From The Couch – K-State Hammers Cincinnati On Senior Night

From The Couch – K-State Hammers Cincinnati On Senior Night

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K-State football performed better than they have in a month, handily beating the Cincinnati Bearcats 41 to 15 Saturday night at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The K-State offense looked vastly different, utilizing quarterback Avery Johnson’s legs with designed quarterback runs. It proved very successful. Johnson rushed the ball 10 times for 72 yards and a touchdown and threw for 147 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions. DJ Giddens had 15 carries for 143 yards and two touchdowns, an average of 9.3 yards per carry.

Why the dramatically positive change in offensive efficiency? Let’s get into it.

“Avery [Johnson] and DJ [Giddens] rushing the football, opened up a lot of things. Avery was healthy as everybody could see. That really makes our offense a lot better.”…K-State head coach Chris Klieman, post-game

JM: I understand that injuries are part of the game, but Avery Johnson was healthy enough to start the last few games. Wasn’t he healthy enough to run the ball? He did have a 10-yard touchdown run last week against Arizona State and looked like his usual speedy self doing it. Klieman obviously thought Johnson was still the best option at quarterback, but the offensive limitations against Houston and Arizona State cost K-State a couple of games and a chance to play in the Big 12 championship. That is pretty frustrating as a fan.

“We told [Avery Johnson] we were probably going to get double digit carries. We were down Dylan [Edwards] today, so that was going to make him have to carry the football a little bit more. There were some things that we thought we could get in the run game with the quarterback. We were able to exploit those things early on, and then once the score got a little out of hand, then we kind of reeled him back in and didn’t want to run him as much.”…Chris Klieman, post-game

JM: This makes it sound like the coaches made a decision to run Avery more because Dylan Edwards is injured, not because Avery is healthier. I’m confused.

JM: Who exactly is running the show here? Chris Kieman or Avery Johnson? My interpretation of this conversation is Klieman asked Avery if he wanted to win and Avery said yes, so they decided to incorporate the quarterback run game back into the offense. Am I interpreting this correctly?

JM: K-State’s first offensive play of the game was a designed run to Avery Johnson out of the shotgun and he ran for 33 yards. The drive was capped off by this 21-yard touchdown run by Johnson. Where was this play-calling the last month? I can’t answer that, but K-State was off to the races in this game and never looked back.

JM: DJ Giddens was fantastic in this game. K=State led 20-0 after this touchdown run.

JM: It is always nice to see seniors perform well on senior day. Senior Brendan Mott’s interception set up this touchdown pass from Avery Johnson to Tre Spivey to give K-State a 27-3 lead going into halftime.

JM: The teams traded touchdowns in the second half, but the score never got close. This one was over at halftime. It was nice to watch a K-State victory that was never in doubt. Here is DJ Giddens’ second touchdown run of the game to start the fourth quarter.

JM: K-State took a 41 to 9 lead after this touchdown pass from Avery Johnson to Will Swanson.

JM: Game, set, match.

JM: Did Conor Riley calling plays from the sideline have anything to do with how well the offense performed? Probably not. I don’t think it makes that much of a difference. Actually, it’s probably better to call plays from the booth so you have a better view of the entire field.

JM: Not every quarterback on every team would take the time to interact with the fans like this. I’m glad Avery Johnson does.

JM: How quickly things change in a week. A depressing loss to Arizona State last week to a blowout victory over Cincinnati this week. That’s college football for you.

JM: DJ Giddens solidified his place on the Mount Rushmore of K-State running backs. And he might be back for one more season.

Offensive player of the game: DJ Giddens. 15 carries, 143 yards, two touchdowns, 9.5 yards per carry. Four catches for 39 yards. Amazing.

Defensive player of the game: Brendan Mott. Four tackles, one solo, one half sack, one tackle for loss and one interception and a 16-yard return to set up a touchdown. Great senior day performance!

K-State travels to Ames, Iowa to play Iowa State next Saturday night at 6:30. The Wildcats are still technically in the hunt to make the Big 12 championship game, but they need a LOT of help. They must beat Iowa State and they need two of the following three teams to lose: BYU, Colorado, and Arizona State. Unfortunately for K-State, those three teams play three of the worst teams in the Big 12. BYU plays Houston at home. Colorado plays Oklahoma State at home, and Arizona State plays Arizona on the road. Miracles can happen, but K-State needs three of them.

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