SE: Dominating, but Just Getting Started
Nov 01, 2021 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Forgive opposing offensive tackles if they appear a little groggy during the week leading up to playing Kansas State.
Those offensive linemen might be short on sleep as they stay up thinking of the challenge of facing Kansas State super sophomore defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah, the national defensive player of the week, who is coming off one of the finest defensive performances we'll see in the Football Bowl Subdivision during the 2021 season.
Anudike, the Walter Camp National Player of the Week and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, officially collected a K-State record-tying four sacks in the Wildcats' 31-12 win over TCU. He sacked Max Duggan on the 10th play from scrimmage in the first quarter, then he sacked him on each of the final two plays of the second quarter, and then he sacked Duggan on the first play of the third quarter.
"How could you not be excited for the kid?" head coach Chris Klieman said immediately following the game. "He set all sorts of records today."
Yes, for a couple of hours Saturday evening, it appeared that Anudike-Uzomah had actually tied the FBS record by recording six sacks. On each of his final two sacks, he caused freshman quarterback Chandler Morris to fumble the ball forward while Morris tried to escape. Unfortunately, that's a red flag according to page 18, section 16, article 4 of the NCAA Official Statistics Rulebook. The rule states: "For plays that end either on the line of scrimmage of beyond, there is no pass sack credited." So, in fact, Anudike-Uzomah's final two sacks were stripped away because the fumbles that he caused carried the ball past the line of scrimmage.
Still, we cannot let stats — the sacks that were taken away — distract us from the fact that we witnessed one of the greatest defensive performances by a player in K-State history.
"What a day that kid had, to say the least," said Ian Campbell, who is tied No. 1 at K-State by recording 11.5 sacks in 2006. "I just kept thinking, 'That's not him again, is it?' I completely disagree with the NCAA, though. Those are sack-fumbles. That's nonsense. That's six sacks. Four sacks are still crazy, but that ruling is highway robbery."
In 1967, Danny Lankas had 28 tackles against Missouri in 1967. In 1992, Jaime Mendez had four interceptions against Temple. In 2000, Chris Johnson had 6.5 tackles for a loss against Kansas and then he had four sacks against Missouri later that year.
The performance by Anudike-Uzomah, which tied Johnson's sack record in 2000, belongs in that elite group of K-State defensive performances.
For various reasons, his efforts against TCU will be talked about for a long time.
"Pretty amazing," said Ryan Mueller, who is tied for No. 1 in K-State history by recording 11.5 sacks in the 2013 season. "I was at a wedding and Ian sent me a text: 'This guy is going off.' Very impressive."
"I've been keeping an eye on him all season," Mueller continued. "What really stands out to me is how explosive he is off the ball and his long arms. It'll be interesting to see how opposing teams plan on slowing him down. But that obviously creates big problems for offenses because it doesn't allow them to do what they want because great defenders require a lot of attention. I hope I can welcome him to the 11.5 sack club.
"But he may be able to create a club of his own."
Nyle Wiren (1996), Jordan Willis (2016), Campbell and Mueller are all tied No. 1 at K-State by recording 11.5 sacks in a season.
Anudike-Uzomah ranks No. 2 in the FBS with 10.0 sacks this season.
"I was texting Mueller during the game, 'The record is toast,'" Campbell said. "We call it the curse of 11.5. Nobody has been able to get 12 sacks yet. We're ready for someone to just knock it down. I was standing with Mueller on the sideline at the Iowa State game and said, 'He's going to have a couple of cracks at it.'"
Anudike-Uzomah's first sack against TCU came late in the first quarter. The Horned Frogs had traveled to the K-State 35-yard line. It was the deepest they had been in K-State territory. On first-and-10, Anudike swept around the right side, gaining an edge on 6-foot-8, 334-pound senior left tackle Obinna Eze, and he used a swim move to beat running back Kendre Miller to the inside. It took just 11 total steps and four seconds out of stance for Anudike-Uzomah to wrap himself around Duggan. Anudike-Uzomah instantly rose, flexed in a turtle pose, and stomped on the ground — the "Gorilla Dance" is what he calls it.
