SE: New K-State FB Starters Eager to Help Team in Season Opener vs. Central Arkansas
Sep 01, 2017 | Football, Sports Extra
Nerves will build and heartbeats will speed up as K-State's season-opener against Central Arkansas on Saturday approaches. Football will officially be back in Manhattan, as 50,000-plus fans flock to Bill Snyder Family Stadium to watch the 19th-ranked Wildcats open their season.
When the game kicks off at 6:10 p.m., fans will see a pair of teams loaded with experience. To start, the Wildcats return 18 starters from last year's team that went 9-4, which included winning six of their last seven games.
Fans will also see some new faces, or old faces thrust into bigger roles.
Seven Wildcats listed at the top of the depth chart for Saturday's game, which will be available on ESPN3 and available through the WatchESPN app, could make the first start of their career, depending on what offensive formation or defensive package K-State starts the game in.
Those first-time starters include three on offense — Adam Holtorf at center, Alex Barnes at running back and Isaiah Zuber at receiver — and four on defense — three linebackers in Jayd Kirby, Trent Tanking and Sam Sizelove, with Denzel Goolsby stepping in at strong safety.
For each, being able to step onto the field for the first possession of the game is a moment they have worked for a long time to reach.
"That's a huge dream. My whole life, that's been what I want to do is play college football, and now to finally be accomplishing that is a good feeling," said Kirby, a senior who's been a force on special teams the last two seasons for K-State. "I'm just looking to make plays for my team, do my job and get a win for the team."
Earning a starting spot is not a simple or easy task. It requires dedication to one's craft and personal sacrifice, whether it's spending extra time studying film or moving to a completely new position like Goolsby did a year ago.
"It's crazy," said Goolsby, a redshirt sophomore who played running back at Bishop Carroll High School and receiver during his redshirt season at K-State, before moving to safety in 2016.
"Obviously, the first and foremost goal is to do your assignments and help the team as much as you possibly can," Goolsby added of starting, "but there's definitely kids from Bishop Carroll back home that I know still look up to me, and being in a position where I can hopefully inspire them do things, that's an incredible feeling because there's not a lot of guys, especially from west Wichita, that end up going to a major Division I school.
"To be in this spot now, I just kind of want to prove to them that if you're a kid from west Wichita, you can do it too."
Leading up to Saturday, Holtorf said the preparation is the same for a starter as it is for a reserve. The biggest difference, at least for him, will be sprinting out of the tunnel and knowing he'll be stepping between the white lines, not standing outside of them, when the game begins.
"Just the idea that I will be the one out there, running out of the tunnel, knowing I am the number one guy at that position, I think that will probably be the biggest adjustment," said Holtorf, a 6-foot-4 redshirt sophomore. "I'm very excited about it. It's going to be a great opportunity and I can't wait to get out there on the field on Saturday."
On the field, K-State will face a respected FCS program in Central Arkansas. The Bears also return 18 starters from 2016, when they went 10-3 and reached the second round of the FCS Playoffs.
"I think they're an extremely well coached football team and that's not just coach speak, so to speak, they truly are. When you watch them, you recognize that," K-State head coach Bill Snyder said of UCA in Monday's Big 12 teleconference. "Fundamentally, they're very sound. They play extremely hard. They're a tough-minded group of young guys."
Last season, the Bears' defense limited opponents to 72.8 rushing yards per game, which ranked as the second-best mark among FCS schools. Snyder, whose 2016 team set a school record for yards per rush average (5.27), said UCA's ability to stifle the run stems mostly from an overall level of speed that rivals any team K-State will face this season.
"They knock you back off the line of scrimmage. They play north and south quite well. Their backers are good, downhill people. Their secondary and their safeties get out and defend the run quite well, so it allows them to have a responsibility for every gap that exists because of how well their secondary can support against the run," Snyder said. "It doesn't make it easy. I think they're pretty good. You can see why they, statistically, were very good. But it's more than the statistics. They were a pretty talented football team."
Offensively, UCA returns its entire line, a senior quarterback in Hayden Hildebrand and its top running back from last season in Carlos Blackman. Together, they were able to produce a balanced attack in 2016, averaging 187.2 yards rushing and 237.2 yards passing that combined to rank 23rd in FCS for total offense.
