SE: Fresh Off Bye, K-State Remains Focused on Journey Ahead
Oct 15, 2021 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Ever the vocal motivator and beacon of positivity for a Kansas State team that leans on its veteran leadership, Noah Johnson earlier in the week wore a yellow ballcap embroidered with a stencil smiley face. But the sixth-year senior center struck a serious tone in discussing the gravidity of the Wildcats' upcoming undertaking — a hopeful quest on Saturday night in Manhattan to avenge last season's stinging 45-0 loss at Iowa State.
"The way they put it on us last year, we can't live in the past, but this is a big game for us," Johnson said. "Iowa State is going to bring their best, and they're a really good team. They beat us pretty bad last year, but we're a different team this year. We're not living off past successes or failures, we're living in the present."
K-State, 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the Big 12 Conference, and Iowa State, 3-2 and 1-1, both have been ranked this season, but each now enter the 6:30 p.m. kickoff on ESPN2 in danger of dropping to .500 at the midpoint of the season. The Cyclones were No. 7 in the preseason — their highest ranking in AP Poll history — but fell out of the AP Top 25 by Week 5; the Wildcats were ranked No. 25 in Week 4.
Both teams have been close in their setbacks. Iowa State suffered a 21-17 loss to No. 10 Iowa and a 31-29 loss at Baylor. K-State followed a 31-20 loss at Oklahoma State by falling just short of No. 6 Oklahoma 37-31, giving the Wildcats seven-straight Big 12 losses dating to last season.
"They've lost two games against pretty good teams just like we've lost two games against really good teams, and it's hard to win college games against really good opponents," K-State head coach Chris Klieman said. "You have to play your best and to do that you have to be able to prepare Monday through Friday. You can't just show up on Saturday. So, that's what we have to do this week is have a great week of preparation and a great week of game planning and have our guys truly understand the game plan so we can execute at a high level."
Three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year Matt Campbell has led Iowa State to a 38-30 record in six seasons and the Cyclones' 14-2 mark in games played in October since 2017 ties for the second-most wins nationally by a Power 5 team in that span.
The Wildcats and Cyclones both come off a bye week.
"For us, it's how do we stay on track, continue to improve, practice really hard and have great intent knowing that if we can get better through the bye week it'll allow us to stay on the trajectory that we feel like we're going," Campbell said of the bye week. "We can continue to get better as the season goes."
The overwhelming narrative that has surrounded this matchup remains "Farmageddon," the moniker bestowed upon this rivalry when the K-State/Iowa State matchup was moved to Arrowhead Stadium in 2009 and 2010. Prior to last season's game, K-State had won 11 of the previous 12 games in the series, and 10 of those were decided by single digits, including seven by a touchdown or less.
K-State trails the fifth-longest continuously-played series in the Football Bowl Subdivision 51-49-4 — a closeness in record that parallels the close identity shared by the two storied land-grant universities that each carry an enrollment of around 20,000 and are grounded in agricultural roots and midwestern values.
"We have two very similar programs that seem to be built on the same values and cultures – under-recruited and undervalued guys who put in the work," Johnson said. "It shows on Saturday. Then you've got two programs in the Midwest, same type of ethos, same type of communities. It's really cool. I don't know how many other rivalries are based around farming but that's pretty cool. That's what makes K-State great. That's probably what makes Iowa State great too.
"It's a 6:30 p.m. night game between two great teams that need a win — man, what more could you ask for?"
Sixth-year senior quarterback Skylar Thompson embraces the similarities between the schools as well. Thompson said that he became close with Iowa State senior quarterback Brock Purdy when both attended the Manning Passing Academy this past June in Thibodaux, Louisiana, calling the two quarterbacks "really good friends." Additionally, Thompson said that he received a text message following last season's loss from Iowa State star running back Breece Hall to check on Thompson's recovery status after he missed the game due to a season-ending injury.
"They're good guys, they're good people, and it's a good program," Thompson said. "It's going to be a very hard-fought game. That's what you want. Those are the most-fun games. And it's a highly-competitive atmosphere. We know our fans are going to be going crazy. The environment has been unbelievable every home game. We look forward to having that again."
