SE: K-State Football Well Represented at Big 12 Media Days
Jul 18, 2018 | Football, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
FRISCO, Texas —Side by side, Colby Moore, Dalton Risner, Alex Delton and Skylar Thompson sat on the field level of The Star as K-State's representatives for the annual Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday afternoon.
Collectively, the four understand and represent K-State football — its culture, values and history — as well as possible.
"Coach does not just pick four random guys," Delton, a redshirt junior, said. "To be invited was an honor."
"We're guys who have put a lot of time into this university, know how things work, are committed to the program, committed to making our team the best it can be," added Risner. "I feel like we represent our team well, and that's not to say that there's not several guys back home that could have represented our team just as well."
Moore described the group as "100 percent fitting" to represent the program.
"It shows characters and players from K-State football, what they've turned into," he said. "It just shows what our coaches are able to take a kid from, change him and mold him into."
To start, Risner was not recruited heavily out of the small town of Wiggins, Colorado, at least not to the degree that he probably deserved in hindsight.
The fifth-year senior now enters his final campaign as one of the most respected offensive linemen in the country. A captain the past two seasons, Risner has earned All-America honors as a center and a right tackle. Risner is a strong example of the versatility offensive line coach Charlie Dickey, the man whom convinced him to come to K-State, has instilled in his players for years.
Moore fits another prototypical K-State mold. A walk-on from Argyle, Texas, he used special teams as his way onto the field and, this spring, his way to earn a scholarship. The fifth-year senior defensive back, who has played safety, receiver and some scout team quarterback at K-State, has finished each the last three seasons fourth or better in terms of number of special teams tackles.
Delton and Thompson, battling for K-State's starting quarterback spot, both bring a patented K-State vibe to the position: Versatility.
An in-state product out of Hays, Delton threw for 637 yards and ran for 500 last season. He finished last year as the offensive sparkplug that helped propel K-State to a 35-17 win over UCLA in the Cactus Bowl.
Thompson collected 689 yards through the air and ran for another 237 in 2017. His highlight outing included throwing for 204 yards and three touchdowns, while also running for 93 yards and another score, in K-State's road win over No. 10 Oklahoma State.
"It's a very unique group," Thompson, a redshirt sophomore, said of the four representatives. "I think it's very deserving for all of us, with how we represent our program and how we carry ourselves as leaders. That's what Coach Snyder wants are players who are going to come down here and represent our school the right way."
All four answered every question they expected — about themselves, their team, their teammates, their coach, their conference opponents. Then, there were a few they did not see coming.
"I got asked probably everything," Delton said, "from your girlfriend's favorite music to if you had one hour to save in the day, what would you do with it?"
"I got asked what the strangest thing I've searched for on Google was. I had no idea. I've probably searched so many things that I couldn't name only one of them," Thompson said. "Somebody asked a fun fact about me and I couldn't think of a fun fact about me, so I ended up saying I could touch my tongue to my nose."
Together they echoed confidence that, like themselves, this K-State team possesses the ability to follow a trend set by Snyder-coached teams, to outperform outside expectations.
Since 2011, when the Wildcats are picked sixth or worse in the conference's preseason poll they have finished an average of three spots higher than their predicted finish. K-State was slotted to finish sixth in this year's Big 12 Preseason Media Poll.
"Who cares? We dictate our own season," Risner said. "I love that we're in sixth. We're going to prove people wrong."
FRISCO, Texas —Side by side, Colby Moore, Dalton Risner, Alex Delton and Skylar Thompson sat on the field level of The Star as K-State's representatives for the annual Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday afternoon.
Collectively, the four understand and represent K-State football — its culture, values and history — as well as possible.
"Coach does not just pick four random guys," Delton, a redshirt junior, said. "To be invited was an honor."
"We're guys who have put a lot of time into this university, know how things work, are committed to the program, committed to making our team the best it can be," added Risner. "I feel like we represent our team well, and that's not to say that there's not several guys back home that could have represented our team just as well."
Moore described the group as "100 percent fitting" to represent the program.
"It shows characters and players from K-State football, what they've turned into," he said. "It just shows what our coaches are able to take a kid from, change him and mold him into."
To start, Risner was not recruited heavily out of the small town of Wiggins, Colorado, at least not to the degree that he probably deserved in hindsight.
The fifth-year senior now enters his final campaign as one of the most respected offensive linemen in the country. A captain the past two seasons, Risner has earned All-America honors as a center and a right tackle. Risner is a strong example of the versatility offensive line coach Charlie Dickey, the man whom convinced him to come to K-State, has instilled in his players for years.
Moore fits another prototypical K-State mold. A walk-on from Argyle, Texas, he used special teams as his way onto the field and, this spring, his way to earn a scholarship. The fifth-year senior defensive back, who has played safety, receiver and some scout team quarterback at K-State, has finished each the last three seasons fourth or better in terms of number of special teams tackles.
Delton and Thompson, battling for K-State's starting quarterback spot, both bring a patented K-State vibe to the position: Versatility.
An in-state product out of Hays, Delton threw for 637 yards and ran for 500 last season. He finished last year as the offensive sparkplug that helped propel K-State to a 35-17 win over UCLA in the Cactus Bowl.
Thompson collected 689 yards through the air and ran for another 237 in 2017. His highlight outing included throwing for 204 yards and three touchdowns, while also running for 93 yards and another score, in K-State's road win over No. 10 Oklahoma State.
"It's a very unique group," Thompson, a redshirt sophomore, said of the four representatives. "I think it's very deserving for all of us, with how we represent our program and how we carry ourselves as leaders. That's what Coach Snyder wants are players who are going to come down here and represent our school the right way."
All four answered every question they expected — about themselves, their team, their teammates, their coach, their conference opponents. Then, there were a few they did not see coming.
"I got asked probably everything," Delton said, "from your girlfriend's favorite music to if you had one hour to save in the day, what would you do with it?"
"I got asked what the strangest thing I've searched for on Google was. I had no idea. I've probably searched so many things that I couldn't name only one of them," Thompson said. "Somebody asked a fun fact about me and I couldn't think of a fun fact about me, so I ended up saying I could touch my tongue to my nose."
Together they echoed confidence that, like themselves, this K-State team possesses the ability to follow a trend set by Snyder-coached teams, to outperform outside expectations.
Since 2011, when the Wildcats are picked sixth or worse in the conference's preseason poll they have finished an average of three spots higher than their predicted finish. K-State was slotted to finish sixth in this year's Big 12 Preseason Media Poll.
"Who cares? We dictate our own season," Risner said. "I love that we're in sixth. We're going to prove people wrong."
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