas and Charlotte. For one, it is an element that Thompson can bring to the game when everything is clicking the way it is intended. Secondly, the balls were being caught. And third, Oklahoma State was playing very close to the line of scrimmage, selling out against the run, and left themselves totally vulnerable to the deep pass. They didn’t think K-State could execute well enough to make it hurt, but they were wrong on this day.
It did, however, result in a few sacks because the K-State offensive line was not able to hold out against all the extra players in the box. Thompson was sacked twice but pressured a little bit more than that. Most of that pressure came in the first half as he had a pretty clean pocket for almost the entire second half.
The blocking downfield in this game was pretty impressive, too, and the two most deserving of that praise are Zach Reuter and Byron Pringle.
We’re not going to know without a doubt but it did seem that at least some of the checks and calls were being made by Thompson this time around. He was not making any of those calls last week and they would all come from the sideline. It looked like he was given a bit more responsibility in this one. Now, there were still some time management issues at time with him under center, but he also had the awareness to call some timeouts himself to avoid some penalties.
One of the errors of last week and reasons why they were not able to defeat WVU was the inability to capitalize off the turnovers. The defense forced four Mountaineer turnovers but the offense only came away with six points from them. Today, the defense recorded two more takeaways and Kendall Adams’ interception resulted in the Alex Barnes 39-yard touchdown rush. The other was the Duke Shelley interception which did not amount to any points.
And then, the unspeakable happened. Thompson fumbled the ball away towards the end of the game, leaving the game in doubt. He was also injured on the play and unable to walk off the field under his own power, quite possibly leaving his status for next week in limbo.
He did return to run out the clock at the end of the game and an argument can definitely be made as to why he was trotted back out there. Thompson was limping horribly still, unable to run, and thus unable to protect himself if he somehow was thrown into harm’s way. Anybody could have handled those types of snaps to finish the game, and Thompson shouldn’t have been the guy. His recovery is probably dependent on rest and staying off of it, and that accomplishes none of it while also not accomplishing nothing by him being in for those snaps. End rant.
DEFENSE
It was a beautiful first three quarters to be honest. They kept the Oklahoma State passing game in check for the most part. A.J. Parker, Cre Moore and Duke Shelley were more than serviceable. They were terrific. They were surrendering yards and points to Oklahoma State, but who doesn’t. The ‘Pokes are the most prolific passing offense in the country. Even the yards they were mustering were hard to come by and that is a feat in itself.
A.J. Parker was targeted a lot. They attempted to pick on him and the K-State secondary early and often due to the loss of all-conference cornerback D.J. Reed. Parker did fantastic, all things considered. He’s done well in both times this year where he had to fill in, once for Shelley and now once for Reed. Shelley had an interception, as did Kendall Adams. Shelley’s was a great play on the ball, a badly thrown ball by Mason Rudolph, but Shelley did take advantage and deserves credit for that.
The running defense was pretty impressive as well, probably for all four quarters. Justice Hill never broke loose for a big one. He did not dismantle Kansas State even though the matchup suggested that he might. Hill only totaled 91 yards on 23 carries.
We would be mistaken if we didn’t also mention that it was a pretty rough 4th quarter, to say the least. Not only did Oklahoma State offensively, but they almost overcame a 42-13 second half deficit to win the game. They came up just short. The turnover from K-State helped but Rudolph found some momentum and rode the wave a little bit. All the issues from games past crept up and began to haunt the Wildcats once again.
It would also be accurate and responsible to mention that, though the K-State defense played well for three quarters this evening, that Oklahoma State also coughed up some opportunities. The most prolific passing offense in the nation was far from sharp. Mason Rudolph was not accurate and he was off the mark a great deal. James Washington had a couple drops. They just did not deliver a competent game and that was the difference.