It was just the beginning of his memorable game.
"He had second efforts, ball-stripping awareness, the motor and speed," Campbell said. "That guy had a better day than most people's careers. What a show. The defensive end is the one guy who can go one-on-one against a player and completely change the game if you have a rush end like him. He had four career games in a single game.
"Most entire defensive fronts go through a season and don't have the kind of game that Felix had. He definitely has some serious Sunday potential. He's got decent size, moves well, his hips are great on the corner, and he obviously has great ball awareness. What a game."
The 6-foot-3, 255-pound Anudike-Uzomah also might be one of the humblest young men you'll ever meet.
After his record-tying performance, he stood in front of a podium in the team meeting room at the Vanier Family Football Complex. He wore a purple pullover with "91" embossed in the back along with black Nike sweatpants and white Nike slides. And afterward, all the reporters asked him how it felt to have such an incredible game.
"Blessed to be playing Division I football, blessed to have the opportunity, blessed for my family to give their heart out to let me play this game," he replied. "That's all I want to say. I'm just blessed."
You might recall the story, how he was underrecruited when he signed his letter-of-intent with K-State on December 18, 2019. Six teams offered him a scholarship. K-State was the only Power 5 squad to do so. Anudike-Uzomah arrived in Manhattan after earning all-state honors his senior season at Lee's Summit (Mo.) High School.
"Since you were underrecruited," his mother said, "you've got to make a big name for yourself."
He's listened to his mother's words.
Duggan will never forget his name. Opposing offensive tackles will never forget his name.
And Campbell figures Anudike-Uzomah will set his name apart from the best in school history as he eyes the K-State season sack record beginning this Saturday.
"He's coming off a world-class performance, and he's going to be ticked off because he got those sacks taken away from him," Campbell said. "That's an interesting dynamic. Defensive players remember that stuff. You don't normally have a guy who has that kind of world-class performance head into the next game even more mad than he was the week before. He's going to be really upset, and I don't blame him. I'm upset for him."
For a couple hours Saturday, it appeared Anudike-Uzomah had collected more sacks in a college football game than Dwight Freeney, Terrell Suggs, Ndamukong Suh and Jadeveon Clowney — they had 4.5 sacks — ever did in their careers. It appeared that he had tied the FBS single-game sack record, which is held by Louisville's Elvis Durnervil (2005), Western Michigan's Ameer Ismail (2006), and Miami of Ohio's Ivan Pace Jr. (2019).
Even after recording one of the greatest defensive performances in K-State history, and even after enjoying one of the top defensive performances we'll see in the FBS this season, there are still opportunities for Anudike-Uzomah to accomplish even more this season.
If he records two more sacks, he will stand alone as the first player in K-State history to record 12 sacks in a season.
If he records five more sacks, he'll join another elite club. He'll have 15 sacks this season.
Only 10 other players in the nation have achieved that feat in the last decade.
Forgive opposing offensive tackles if they appear a little groggy during the week leading up to playing Kansas State.
Those offensive linemen might be short on sleep as they stay up thinking of the challenge of facing Kansas State super sophomore defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah, the national defensive player of the week, who is coming off one of the finest defensive performances we'll see in the Football Bowl Subdivision during the 2021 season.
Anudike, the Walter Camp National Player of the Week and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, officially collected a K-State record-tying four sacks in the Wildcats' 31-12 win over TCU. He sacked Max Duggan on the 10th play from scrimmage in the first quarter, then he sacked him on each of the final two plays of the second quarter, and then he sacked Duggan on the first play of the third quarter.
"How could you not be excited for the kid?" head coach Chris Klieman said immediately following the game. "He set all sorts of records today."
Yes, for a couple of hours Saturday evening, it appeared that Anudike-Uzomah had actually tied the FBS record by recording six sacks. On each of his final two sacks, he caused freshman quarterback Chandler Morris to fumble the ball forward while Morris tried to escape. Unfortunately, that's a red flag according to page 18, section 16, article 4 of the NCAA Official Statistics Rulebook. The rule states: "For plays that end either on the line of scrimmage of beyond, there is no pass sack credited." So, in fact, Anudike-Uzomah's final two sacks were stripped away because the fumbles that he caused carried the ball past the line of scrimmage.