Thompson is 2-1 as a starter against Iowa State and capped his first battle in the series with one of the most memorable games of his career when he rolled around and hit Isaiah Zuber with a 1-yard pass in the back of the end zone with no time remaining in a 20-19 win on November 25, 2017. Thompson led K-State back from a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit. The game-winning drive encompassed 10 plays and 87 yards over the final 1 minute, 55 seconds.
"My first game against them was one of my favorite games at K-State," Thompson said. "Over the years, you know it's going to be a close game. You know it's going to be a physical game."
Thompson made a surprise start his last time out and played brilliantly while nearly guiding the Wildcats to their third-straight win over the Sooners. He went 29 of 41 passing for 320 yards and three touchdowns, connecting with eight different pass catchers, and he even ran down an Oklahoma defender 70 yards for a touchdown-saving tackle off a fumble while recovering from a knee injury that had caused him to miss the previous two contests.
"He's more and more comfortable with his injury and being able to play with it," K-State offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham said. "Every day it's more and more like nothing had happened to him. That's great for us. The more he can play without thinking about whether or not he feels good or doesn't feel good, every day that he's back and feeling like, 'Hey, it's just a normal day,' it's that much better for us. I think he's closer to that."
K-State will be tested by an Iowa State defense that ranks in the top 5 nationally in pass defense (2nd, 143.2 yards), total defense (3rd, 232.2), yards per play (4th, 4.04) and yards per rush (5th, 2.6).
"The number of total snaps that they've all played together on defense (is a concern)," Messingham said. "When can we take advantage of somebody squatting at 8, 9, 10 yards, and try to get a shot play? Just as we have in some of our games, Stanford as an example on our first couple drives, we've got to be able to get big plays off play-action (passing attempts)."
Iowa State ranks fourth nationally in outgaining its opponents by an average of 208.8 yards per game. The Cyclones carry an eight-game streak of outgaining their opponent into Saturday's contest.
"They're very physical," K-State linebacker Wayne Jones said. "They have a lot of talent and guys all over the field. Every game is important, but this will be a big game to gain back our momentum. We had two tough games, two close tough games, we fought into the end, and both were fourth-quarter battles.
"We just need to keep working, pushing and doing the little things."
Purdy is the sixth player in Big 12 history to amass 10,000 passing yards (10,115) and 1,000 rushing yards (1,079) in a career. He owns or shares 29 school records in his career. All-American Hall has recorded a rushing touchdown in a Big 12-record 17 consecutive games, the nation's fifth-longest streak since 1996. He ranks third in the league in averaging 110.2 rushing yards per contest, averages 5.3 yards per carry, and brings a league high-tying eight rushing touchdowns into Manhattan.
"(Hall) is strong and tough to bring down," K-State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman said. "He just gets stronger as the season goes on it seems. You see so many glancing blows on him where people fall off and he falls forward. He's a tremendous football player. He's a guy they're trying to get going all the time."
Meanwhile, K-State's best chance to shine will likely hang on the ability of Thompson to keep things going and guide an improving offense to success.
Klieman said, "I believe our best football is in front of us this year."
"I think it's pretty obvious that when you have a six-year senior quarterback coming back and seeing how he handles and manages a game and has the ability to throw the football all over the field and get multiple people involved, you're naturally going to be better, especially on offense, as he gets more comfortable again," Klieman said. "He missed a few weeks in practice. But, as he gets more comfortable with the timing and more comfortable with looks and things he sees, naturally, that's why I believe our best football is in front of us on offense."
Johnson remains optimistic for the journey ahead.
"Sometimes in college football, you're judged by your performance and wins and losses, but you just have to trust your process," Johnson said. "I know that's what our team is continuing to do. We keep putting in the work every day, and every day is a learning opportunity. We're getting better each week.
"The scoreboard might not show it every time, but I know everyone on this team is learning from wins or losses. That's going to carry onto the rest of the season — never shaking or wavering in our belief and in what our goals are. Whatever happens, we'll stay together. We're continuing to believe and continuing to improve."