Some of their inaccuracy, inconsistency, and discomfort should probably be attributed to the fact that the Kansas State pass rush came alive. They were getting home this evening which they typically haven’t all season. Kyle Ball had a couple sacks. Boom Massie impacted the game as a pass rusher, as did Chase Johnston who played some defensive end once again.
They didn’t play a full game, we realize that, but at the same time, ‘hats off’ to the performances of A.J. Parker, Duke Shelley, Cre Moore, Kyle Ball, Boom Massie and Will Geary.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Not a lot here to discuss other than Byron Pringle’s long kick return for a score and the defense of the two-point conversion near the end of the game. Matt McCrane converted on his only field goal attempt. They delivered as always.
CONCLUSION
The health still isn’t good. They were without D.J. Reed, Jesse Ertz, Alex Delton, Dalton Schoen and Dayton Valentine already. At different points in this game, they lost Winston Dimel, Reggie Walker, Skylar Thompson, Jayd Kirby and Trent Tanking. All returned but all got dinged at some point.
At the end of the day, it is good to get a win over a top 10 team in America. But surrendering a 42-13 lead to anyone would be a shame. Fortunately, they avoided just that.
Sports aren’t always predictable and today is a perfect example and illustrates that beautifully. The Wildcats surprised everyone when they defeated Oklahoma State 45-40. It did not come without some adventure, though.
A couple roster notes do need mentioned. Dalton Schoen did not play as expected and Dominique Heath saw most of his snaps. Dayton Valentine was unable to go as well, which was anticipated, and Blaise Gammon filled that void. Alex Barnes did get the start at running back and we didn’t see a whole lot of Dalvin Warmack or Justin Silmon. Carlos Strickland did get into the game at wide receiver for a snap and was targeted. He was able to get open but Thompson delivered him an inaccurate ball.
The game started off great with a 10-play first drive that went for 71 yards and resulted in a touchdown. All 10 plays came on the ground, with Thompson recording six of those for 65 yards and the touchdown rush. But most of the damage the rest of the day would, surprisingly, come through the air.
Thompson had a great game on the ground. Barnes added a few big plays as well. But the firepower came from Skylar’s arm. It was a career day for him, albeit a short career. But these numbers from him will be tough to duplicate. He finished the game 10/13 for 204 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions, and rushed the ball 17 times for another 93 yards and another score.
He finished the game with three touchdown passes, all to Byron Pringle, for 46, 47, and 70 yards. The first throw was a bit under-thrown, but as I always say, that’s better than over-throwing it when they’re that wide open. It gives your guy a chance to haul it in. The second ball was perfectly set-up and was a play-action pass by Thompson where Pringle got behind the defense. Pringle got behind them once again on the third throw because of a double-move that left the defenders in their tracks and unable to recover. That’s why we always say, Byron Pringle isn’t catching the ball, but is route-running and blocking is on another level. That was on full display Saturday night at Oklahoma State.
Why was the vertical passing game all a sudden there today? We hadn’t seen it really since the first two contests against Central Arkansas and Charlotte. For one, it is an element that Thompson can bring to the game when everything is clicking the way it is intended. Secondly, the balls were being caught. And third, Oklahoma State was playing very close to the line of scrimmage, selling out against the run, and left themselves totally vulnerable to the deep pass. They didn’t think K-State could execute well enough to make it hurt, but they were wrong on this day.
It did, however, result in a few sacks because the K-State offensive line was not able to hold out against all the extra players in the box. Thompson was sacked twice but pressured a little bit more than that. Most of that pressure came in the first half as he had a pretty clean pocket for almost the entire second half.
The blocking downfield in this game was pretty impressive, too, and the two most deserving of that praise are Zach Reuter and Byron Pringle.
We’re not going to know without a doubt but it did seem that at least some of the checks and calls were being made by Thompson this time around. He was not making any of those calls last week and they would all come from the sideline. It looked like he was given a bit more responsibility in this one. Now, there were still some time management issues at time with him under center, but he also had the awareness to call some timeouts himself to avoid some penalties.
