D
Derek Young
Guest
OFFENSE
The first half was rough. I understand that they needed to throw it here and there to keep the Oklahoma State defense honest, so I am not criticizing it, but only bad things happened when K-State threw the ball. Skylar Thompson took a bad sack, they dropped the ball or threw it very poorly. It was a titanic struggle and the reason they trailed 6-3 at halftime. Thompson was responsible for a lot of the issues.
Kansas State’s defense won the game but the offensive line finished the game and controlled the game and allowed this side of the ball to have any semblance of success. They dominated from the first whistle to the last. The only play that they’d probably like to have back is not converting a third and two with only six Cowboy defenders in the box.
Needless to say, Alex Barnes was as good in this one as he was last week against Baylor and he’s had two sensational games in a row. The real change that I see in him is that he’s been harder to tackle. The junior isn’t going down on first contact.
They definitely were better as a complete offense in the second half. Thompson found some rhythm and comfort and some of that was due to them moving faster and establishing some quicker tempo. The signal caller is definitely more in his element when they are playing a bit faster.
Skylar ran the ball well the whole game. He’s been pretty effective as a runner when he is decisive.
K-State’s offensive coaches experimented with the diamond formation even more this week – consisting of all three running backs Justin Silmon, Dalvin Warmack and Alex Barnes. They almost ran it last week in Waco but were forced to call timeout. This week, they ran it the first two times with Warmack. The third time was a throw to Zuber after motioning Barnes out of the backfield. Unfortunately, Dalton Risner missed his block and the play went nowhere. But it is a formation and alignment that has to be prepared for and it allows for quite a bit of creativity.
A point of complaint once again was the awful clock management and situational awareness by this coaching staff, and program in general. The end of the first half was atrocious. Not only did they take an awful sack that prevented them from even kicking a field goal, they also with a little over a minute left, wasted 30 seconds off the clock to come up with a play that only gave them four yards.
There was also a third and four in the first half where Oklahoma State jumped offsides. Instead of taking a shot downfield, Thompson ran out of bounds for no gain. And it wasn’t even his fault. Thompson scrambled to the right of the pocket and Zach Reuter was running an out-route on the left side of the field, Blaise Gammon was blanketed on a route over the middle and not looking for the ball and Isaiah Harris began blocking. Nobody came back to the ball or even gave themselves a chance.
DEFENSE
Walter Neil was better in his return to action today after missing time with an injury than he probably was before the injury in all honesty. And that may have some to do with just them improving as a defense the past few weeks, the Baylor game notwithstanding. Although against Baylor, it was just one poor half and a result of poor tackling.
Also today, they recognized the draw a bit earlier. They stopped Taylor Cornelius and company from much rushing success on the draw because of the quicker reads and recognition from linebackers Justin Hughes and Da’Quan Patton.
Eli Walker didn’t have his name called as much today and it was not because of poor play. He just had less to clean up and take care of, which is a good thing. The front seven handled their business and there were less plays.
For some reason, Oklahoma State seemingly tried to scheme Duke Shelley and pick on him today but it did not work. He had one interception, and nearly two, and broke up just about every pass that came his way. They targeted him and wanted to pick on him but it just didn’t work. They did, however, have some success against A.J. Parker so you have to question the strategy and game plan of the Cowboys. In fact, there were some chances downfield against A.J. Parker that were missed by Cornelius.
Also, it is really, really dumb that they chose to attack Shelley today. I know we have been stressing how well Eli Walker has played and that he may have been the best player on the defensive side of the ball this season. It’s probably pretty tight between Shelley and Walker. Duke has been terrific. He had two more interceptions today.
Denzel Goolsby had a key missed tackle that allowed Cornelius to score a touchdown. In addition, Wyatt Hubert missed a tackle towards the end of the third quarter that would have forced a third and long and instead gave Oklahoma State a first down on an eventual scoring possession. To be fair, Hubert did disrupt a shovel pass in the red zone that prevented the Cowboys from adding another touchdown and instead forced them into taking three points.