Ever the vocal motivator and beacon of positivity for a Kansas State team that leans on its veteran leadership, Noah Johnson earlier in the week wore a yellow ballcap embroidered with a stencil smiley face. But the sixth-year senior center struck a serious tone in discussing the gravidity of the Wildcats' upcoming undertaking — a hopeful quest on Saturday night in Manhattan to avenge last season's stinging 45-0 loss at Iowa State.
"The way they put it on us last year, we can't live in the past, but this is a big game for us," Johnson said. "Iowa State is going to bring their best, and they're a really good team. They beat us pretty bad last year, but we're a different team this year. We're not living off past successes or failures, we're living in the present."
K-State, 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the Big 12 Conference, and Iowa State, 3-2 and 1-1, both have been ranked this season, but each now enter the 6:30 p.m. kickoff on ESPN2 in danger of dropping to .500 at the midpoint of the season. The Cyclones were No. 7 in the preseason — their highest ranking in AP Poll history — but fell out of the AP Top 25 by Week 5; the Wildcats were ranked No. 25 in Week 4.
Both teams have been close in their setbacks. Iowa State suffered a 21-17 loss to No. 10 Iowa and a 31-29 loss at Baylor. K-State followed a 31-20 loss at Oklahoma State by falling just short of No. 6 Oklahoma 37-31, giving the Wildcats seven-straight Big 12 losses dating to last season.
"They've lost two games against pretty good teams just like we've lost two games against really good teams, and it's hard to win college games against really good opponents," K-State head coach Chris Klieman said. "You have to play your best and to do that you have to be able to prepare Monday through Friday. You can't just show up on Saturday. So, that's what we have to do this week is have a great week of preparation and a great week of game planning and have our guys truly understand the game plan so we can execute at a high level."
Three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year Matt Campbell has led Iowa State to a 38-30 record in six seasons and the Cyclones' 14-2 mark in games played in October since 2017 ties for the second-most wins nationally by a Power 5 team in that span.
The Wildcats and Cyclones both come off a bye week.
"For us, it's how do we stay on track, continue to improve, practice really hard and have great intent knowing that if we can get better through the bye week it'll allow us to stay on the trajectory that we feel like we're going," Campbell said of the bye week. "We can continue to get better as the season goes."
The overwhelming narrative that has surrounded this matchup remains "Farmageddon," the moniker bestowed upon this rivalry when the K-State/Iowa State matchup was moved to Arrowhead Stadium in 2009 and 2010. Prior to last season's game, K-State had won 11 of the previous 12 games in the series, and 10 of those were decided by single digits, including seven by a touchdown or less.
K-State trails the fifth-longest continuously-played series in the Football Bowl Subdivision 51-49-4 — a closeness in record that parallels the close identity shared by the two storied land-grant universities that each carry an enrollment of around 20,000 and are grounded in agricultural roots and midwestern values.
"We have two very similar programs that seem to be built on the same values and cultures – under-recruited and undervalued guys who put in the work," Johnson said. "It shows on Saturday. Then you've got two programs in the Midwest, same type of ethos, same type of communities. It's really cool. I don't know how many other rivalries are based around farming but that's pretty cool. That's what makes K-State great. That's probably what makes Iowa State great too.
"It's a 6:30 p.m. night game between two great teams that need a win — man, what more could you ask for?"
Sixth-year senior quarterback Skylar Thompson embraces the similarities between the schools as well. Thompson said that he became close with Iowa State senior quarterback Brock Purdy when both attended the Manning Passing Academy this past June in Thibodaux, Louisiana, calling the two quarterbacks "really good friends." Additionally, Thompson said that he received a text message following last season's loss from Iowa State star running back Breece Hall to check on Thompson's recovery status after he missed the game due to a season-ending injury.
"They're good guys, they're good people, and it's a good program," Thompson said. "It's going to be a very hard-fought game. That's what you want. Those are the most-fun games. And it's a highly-competitive atmosphere. We know our fans are going to be going crazy. The environment has been unbelievable every home game. We look forward to having that again."
