Blog: The Good and the Bad from K-State’s Victory at Iowa State

September 8, 2014 johnkurtz

By Cole Manbeck

There’s no getting around the fact that Kansas State didn’t play particularly well on Saturday at Iowa State. While there are some areas of concern that were exposed in the Wildcats 32-28 victory, I don’t believe now is the time to significantly lower expectations for this team based on one game.

Ames isn’t an easy place to play. In 2012, K-State traveled to Iowa State in the seventh week of the season. Iowa State had the ball with a chance to win in the game’s final 4 minutes. The defense held and the Wildcats, who were ranked No. 6 in the country at the time, snuck out with a 27-21 win.

Saturday was K-State’s first road game of the season and was also its first conference game. A lot of mistakes were made. A lot of silly penalties committed. But as we’ve learned from Bill Snyder’s past teams (2011 and 2012), poor play in an individual game early in the season isn’t necessarily an indicator for future success/failure during that season. K-State now has 10 days to get drastically better. Changes will need to be made by the time Auburn rolls into Manhattan on Sept. 18. But for now, let’s look at the positives from Saturday as well as the negatives:

The Positives:

Jake Waters had one of his best all-around games of his K-State career. Waters rushed for 138 yards on 20 carries. His 377 yards of total offense on Saturday ranked just outside the top 10 for most yards accounted for in a single game in school history. His 377 yards are more than Collin Klein had in any game in his Wildcat career, with the lone exception being Klein’s game against Texas A&M in 2011, when he had 384 yards of total offense. However, that game went into four overtimes.

Waters has adapted well to the quarterback-run game. He has 193 yards rushing through two games. Only three quarterbacks in the country have more rushing yards than K-State’s senior quarterback. However, Waters has carried the ball 37 times. Only Navy’s Keenan Reynolds has carried the ball more from the quarterback position. Reynolds, who orchestrates Navy’s triple-option offense, has carried the ball 44 times. K-State will need to look to limit Waters’ carries when it can, because he isn’t built like Collin Klein and it’s a long season ahead.

Clock management and the hurry-up offense hasn’t necessarily been the forte of K-State’s past offenses. However, each of K-State’s four touchdown drives lasted less than 2 minutes at Iowa State. Those four touchdown drives combined for 26 plays and covered 296 yards, an average of 11.4 yards per play. Those four drives combined to take up only 5 minutes and 44 seconds of play, meaning K-State’s average touchdown drive was 1:26 on Saturday. The two key drives of the game came right before halftime, when K-State executed its two-minute offense flawlessly. The Wildcats traveled 84 yards on 10 plays and only chewed up 1:04. And the final touchdown drive traveled 80 yards on seven plays and only took 1:31. It appears K-State’s offense is better equipped to come from behind than it has been in the past and has the capability to score in a hurry when it needs to. That’s encouraging.

The Wildcats once again ran the ball well, albeit against the worst run defense in the Big 12. K-State rushed for 232 yards and averaged 5.7 yards per carry. Through two games, K-State has averaged 236 rushing yards and 5.1 yards per rush. I’d also like to mention here that junior Matt Kleinsorge once again played well at right tackle and has certainly eased concerns at that position.

K-State’s defense pitched a shutout in the second half and allowed only 135 yards of offense on 41 plays in the final 30 minutes, an average of only 3.3 yards per play. Through two games, K-State has only allowed 6 points to be scored in the second half.

K-State’s run defense continues to be solid. The Wildcats ranked in the top 25 in the country against the run in 2013 and appear to be a top-25 group once again this season. The Wildcats held Iowa State to just 2.8 yards per carry on the ground Saturday. Through two games, K-State’s opponents have averaged only 87 rushing yards per game, which ranks in the top 20 nationally. K-State is holding opponents to only 3 yards per rush.

The Negatives

Tyler Lockett had a great day, pulling in six receptions for 136 yards. The senior really gutted it out, but he’s clearly playing at less than 100 percent. Without Lockett on the field, the Wildcats offense is average at best. They need his explosiveness to stretch the defense. Without him, K-State doesn’t appear to have enough weapons on the offensive side of the football to take advantage of Waters’ arm.

Lockett averaged 22.7 yards per catch Saturday. The rest of the wide receivers (excluding running backs, tight ends and fullback) combined to catch six balls for 46 yards, an average of just 7.7 yards per reception. Curry Sexton is a very good slot receiver, but the Wildcats need a third option at receiver who can stretch the defense and take pressure off of Lockett. Junior Andre Davis and freshman Judah Jones both possess the speed that’s necessary and would bring more explosiveness to the offense. But it’s clear the K-State coaches don’t feel comfortable putting them on the field in a full-time capacity yet. However, if this offense wants to be special, it will likely need those two to contribute in some capacity this season.

K-State’s tackling in open space was poor and exposed its linebackers. Jonathan Truman led the team with 10 tackles, but he struggled. As mentioned above, Auburn comes to town next, and the Tigers are big and fast. The Wildcats will need as much speed on the field as possible to slow them down. Dakorey Johnson brings that speed to the position, but more is needed.

Which brings me to the next negative. I never thought it was truly realistic to have expected linebacker D’Vonta Derricott and defensive tackle Terrell Clinkscales to contribute much at this point in time, since both arrived late for fall camp. But the two heralded junior college recruits didn’t even make the traveling roster for Saturday’s game. My hope all along was that those two would see the field by Auburn. But the chances of that happening seem somewhat slim based on the fact that they didn’t travel to Ames, indicating they could still be a ways off.

Iowa State quarterback Sam Richardson completed 14 straight passes against K-State’s defense. The Wildcats have allowed a 64-percent completion rate through two games.

While K-State’s run defense has been very good, they continue to let the quarterback escape from the pocket for scrambles. K-State has allowed opposing quarterbacks to run for 95 yards on 23 carries thus far, an average of 4.1 yards per rush. Meanwhile, opposing running backs have only 79 yards on 35 carries, an average of 2.26 yards per rush.

Ten penalties for 77 yards, including two false starts from the receiver position, which should never happen.

The bottom line is K-State won a Big-12 road game despite not playing at its optimum level. Plenty of mistakes were made, but it’s always better to learn from those mistakes in a winning effort rather than the alternative. The Wildcats fought through some adversity to outscore Iowa State 19-0 in the final 33 minutes of play, and there’s something to be said about that. This team gained valuable experience and will be better for it down the road if they learn and improve from the issues that were exposed on Saturday.

Now, they have 10 days to prepare for one of the biggest non-conference games in school history.