SPECIAL TEAMS
It was a mixed bag on special teams, although Oklahoma State was far worse. They made two field goals but their punting game regularly gave the Wildcats a short field to work with in this contest.
Kansas State attempted a 51-yard field goal with new place-kicker Andrew Hicks and it was missed. Isaiah Zuber would have scored on a kick return if not for stepping out of bounds when he didn’t really have to and Duke Shelley was whistled for a false start penalty on a punt. However, Brock Monty did give them some good news when he blocked a punt in the first half.
PERSONNEL
Out: Luke Sowa, Nick Lenners, Alex Delton, Hunter Rison, Cartez Crook-Jones, Mike McCoy, Ekow Boye-Doe, Daniel Green, Blake Lynch, Maxwell Poduska, Jonathan Durham
Isaiah Harris got the start at wide receiver with Dalton Schoen out of the game. The next receivers to see time, in order, were Wykeen Gill, Chabastin Taylor and Malik Knowles. However, out of those three, Knowles probably saw the most snaps. There were no changes to the offensive line. Josh Rivas subbed in for Abdul Beecham on two separate occasions.
Andrew Hicks was the starting kicker today instead of Nick McLellan with Blake Lynch still out with an injury. Because of this, Devin Anctil was today’s punter for the Wildcats. It was the first game that Anctil has dressed this year. McLellan did still handle the kickoff duties.
Defensively, Justin Hughes got the start at linebacker with Da’Quan Patton again. When Hughes was dinged towards the end of the third quarter, Sam Sizelove did enter the game. Walter Neil returned for K-State today and started at nickel. Denzel Goolsby and Eli Walker started at safety and Kendall Adams did not play.
Reggie Walker missed the first half due to suspension because of his targeting penalty in Waco. Kyle Ball and Wyatt Hubert were the starting defensive ends before Walker returned in the third quarter. Along with Ball and Hubert, Boom Massie and Chase Johnston finished out the defensive line in their jet packages.
The first half was rough. I understand that they needed to throw it here and there to keep the Oklahoma State defense honest, so I am not criticizing it, but only bad things happened when K-State threw the ball. Skylar Thompson took a bad sack, they dropped the ball or threw it very poorly. It was a titanic struggle and the reason they trailed 6-3 at halftime. Thompson was responsible for a lot of the issues.
Kansas State’s defense won the game but the offensive line finished the game and controlled the game and allowed this side of the ball to have any semblance of success. They dominated from the first whistle to the last. The only play that they’d probably like to have back is not converting a third and two with only six Cowboy defenders in the box.
Needless to say, Alex Barnes was as good in this one as he was last week against Baylor and he’s had two sensational games in a row. The real change that I see in him is that he’s been harder to tackle. The junior isn’t going down on first contact.
They definitely were better as a complete offense in the second half. Thompson found some rhythm and comfort and some of that was due to them moving faster and establishing some quicker tempo. The signal caller is definitely more in his element when they are playing a bit faster.
Skylar ran the ball well the whole game. He’s been pretty effective as a runner when he is decisive.
K-State’s offensive coaches experimented with the diamond formation even more this week – consisting of all three running backs Justin Silmon, Dalvin Warmack and Alex Barnes. They almost ran it last week in Waco but were forced to call timeout. This week, they ran it the first two times with Warmack. The third time was a throw to Zuber after motioning Barnes out of the backfield. Unfortunately, Dalton Risner missed his block and the play went nowhere. But it is a formation and alignment that has to be prepared for and it allows for quite a bit of creativity.
A point of complaint once again was the awful clock management and situational awareness by this coaching staff, and program in general. The end of the first half was atrocious. Not only did they take an awful sack that prevented them from even kicking a field goal, they also with a little over a minute left, wasted 30 seconds off the clock to come up with a play that only gave them four yards.
