Kansas State Spring Football Preview: Wildcats Begin Defense of Big 12 Title
Apr 07, 2004 | Football
Kansas State Spring Football Preview: Wildcats Begin Defense of Big 12 Title
Fresh off an 11-4 campaign that was the program's sixth 11-win season in the last seven years - a feat duplicated by only one other program in the history of college football - K-State will wear the bulls’ eye of defending champion on its chest for the first time this season after winning its inaugural Big 12 title and playing in its first BCS bowl a year ago.
Not an easy task for a team that will be without a 30-man senior class that included 14 starters and helped to produce a sparkling 39-15 (.722) record over the past four seasons.
Still, it's not like graduation has left
"The nature of the game every year is that some numbers disappear," said head coach Bill Snyder, who enters his 16th season at
Snyder's sentiments ring as an example of the team philosophy that has served him so well during his tenure at
So it's not surprising that he views K-State's 15 spring workouts as crucial to laying a solid foundation for the possibility of a another successful campaign.
"What takes place in spring practice will probably be as relative to the success of this football team as anything else that they will do," said Snyder. "I think our youngsters have identified quite well with where they are as a team. I think they have made improvements in those things that needed improving through the course of the out-of-season program and I think they have drawn themselves closer together to create that chemistry. Things are moving in the right direction at this point in time."
And the ability to maintain that positive momentum and forward progress this spring will be key to the team's fortunes in 2004.
Position-by-Position Breakdown
Offense
Since Snyder’s arrival at
Six starters return from that unit, including the bulk of the offensive line (tackles Jeromey Clary and Jon Doty and guard now center Mike Johnson), the tight end (Brian Casey), a wide receiver (Antoine Polite) and running back (Sproles).
Their departures leave a number of positions up for grabs and should make for a competition-filled and exciting spring as replacements are sought to maintain K-State’s tradition of prominence on that side of the ball.
Quarterback
The No. 1 question surrounding
The leading candidate on the eve of spring drills is sophomore Dylan Meier, who sits atop the two-deep after concluding the 2003 season as K-State’s No. 2 quarterback. As a redshirt freshman, Meier saw time under center in four games, completing 5-of-8 passes for 78 yards and finished the season as the Wildcats’ third leading rusher with 149 yards on just 16 attempts (9.3 ypc) with three touchdowns.
"Dylan is a mature guy for his age and on Saturday afternoons there is going to be a lot of pressure," said Snyder. "But I feel he is up to dealing with that and I am anxious to get started with him taking the maximum amount of reps. I am anxious to see him continue to grow because we like what we have seen in him up to this point in time.”
Pushing Meier for playing time will be
During 2003, Webb was considered one of the top contributor’s on
Highly-touted preps Allan Evridge and Nick Patton will arrive on campus over the summer and figure to push the competition level up a notch when the Wildcats enter preseason camp.
Offensive Line
With three returning starters up front from a unit that led the Big 12 in sacks allowed per game and helped the Wildcats rank ninth in the nation in rushing, Kansas State’s offensive line figures to be one of the team’s more solid position groups.
Clary, a sophomore, and Doty, a senior, are back to bookend the line after starting 15 games each a year ago. Both made huge progress last season, with Doty ending the year as an honorable mention All-Big 12 choice by The Associated Press.
Johnson, also an AP honorable mention All-Big 12 performer in 2003 and a two-year starter at guard, shifts over one spot for 2004 and will take over at center.
The guard positions should see some of the spring’s most hotly-contested battles as K-State seeks replacements for Leckey and Lilja.
"There's no doubt we have to account for some losses on the interior portion of our offensive line," said Snyder. "But we have a number of guys who have the capacity to give us greater depth than we have had. Having both starting tackles back in an advantage, quite obviously, but we would like to think that some of these guys are right on the verge of acquitting themselves as very good offensive lineman."
Travis Tripplett, a massive senior who played sparingly last season after transferring from
Wide Receiver
At first glance,
Upon further inspection, however, the Wildcats of 2004 just may be deeper in across-the-board talent at this spot than any on the team.
"This is a group I am anxious to see," Snyder said of the wide receivers. "I think we have the capacity, and therefore the opportunity, to be deeper at that position with some young guys, who, if they continue their development, can be quality wide receivers in addition to the new guys that have coming into the program. It's really a pretty good mix to draw from, which gives us the capacity to have good talent on the field and be much better balanced than we were a year ago."
No less than eight players will figure in the mix this spring as an exciting blend of returnees and newcomers vie for playing time.
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