Expert Analysis: How Kansas State pulled away from UCF
Kansas State offensive personnel thoughts
Only having to punt once means it was a great day for the Kansas State offense.
Most of it was behind the legs of DJ Giddens. He was special and had an historic performance after racking up 207 yards on the ground and another 86 through the air. There is not enough that we can say about what he did for the Wildcats. He just ran really hard, was even elusive and showed great vision.
It is also prudent to shout out Anthony Frias. He was used just sparingly but played well in that limited number of snaps.
I thought Will Howard was solid. There are some throws that he would like to have back, namely the few that he was off by a whisker that could have resulted in big gains to both of Garrett Oakley and Jadon Jackson.
One ball was picked off, though it was a great play by the cornerback and Keagan Johnson didn’t really help Howard at all by how he ran the route. A few others could have been intercepted. I wouldn’t call Howard sharp but he was effective enough.
The K-State offensive line took another step in the right direction. Carver Willis continues to improve. Having Christian Duffie back was huge. Hayden Gillum had his best game yet and Cooper Beebe was a beast as always.
While Ben Sinnott is a dangerous weapon and their most consistent pass-catching option through four games, he could still work on his blocking at this point. He was joined at tight end this week by Garrett Oakley. We shared it before but sources think he is going to be a stud, and he showed flashes of that against UCF.
Nobody blew me away in the Kansas State receiver room. Phillip Brooks has been the most productive and the most reliable through four games. Jackson has hung around, too. They need a huge splash from someone and it has yet to happen.
K-State defensive personnel thoughts
The defensive line was not nearly as effective as the offense. K-State allowed just way too many big plays. But when removing the last score that was really pressed for by Gus Malzahn by using timeouts for some reason, the Wildcats did just allow only 24 points on 10 drives.
You’ll take that if you’re Chris Klieman and Joe Klanderman. Additionally, UCF scored a touchdown with 13:40 remaining in the third quarter and never again when eliminating that garbage score at the end of the game.
So, for as bad as it seemed at points because of how they handled a share of third and longs and fourth and longs, the Kansas State defense actually tightened up and played a solid game when peering into the numbers.
It’s kind of like Howard, there are moments that make you ask why and pull your hair out a little bit, but it’s also hard to be frustrated with the performance at the end of day when you apply the appropriate perspective to it.
Kansas State/USA Today
Defensive end Khalid Duke was the best player up front, though they all played pretty well. Desmond Purnell was the best player on the entire defense and it wasn’t close. K-State didn’t tackle well or take great angles as a team, but Purnell saved them by doing so and even forcing a fumble.
I thought it was a game that Austin Moore probably wants back. That’s not to say he was awful, but I think he’s disappointed a bit in a few of his missed tackles. He’s usually better than that. Jake Clifton and Austin Romaine were also toyed with a bit by Malzahn and the UCF offense but eventually settled.
The secondary was responsible for a handful of the explosive plays from the Knights. They’ll improve, but clearly the inexperience has caused them to be a bit of a work in progress.
Will Lee was beat over the top more than just the one long score indicated, and that is why the snap count of Keenan Garber is pretty competitive with his. The safeties were again caught being too aggressive at times as well. But Marques Sigle responded with a better game.
Fan’s notable numbers
1. Perspective for Big 12 opener: There were ugly parts of the game and Kansas State had plenty of struggles, but UCF is a good program with a good coach. While we all want to see more consistency from the Wildcats, especially given the expectations entering the year, I think it’s worthwhile to remember that UCF is a winning program and has been for a while. I wrote this about the Knights in my summer preview: In the last 18 seasons, UCF has won at least eight games 12 times and finished with double-digit amount of wins in six seasons. They have 14 bowls in that span, including seven straight and in 10 of the last 11 seasons. Five times they have finished the season ranked in the last 13 seasons, including a pair of top 10 finishes. Even with John Rhys Plumlee out, it was a solid win for K-State, especially on a night where they made plenty of mistakes but still were up by 20 before a garbage time touchdown.