"They can do a number of different things," Snyder said of UCA's offense. "In fact, they're similar to us. They have great diversity and some talented young guys to go along with it."
When the game kicks off at 6:10 p.m., fans will see a pair of teams loaded with experience. To start, the Wildcats return 18 starters from last year's team that went 9-4, which included winning six of their last seven games.
Fans will also see some new faces, or old faces thrust into bigger roles.
Seven Wildcats listed at the top of the depth chart for Saturday's game, which will be available on ESPN3 and available through the WatchESPN app, could make the first start of their career, depending on what offensive formation or defensive package K-State starts the game in.
Those first-time starters include three on offense — Adam Holtorf at center, Alex Barnes at running back and Isaiah Zuber at receiver — and four on defense — three linebackers in Jayd Kirby, Trent Tanking and Sam Sizelove, with Denzel Goolsby stepping in at strong safety.
For each, being able to step onto the field for the first possession of the game is a moment they have worked for a long time to reach.
"That's a huge dream. My whole life, that's been what I want to do is play college football, and now to finally be accomplishing that is a good feeling," said Kirby, a senior who's been a force on special teams the last two seasons for K-State. "I'm just looking to make plays for my team, do my job and get a win for the team."
Earning a starting spot is not a simple or easy task. It requires dedication to one's craft and personal sacrifice, whether it's spending extra time studying film or moving to a completely new position like Goolsby did a year ago.
"It's crazy," said Goolsby, a redshirt sophomore who played running back at Bishop Carroll High School and receiver during his redshirt season at K-State, before moving to safety in 2016.
"Obviously, the first and foremost goal is to do your assignments and help the team as much as you possibly can," Goolsby added of starting, "but there's definitely kids from Bishop Carroll back home that I know still look up to me, and being in a position where I can hopefully inspire them do things, that's an incredible feeling because there's not a lot of guys, especially from west Wichita, that end up going to a major Division I school.
"To be in this spot now, I just kind of want to prove to them that if you're a kid from west Wichita, you can do it too."
Leading up to Saturday, Holtorf said the preparation is the same for a starter as it is for a reserve. The biggest difference, at least for him, will be sprinting out of the tunnel and knowing he'll be stepping between the white lines, not standing outside of them, when the game begins.
"Just the idea that I will be the one out there, running out of the tunnel, knowing I am the number one guy at that position, I think that will probably be the biggest adjustment," said Holtorf, a 6-foot-4 redshirt sophomore. "I'm very excited about it. It's going to be a great opportunity and I can't wait to get out there on the field on Saturday."
On the field, K-State will face a respected FCS program in Central Arkansas. The Bears also return 18 starters from 2016, when they went 10-3 and reached the second round of the FCS Playoffs.
"I think they're an extremely well coached football team and that's not just coach speak, so to speak, they truly are. When you watch them, you recognize that," K-State head coach Bill Snyder said of UCA in Monday's Big 12 teleconference. "Fundamentally, they're very sound. They play extremely hard. They're a tough-minded group of young guys."
Last season, the Bears' defense limited opponents to 72.8 rushing yards per game, which ranked as the second-best mark among FCS schools. Snyder, whose 2016 team set a school record for yards per rush average (5.27), said UCA's ability to stifle the run stems mostly from an overall level of speed that rivals any team K-State will face this season.
"They knock you back off the line of scrimmage. They play north and south quite well. Their backers are good, downhill people. Their secondary and their safeties get out and defend the run quite well, so it allows them to have a responsibility for every gap that exists because of how well their secondary can support against the run," Snyder said. "It doesn't make it easy. I think they're pretty good. You can see why they, statistically, were very good. But it's more than the statistics. They were a pretty talented football team."
Offensively, UCA returns its entire line, a senior quarterback in Hayden Hildebrand and its top running back from last season in Carlos Blackman. Together, they were able to produce a balanced attack in 2016, averaging 187.2 yards rushing and 237.2 yards passing that combined to rank 23rd in FCS for total offense.
"They can do a number of different things," Snyder said of UCA's offense. "In fact, they're similar to us. They have great diversity and some talented young guys to go along with it."
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