One of the errors of last week and reasons why they were not able to defeat WVU was the inability to capitalize off the turnovers. The defense forced four Mountaineer turnovers but the offense only came away with six points from them. Today, the defense recorded two more takeaways and Kendall Adams’ interception resulted in the Alex Barnes 39-yard touchdown rush. The other was the Duke Shelley interception which did not amount to any points.
And then, the unspeakable happened. Thompson fumbled the ball away towards the end of the game, leaving the game in doubt. He was also injured on the play and unable to walk off the field under his own power, quite possibly leaving his status for next week in limbo.
He did return to run out the clock at the end of the game and an argument can definitely be made as to why he was trotted back out there. Thompson was limping horribly still, unable to run, and thus unable to protect himself if he somehow was thrown into harm’s way. Anybody could have handled those types of snaps to finish the game, and Thompson shouldn’t have been the guy. His recovery is probably dependent on rest and staying off of it, and that accomplishes none of it while also not accomplishing nothing by him being in for those snaps. End rant.
DEFENSE
It was a beautiful first three quarters to be honest. They kept the Oklahoma State passing game in check for the most part. A.J. Parker, Cre Moore and Duke Shelley were more than serviceable. They were terrific. They were surrendering yards and points to Oklahoma State, but who doesn’t. The ‘Pokes are the most prolific passing offense in the country. Even the yards they were mustering were hard to come by and that is a feat in itself.
A.J. Parker was targeted a lot. They attempted to pick on him and the K-State secondary early and often due to the loss of all-conference cornerback D.J. Reed. Parker did fantastic, all things considered. He’s done well in both times this year where he had to fill in, once for Shelley and now once for Reed. Shelley had an interception, as did Kendall Adams. Shelley’s was a great play on the ball, a badly thrown ball by Mason Rudolph, but Shelley did take advantage and deserves credit for that.
The running defense was pretty impressive as well, probably for all four quarters. Justice Hill never broke loose for a big one. He did not dismantle Kansas State even though the matchup suggested that he might. Hill only totaled 91 yards on 23 carries.
We would be mistaken if we didn’t also mention that it was a pretty rough 4th quarter, to say the least. Not only did Oklahoma State offensively, but they almost overcame a 42-13 second half deficit to win the game. They came up just short. The turnover from K-State helped but Rudolph found some momentum and rode the wave a little bit. All the issues from games past crept up and began to haunt the Wildcats once again.
It would also be accurate and responsible to mention that, though the K-State defense played well for three quarters this evening, that Oklahoma State also coughed up some opportunities. The most prolific passing offense in the nation was far from sharp. Mason Rudolph was not accurate and he was off the mark a great deal. James Washington had a couple drops. They just did not deliver a competent game and that was the difference.
Some of their inaccuracy, inconsistency, and discomfort should probably be attributed to the fact that the Kansas State pass rush came alive. They were getting home this evening which they typically haven’t all season. Kyle Ball had a couple sacks. Boom Massie impacted the game as a pass rusher, as did Chase Johnston who played some defensive end once again.
They didn’t play a full game, we realize that, but at the same time, ‘hats off’ to the performances of A.J. Parker, Duke Shelley, Cre Moore, Kyle Ball, Boom Massie and Will Geary.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Not a lot here to discuss other than Byron Pringle’s long kick return for a score and the defense of the two-point conversion near the end of the game. Matt McCrane converted on his only field goal attempt. They delivered as always.
CONCLUSION
The health still isn’t good. They were without D.J. Reed, Jesse Ertz, Alex Delton, Dalton Schoen and Dayton Valentine already. At different points in this game, they lost Winston Dimel, Reggie Walker, Skylar Thompson, Jayd Kirby and Trent Tanking. All returned but all got dinged at some point.
At the end of the day, it is good to get a win over a top 10 team in America. But surrendering a 42-13 lead to anyone would be a shame. Fortunately, they avoided just that.
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