Thompson is 2-1 as a starter against Iowa State and capped his first battle in the series with one of the most memorable games of his career when he rolled around and hit Isaiah Zuber with a 1-yard pass in the back of the end zone with no time remaining in a 20-19 win on November 25, 2017. Thompson led K-State back from a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit. The game-winning drive encompassed 10 plays and 87 yards over the final 1 minute, 55 seconds.
"My first game against them was one of my favorite games at K-State," Thompson said. "Over the years, you know it's going to be a close game. You know it's going to be a physical game."
Thompson made a surprise start his last time out and played brilliantly while nearly guiding the Wildcats to their third-straight win over the Sooners. He went 29 of 41 passing for 320 yards and three touchdowns, connecting with eight different pass catchers, and he even ran down an Oklahoma defender 70 yards for a touchdown-saving tackle off a fumble while recovering from a knee injury that had caused him to miss the previous two contests.
"He's more and more comfortable with his injury and being able to play with it," K-State offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham said. "Every day it's more and more like nothing had happened to him. That's great for us. The more he can play without thinking about whether or not he feels good or doesn't feel good, every day that he's back and feeling like, 'Hey, it's just a normal day,' it's that much better for us. I think he's closer to that."
K-State will be tested by an Iowa State defense that ranks in the top 5 nationally in pass defense (2nd, 143.2 yards), total defense (3rd, 232.2), yards per play (4th, 4.04) and yards per rush (5th, 2.6).
"The number of total snaps that they've all played together on defense (is a concern)," Messingham said. "When can we take advantage of somebody squatting at 8, 9, 10 yards, and try to get a shot play? Just as we have in some of our games, Stanford as an example on our first couple drives, we've got to be able to get big plays off play-action (passing attempts)."
Iowa State ranks fourth nationally in outgaining its opponents by an average of 208.8 yards per game. The Cyclones carry an eight-game streak of outgaining their opponent into Saturday's contest.
"They're very physical," K-State linebacker Wayne Jones said. "They have a lot of talent and guys all over the field. Every game is important, but this will be a big game to gain back our momentum. We had two tough games, two close tough games, we fought into the end, and both were fourth-quarter battles.
"We just need to keep working, pushing and doing the little things."
Purdy is the sixth player in Big 12 history to amass 10,000 passing yards (10,115) and 1,000 rushing yards (1,079) in a career. He owns or shares 29 school records in his career. All-American Hall has recorded a rushing touchdown in a Big 12-record 17 consecutive games, the nation's fifth-longest streak since 1996. He ranks third in the league in averaging 110.2 rushing yards per contest, averages 5.3 yards per carry, and brings a league high-tying eight rushing touchdowns into Manhattan.
"(Hall) is strong and tough to bring down," K-State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman said. "He just gets stronger as the season goes on it seems. You see so many glancing blows on him where people fall off and he falls forward. He's a tremendous football player. He's a guy they're trying to get going all the time."
Meanwhile, K-State's best chance to shine will likely hang on the ability of Thompson to keep things going and guide an improving offense to success.
Klieman said, "I believe our best football is in front of us this year."
"I think it's pretty obvious that when you have a six-year senior quarterback coming back and seeing how he handles and manages a game and has the ability to throw the football all over the field and get multiple people involved, you're naturally going to be better, especially on offense, as he gets more comfortable again," Klieman said. "He missed a few weeks in practice. But, as he gets more comfortable with the timing and more comfortable with looks and things he sees, naturally, that's why I believe our best football is in front of us on offense."
Johnson remains optimistic for the journey ahead.
"Sometimes in college football, you're judged by your performance and wins and losses, but you just have to trust your process," Johnson said. "I know that's what our team is continuing to do. We keep putting in the work every day, and every day is a learning opportunity. We're getting better each week.
"The scoreboard might not show it every time, but I know everyone on this team is learning from wins or losses. That's going to carry onto the rest of the season — never shaking or wavering in our belief and in what our goals are. Whatever happens, we'll stay together. We're continuing to believe and continuing to improve."
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