From The Couch – Big Win Against Washington State, But Still “Meat Left On The Bone”
Fort Riley Day is always a great game to attend, and yesterday’s 34-7 win against Washington State was no exception. Despite an hour-long rain delay and a couple of terrible passes by Avery Johnson, there wasn’t much to complain about just like in game one.
I am not getting too excited or too down about K-State after this victory. They look good, but there are still plenty of concerns to discuss. During the lightning delay, friends and family were upset at the Avery Johnson pick six and thought it might give Washington State momentum to get back in the game, only down 17-7 now. Not so fast, my friends. I knew that K-State was dominating the Cougars and that would likely continue in the second half. I was right.
Here are the sights, sounds, and quotes from the game yesterday.
“Starting with defense, I don’t know if there’s much more you can say other than, they’re just doing an unbelievable job over there. It’s starting with their preparation, how those guys are buying into the plan, and what the staff is doing a great job of lining them up to do.”…K-State head coach Collin Klein, post-game
JM: K-State’s defense gave up 166 yards and no other scores on the day. This after giving up 122 yards and a field goal week one against Nichols. So here is your trivia question of the week: did you think that K-State would have the second ranked defense in the country after two games? Me, either.
Impressive, but there is a long way to go this season. As for individual players, I was very impressed with defensive end Wendell Gregory. He had five tackles, three tackles for loss, and two sacks. The junior transfer from Oklahoma State was phenomenal. Here is video I found of his two sacks.
JM: That second sack happened right in front of us. Gregory came around that corner like a blur untouched to sack the quarterback. This dude is legit. Very fast. The last time I saw a K-State defender this fast? Arthur Brown.
“There’s still meat left on the bone. We let Washington State off the hook today, and I let Washington State off the hook today multiple times. There are still opportunities where we can put teams away, where we need to finish games, and it starts with me. That’s going to be the mindset going into this next week. We have to learn from this one, put it behind us, get ready for Tulane, and my mindset is there’s still meat left on the bone.”…K-State quarterback Avery Johnson, post-game
JM: Avery Johnson was mostly good on the day, but had two horrible interceptions where he simply didn’t see the defender on either one of them.
“Probably the worst scenario ever, to throw a pick-six right before halftime, and then get a weather delay.”…Avery Johnson, post-game
JM: Luckily for Johnson and K-State, the players and coaches responded well to the delay.
“Our energy level went wire to wire through the ups, the downs, the couple turnovers on offense, and the delay at halftime.” I could feel in the entire locker room the mentality of the entire football team, and they were ready to come out with their hair on fire. That was a really positive thing, and the defense anchored that for the majority of the game.”…Collin Klein post-game
JM: Does Avery Johnson make this look easy or what? Calmly avoids the pressure, runs to his right, and patiently finds the open receiver. Underrated play by the senior.
Also, receiver Josh Manning had a great day with 10 catches for 97 yards and a touchdown.
JM: I also have to mention running back Rodney Fields. 13 carries for 105 yards and a touchdown. He looks pretty darn good thus far.
“This feels great, I can’t complain at all. I just want to get the win, honestly, but the sack’s going to win it, so that’s great for sure. It’ll be great, 100% it’s going to be great. Just keep tuning in for sure. You’re gonna keep seeing it build up week by week.”…K-State defensive end Wendall Gregory, post-game
JM: And we can’t wait.
“We’re headed in the right direction in a lot of areas. But there’s also a lot that we have to do better as coaches to detail to help take this group where they can go.”…Collin Klein, post-game
JM: Does this quote remind you of another K-State head coach? One who the stadium is named after? Don’t be satisfied with any one victory and keep striving to be better. I like it.
My son told me about a guy who is visiting all of the college football stadiums and ranking them on a variety of factors. I looked it up this morning and found his video about Snyder Family Stadium. Pretty neat recap.
JM: Up next is a home game against Tulane next Saturday at 11:00. Tulane lost to Duke week one and beat South Alabama 28-24 yesterday. K-State should be able to take care of business and go 3-0 in non-conference play. Fans can think that way, but I hope the players don’t!
