From The Couch – Welcome To The Big 12, Arizona!
Wow, that was fun! A raucous home crowd watched K-State beat number 18 Arizona 31 to 7 on Friday night behind the right arm and legs of Avery Johnson and a spectacular defensive performance. Johnson was 14 of 23 passing for 156 yards, two touchdowns through the air, and added 110 yards rushing. After allowing an opening drive touchdown, the K-State defense pitched a shutout the rest of the game and suffocated the high-powered Arizona offense most of the night.
Here are the sights and sounds from the night, along with post-game quotes from the coaching staff and players.
“First things first, the crowd, the crowd, the crowd. That was as loud as I’ve ever heard the Bill, and I knew they were going to be cranked up when I came in the parking lot. They were electric tonight, and they helped us win that football game. I cannot thank our fans and our fan base enough, they were loud and it affected their offense, so that’s the first thing.”…Head coach Chris Klieman, post-game
JM: My ears were ringing a couple of times during the game because of the noise. The fans brought the energy. It was a fantastic college football environment.
JM: The Arizona bettors were probably feeling pretty good after Arizona scored a touchdown on their first drive of the game. It would be their only score of the night. I had a good feeling going into the game that K-State would win easily, but I wasn’t confident to put money on it. Should have gone with my gut!
JM: I felt pretty confident when K-State immediately answered with a touchdown.
“Two plays changed this game and turned it around. Kennan Garber’s interception when they were going in to score the second time they had the ball, big time pick.”…Chris Klieman, post-game
JM: Arizona was driving to go ahead in the game, but this interception by Garber saved the day. This happened right in front of us and I remember thinking “crap, that receiver is wide open” and then Garber coming into my peripheral vision from the left like a blur to get the interception. What a fantastic play.
JM: Watch the video again and listen to the crowd after the interception. LOUD!
“He was in zone, he was in a deep third on a zone, and the other corner or the other safety was converging as well, and he read the quarterback’s [Noah Fifita] eyes. Keenan’s got a second gear, he’s got another gear, and for him to go jump that thing was a big time play.”…Chris Klieman, post-game
JM: Garber definitely saw the pass coming and Fifita put a little too much air under it.
“And then I said in the pregame meal, I think our punt return can get a touchdown today and they kicked it, and it was supposed to be a middle return, and we gave him [Dylan Edwards] the opportunity, if he feels he can get the edge, to take it, and he took the edge, and it was gone, and it was over, and it was fun to watch.”…Chris Klieman, post-game
JM: The prophet Kleiman strikes again….
JM: Did the “Dylan Edwards needs more touches” crowd mean on punt returns as well? Edwards was the fastest player on the field on that play and it showed on that spectacular return.
JM: This play was the head-shaking moment of the game. A more mature, experienced Avery Johnson would have thrown the ball away when he scrambled to his left instead of scrambling back to his right and letting time expire in the half. K-State should have been up 10 at the half with a field goal instead of seven. Instead of blaming his quarterback, Chris Klieman took all the blame…
“…it is all on me at the end of the first half, it is all on me. I’ve got to be better in that situation and I should have just called the time out. That’s not on the kid [Avery Johnson], that is 100% on me, and I told him that.”…Chris Klieman, post-game
JM: Avery Johnson was having none of that….
JM: Johnson showed some maturity by stepping up and taking the blame, but that is easier to do after a victory than after a loss.
“That’s on me. Either I should have called time out with 13 seconds left and said, throw it away, we’ll kick the field goal. If it’s not there, throw it out of the end zone. Totally on me. Totally on me. Terrible gaffe, and I’m not accustomed making those mistakes, and I’ll learn from it, and it won’t happen again.”…Chris Klieman, post-game
JM: Klieman could have prevented the situation, but Johnson still should have known the clock was running out. Luckily, this did not cost them the game.
JM: The touchdown in the video above put K-State up 21-7 after the teams exchanged punts to start the second half. K-State added another touchdown on a one-yard touchdown run by DJ Giddens, and then got a 35-yard field goal from Chris Tennant in the fourth quarter to seal the 31-7 win.
JM: The K-State defense adjusted after the first drive of the game and played pretty well overall. Arizona has at least one receiver that will play in the NFL and their quarterback is no slouch, either. They were bound to get some yards in this game. Chris Klieman gave credit to his defense after the game….
“They (Arizona) ran the ball pretty well in that first drive, they found 4 [Tetairoa McMillian] a couple of times, they methodically moved it down, didn’t give up any big plays, and they scored, and it was 14 plays. And I was like, ‘Okay, guys, now you got speed of the game.’ And then after that, once we took away the run and made them one dimensional, we were in good shape, because that quarterback could scramble, he dropped back 15, 18, yards, he was scrambling, we weren’t going to sack him, pretty much. We just had to play great coverage, and we were able to do that. We got off the field a number of times at critical, critical moments. And hats off, we played a ton of guys on defense, as we always do, and they all played well.”…Chris Klieman, post-game
JM: One of the reasons that I thought K-State might win handily is the home crowd. I don’t think Arizona’s players were used to playing in an environment like that, and Arizona football beat reporter Justin Spears confirmed that suspicion.
“…our quarterback’s a pretty good player and he rose up tonight when we needed him to, and played really good football, and was really calm, and made some plays with his feet, made some plays with his legs, and that was a fun performance to watch him.”…Chris Klieman, post-game
JM: Avery Johnson is just going to get better and better. Enjoy these highlights from last night….
“I just wouldn’t want to be on the other side of it. DJ always makes the first guy miss, he’s going to run guys over, run through you. Dylan, he’s the same way, he’s quick, stops his feet, gets you to stop your feet, and then he just gets going right again. Being able to have all three of us with that offensive line blocking for us each snap makes it hard on defenses.”…Quarterback Avery Johnson, post-game
JM: K-State’s offense is going to get better and better with each game, and when they really get things rolling, this team is going to be scary good. Enjoy the ride, my friends.
“I thought our communication was good, we had a good plan for that. We worked with noise all week. I thought they handled it well, but I thought the crowd was great, that was a great college football game day atmosphere. I think that part of it was exciting, and it was fun to be a part of it. And like I said, I need to coach this team better because I wish we could play better and make it more fun.”…Brent Brennan, Arizona head coach, post-game
JM: Arizona’s head coach gave props to the crowd, too. Good job, K-Staters!
Yesterday was Harley Day. Here is a video I took from our seats….
JM: Next week, K-State plays at BYU. The game kicks at 9:30 PM central time. I’ll have the coffee pot going!
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