2. Kansas State rush offense: This was more of what fans expected coming into the season. For most of the night the Wildcats were able to bully the Knights. DJ Giddens was spectacular, rushing for 207 yards on 30 carries for an average of 6.9 yards per rush. Will Howard added another 64 yards on seven carries for 9.1 yards per run. Kansas State finished at 7.4 yards per carry with a success rate of 53.8 percent.
3. K-State pass offense: The Wildcats struggled in the passing game, averaging only 5.8 yards per play with a 41.9 percent success rate, even though they finished with 248 yards through the air (including sacks). In the second half the success rate was just 38.5 percent, as K-State gained only 62 yards. Howard completed 64 percent of his passes with no scores and had another interception. His accuracy was a mixed bag with multiple good throws but also some long misses. Giddens was the leading receiver with 86 yards on eight catches and an 80 percent catch rate (based on targets). Brooks finished with six receptions and 42 yards (60 percent), while Ben Sinnott added 64 yards on five catches (63 percent). It didn’t help that every pass catcher besides Brooks and Sinnott was dinged up either coming into the night or got banged up at some point during the game.
4. Kansas State run defense: It was a very rough first half. Kansas State allowed the Knights to gain 111 yards on 15 carries, good for an average of 7.4 yards per carry and a 60 percent success rate. K-State really turned that around in the second half, allowing only one successful rush on 10 tries and 5.2 yards per carry. That’s still a lot, but that was magnified by one 23-yard run. UCF gained only 31 yards on their other nine carries. (My numbers do not include UCF’s final garbage scoring drive).
5. K-State pass defense: Once again the explosive play was the issue. UCF completed passes of 69, 46, 27 and 20 yards. Their other 18 pass calls gained a total of 17 yards (including sacks), good for less than a yard per play and a 22.2 percent success rate. The second half saw Kansas State hold UCF to 62 yards passing on 11 pass calls for a success rate of only 36.4 percent.
6. Kansas State special teams: UCF won average starting field position by more than six yards, an indictment on the K-State special teams. The Knights averaged over 30 yards on three kickoff returns and had a 12-yard punt return. They made one of two field goals, though the miss was from 52 yards. They also had a pair of punts for an average of 39 yards with one being downed inside the 20 and allowed no punt return yardage. The Wildcats gained only 50 yards on four kickoff returns, had a kickoff go out of bounds and missed a 26-yard field goal and extra point. The only highlight was a 69-yard Jack Blumer punt that netted 57 yards even after the 12-yard return and some trickery by the Knights.
7. Second half defense: K-State was impressive on the defensive side of the ball in the second half, even with the opening score. UCF had 5.4 yards per play and a success rate of just 23.8 percent while gaining 114 yards before their garbage drive after Kansas State put the game away with a 20-point lead.
Will Howard/Kansas State Athletics
Kansas State snap counts
OFFENSE
Cooper Beebe: 85
Hayden Gillum: 85
KT Leveston: 85 (I have questions about this number since he had to leave the game.)
Will Howard: 85
Ben Sinnott: 80
Phillip Brooks: 80
DJ Giddens: 78
Hadley Panzer: 61
Jadon Jackson: 61
Keagan Johnson: 52
Christian Duffie: 49
Carver Willis: 36
Taylor Poitier: 24
Garrett Oakley: 20
Will Swanson: 19
Seth Porter: 18
Anthony Frias: 7
Xavier Loyd: 5
Christian Moore: 3
RJ Garcia: 2
Jevon Banks/Kansas State Athletics
DEFENSE
Marques Sigle: 61
Kobe Savage: 60
Jacob Parrish: 59
Austin Moore: 54
Desmond Purnell: 54
VJ Payne: 52
Khalid Duke: 44
Brendan Mott: 41
Austin Romaine: 40
Will Lee: 40
Keenan Garber: 39
Uso Seumalo: 34
Jake Clifton: 24
Nate Matlack: 23
Jevon Banks: 17
Cody Stufflebean: 16
Damian Ilalio: 11
Colby McCalister: 9
Jack Fabris: 2
Jordan Wright: 1
Tobi Osunsanmi: 1
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