SE: Thompson Spreads Ball Around in 41-17 Win vs. UTSA
Sep 16, 2018 | Football, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Skylar Thompson knew he had a lot of weapons to work with this season. In K-State's 41-17 win over UTSA on Saturday, he proved it in front of more than 50,000 Wildcat fans in Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Thompson connected with seven different receivers in K-State's dominant win, which included 449 yards of total offense. The redshirt sophomore quarterback finished 13-of-18 for a career-high 213 yards and a pair of touchdowns — all of which occurred in the first half. He also ran for a team-leading 66 yards and a score.
"I knew that we were capable of it all along," Thompson said. "We just needed to put everything together. Coming into the game, we had a lot of confidence with what we were doing and what we were calling. Some guys made some great plays and the o-line gave me time to throw the ball, and I was able to put it where I wanted to."
Thompson wasted little time spreading out the ball, either.
He led a 10-play, 78-yard scoring drive to open the game. He went 4-for-4 for 55 yards on the drive, hooking up with three different receivers to help set the tone for K-State's offense.
"It speaks for itself, as far as the potential that we have," Thompson said of getting the ball to several receivers. "I just felt like we needed to get some rhythm going and some confidence, and I felt like we got that."
With 6:59 left in the second quarter, Dalton Schoen became the seventh Wildcat to catch a pass from Thompson when he pulled in a 42-yard touchdown pass to put K-State up 17-7. It marked the first time seven different Wildcats recorded a catch in a game since the 2016 season against Oklahoma.
"I thought we did a good job of trying to attack them in a lot of different areas. I really liked how we were aggressive and putting it out there but also putting out high-percentage throws and spreading the ball around, getting it to a lot of guys," Schoen said. "We have a lot of weapons in this offense."
Thompson helped introduce a few more of those weapons. Before Schoen's catch, Chabastin Taylor, a 6-foot-4 freshman receiver, and Blaise Gammon, a junior tight end, each pulled in their first career catch as a Wildcat.
Senior receiver Zach Reuter also grabbed a pair of passes for a career-high 45 yards, including a 37-yard catch to spark K-State's first score of the game. Alex Barnes joined the passing attack not long after. The junior running back snagged a 30-yard pass on a wheel route out of the backfield to set up one of Blake Lynch's two field goals.
"Having a guy like Skylar who can take advantage of some one-on-one opportunities on the outside, whenever they do stack the box, it really is special. It's pick your poison, pretty much. Today, they took away the ground game but Skylar's going to be able to have the type of game like he did today," Barnes said. "It was just him going through his reads, staying calm, composed, going through the entire progression, finding the guy who's open every play and he did a really good job of that."
Isaiah Zuber, who finished with a career-high 144 receiving yards and two touchdowns, caught six of his seven passes from Thompson. His sixth grab came after he used an effective stutter step to get open for a 23-yard touchdown catch. With it, Thompson surpassed his previous career-high (204) for passing yards in a game set in last season's win at Oklahoma State.
"The receivers were making great plays, the offensive line was making a lot of good blocks and Barnes was seeing everything," Thompson said, as K-State opens its Big 12 schedule next Saturday at No. 14/15 West Virginia. "It was good to see us click as a whole and get some stuff going before we go into Morgantown next week."
"We do have a lot of guys with ability," Barnes added. "It's really starting to click. We're not quite there but we're well on our way."
Skylar Thompson knew he had a lot of weapons to work with this season. In K-State's 41-17 win over UTSA on Saturday, he proved it in front of more than 50,000 Wildcat fans in Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Thompson connected with seven different receivers in K-State's dominant win, which included 449 yards of total offense. The redshirt sophomore quarterback finished 13-of-18 for a career-high 213 yards and a pair of touchdowns — all of which occurred in the first half. He also ran for a team-leading 66 yards and a score.
"I knew that we were capable of it all along," Thompson said. "We just needed to put everything together. Coming into the game, we had a lot of confidence with what we were doing and what we were calling. Some guys made some great plays and the o-line gave me time to throw the ball, and I was able to put it where I wanted to."
Thompson wasted little time spreading out the ball, either.
He led a 10-play, 78-yard scoring drive to open the game. He went 4-for-4 for 55 yards on the drive, hooking up with three different receivers to help set the tone for K-State's offense.
"It speaks for itself, as far as the potential that we have," Thompson said of getting the ball to several receivers. "I just felt like we needed to get some rhythm going and some confidence, and I felt like we got that."
With 6:59 left in the second quarter, Dalton Schoen became the seventh Wildcat to catch a pass from Thompson when he pulled in a 42-yard touchdown pass to put K-State up 17-7. It marked the first time seven different Wildcats recorded a catch in a game since the 2016 season against Oklahoma.
"I thought we did a good job of trying to attack them in a lot of different areas. I really liked how we were aggressive and putting it out there but also putting out high-percentage throws and spreading the ball around, getting it to a lot of guys," Schoen said. "We have a lot of weapons in this offense."
Thompson helped introduce a few more of those weapons. Before Schoen's catch, Chabastin Taylor, a 6-foot-4 freshman receiver, and Blaise Gammon, a junior tight end, each pulled in their first career catch as a Wildcat.
Senior receiver Zach Reuter also grabbed a pair of passes for a career-high 45 yards, including a 37-yard catch to spark K-State's first score of the game. Alex Barnes joined the passing attack not long after. The junior running back snagged a 30-yard pass on a wheel route out of the backfield to set up one of Blake Lynch's two field goals.
"Having a guy like Skylar who can take advantage of some one-on-one opportunities on the outside, whenever they do stack the box, it really is special. It's pick your poison, pretty much. Today, they took away the ground game but Skylar's going to be able to have the type of game like he did today," Barnes said. "It was just him going through his reads, staying calm, composed, going through the entire progression, finding the guy who's open every play and he did a really good job of that."
Isaiah Zuber, who finished with a career-high 144 receiving yards and two touchdowns, caught six of his seven passes from Thompson. His sixth grab came after he used an effective stutter step to get open for a 23-yard touchdown catch. With it, Thompson surpassed his previous career-high (204) for passing yards in a game set in last season's win at Oklahoma State.
"The receivers were making great plays, the offensive line was making a lot of good blocks and Barnes was seeing everything," Thompson said, as K-State opens its Big 12 schedule next Saturday at No. 14/15 West Virginia. "It was good to see us click as a whole and get some stuff going before we go into Morgantown next week."
"We do have a lot of guys with ability," Barnes added. "It's really starting to click. We're not quite there but we're well on our way."
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