There was also a third and four in the first half where Oklahoma State jumped offsides. Instead of taking a shot downfield, Thompson ran out of bounds for no gain. And it wasn’t even his fault. Thompson scrambled to the right of the pocket and Zach Reuter was running an out-route on the left side of the field, Blaise Gammon was blanketed on a route over the middle and not looking for the ball and Isaiah Harris began blocking. Nobody came back to the ball or even gave themselves a chance.
DEFENSE
Walter Neil was better in his return to action today after missing time with an injury than he probably was before the injury in all honesty. And that may have some to do with just them improving as a defense the past few weeks, the Baylor game notwithstanding. Although against Baylor, it was just one poor half and a result of poor tackling.
Also today, they recognized the draw a bit earlier. They stopped Taylor Cornelius and company from much rushing success on the draw because of the quicker reads and recognition from linebackers Justin Hughes and Da’Quan Patton.
Eli Walker didn’t have his name called as much today and it was not because of poor play. He just had less to clean up and take care of, which is a good thing. The front seven handled their business and there were less plays.
For some reason, Oklahoma State seemingly tried to scheme Duke Shelley and pick on him today but it did not work. He had one interception, and nearly two, and broke up just about every pass that came his way. They targeted him and wanted to pick on him but it just didn’t work. They did, however, have some success against A.J. Parker so you have to question the strategy and game plan of the Cowboys. In fact, there were some chances downfield against A.J. Parker that were missed by Cornelius.
Also, it is really, really dumb that they chose to attack Shelley today. I know we have been stressing how well Eli Walker has played and that he may have been the best player on the defensive side of the ball this season. It’s probably pretty tight between Shelley and Walker. Duke has been terrific. He had two more interceptions today.
Denzel Goolsby had a key missed tackle that allowed Cornelius to score a touchdown. In addition, Wyatt Hubert missed a tackle towards the end of the third quarter that would have forced a third and long and instead gave Oklahoma State a first down on an eventual scoring possession. To be fair, Hubert did disrupt a shovel pass in the red zone that prevented the Cowboys from adding another touchdown and instead forced them into taking three points.
SPECIAL TEAMS
It was a mixed bag on special teams, although Oklahoma State was far worse. They made two field goals but their punting game regularly gave the Wildcats a short field to work with in this contest.
Kansas State attempted a 51-yard field goal with new place-kicker Andrew Hicks and it was missed. Isaiah Zuber would have scored on a kick return if not for stepping out of bounds when he didn’t really have to and Duke Shelley was whistled for a false start penalty on a punt. However, Brock Monty did give them some good news when he blocked a punt in the first half.
PERSONNEL
Out: Luke Sowa, Nick Lenners, Alex Delton, Hunter Rison, Cartez Crook-Jones, Mike McCoy, Ekow Boye-Doe, Daniel Green, Blake Lynch, Maxwell Poduska, Jonathan Durham
Isaiah Harris got the start at wide receiver with Dalton Schoen out of the game. The next receivers to see time, in order, were Wykeen Gill, Chabastin Taylor and Malik Knowles. However, out of those three, Knowles probably saw the most snaps. There were no changes to the offensive line. Josh Rivas subbed in for Abdul Beecham on two separate occasions.
Andrew Hicks was the starting kicker today instead of Nick McLellan with Blake Lynch still out with an injury. Because of this, Devin Anctil was today’s punter for the Wildcats. It was the first game that Anctil has dressed this year. McLellan did still handle the kickoff duties.
Defensively, Justin Hughes got the start at linebacker with Da’Quan Patton again. When Hughes was dinged towards the end of the third quarter, Sam Sizelove did enter the game. Walter Neil returned for K-State today and started at nickel. Denzel Goolsby and Eli Walker started at safety and Kendall Adams did not play.
Reggie Walker missed the first half due to suspension because of his targeting penalty in Waco. Kyle Ball and Wyatt Hubert were the starting defensive ends before Walker returned in the third quarter. Along with Ball and Hubert, Boom Massie and Chase Johnston finished out the defensive line in their jet packages.