.@fanudike named @WalterCampFF National Defensive Player of the Week
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) October 31, 2021
📄 https://t.co/93YS7BXRpf#KStateFB pic.twitter.com/rDxIhxgZ6r
Still, we cannot let stats — the sacks that were taken away — distract us from the fact that we witnessed one of the greatest defensive performances by a player in K-State history.
"What a day that kid had, to say the least," said Ian Campbell, who is tied No. 1 at K-State by recording 11.5 sacks in 2006. "I just kept thinking, 'That's not him again, is it?' I completely disagree with the NCAA, though. Those are sack-fumbles. That's nonsense. That's six sacks. Four sacks are still crazy, but that ruling is highway robbery."
In 1967, Danny Lankas had 28 tackles against Missouri in 1967. In 1992, Jaime Mendez had four interceptions against Temple. In 2000, Chris Johnson had 6.5 tackles for a loss against Kansas and then he had four sacks against Missouri later that year.
The performance by Anudike-Uzomah, which tied Johnson's sack record in 2000, belongs in that elite group of K-State defensive performances.
For various reasons, his efforts against TCU will be talked about for a long time.
"Pretty amazing," said Ryan Mueller, who is tied for No. 1 in K-State history by recording 11.5 sacks in the 2013 season. "I was at a wedding and Ian sent me a text: 'This guy is going off.' Very impressive."
"I've been keeping an eye on him all season," Mueller continued. "What really stands out to me is how explosive he is off the ball and his long arms. It'll be interesting to see how opposing teams plan on slowing him down. But that obviously creates big problems for offenses because it doesn't allow them to do what they want because great defenders require a lot of attention. I hope I can welcome him to the 11.5 sack club.
"But he may be able to create a club of his own."
Nyle Wiren (1996), Jordan Willis (2016), Campbell and Mueller are all tied No. 1 at K-State by recording 11.5 sacks in a season.
Anudike-Uzomah ranks No. 2 in the FBS with 10.0 sacks this season.
"I was texting Mueller during the game, 'The record is toast,'" Campbell said. "We call it the curse of 11.5. Nobody has been able to get 12 sacks yet. We're ready for someone to just knock it down. I was standing with Mueller on the sideline at the Iowa State game and said, 'He's going to have a couple of cracks at it.'"
Anudike-Uzomah's first sack against TCU came late in the first quarter. The Horned Frogs had traveled to the K-State 35-yard line. It was the deepest they had been in K-State territory. On first-and-10, Anudike swept around the right side, gaining an edge on 6-foot-8, 334-pound senior left tackle Obinna Eze, and he used a swim move to beat running back Kendre Miller to the inside. It took just 11 total steps and four seconds out of stance for Anudike-Uzomah to wrap himself around Duggan. Anudike-Uzomah instantly rose, flexed in a turtle pose, and stomped on the ground — the "Gorilla Dance" is what he calls it.
It was just the beginning of his memorable game.
"He had second efforts, ball-stripping awareness, the motor and speed," Campbell said. "That guy had a better day than most people's careers. What a show. The defensive end is the one guy who can go one-on-one against a player and completely change the game if you have a rush end like him. He had four career games in a single game.
"Most entire defensive fronts go through a season and don't have the kind of game that Felix had. He definitely has some serious Sunday potential. He's got decent size, moves well, his hips are great on the corner, and he obviously has great ball awareness. What a game."
The 6-foot-3, 255-pound Anudike-Uzomah also might be one of the humblest young men you'll ever meet.
After his record-tying performance, he stood in front of a podium in the team meeting room at the Vanier Family Football Complex. He wore a purple pullover with "91" embossed in the back along with black Nike sweatpants and white Nike slides. And afterward, all the reporters asked him how it felt to have such an incredible game.
"Blessed to be playing Division I football, blessed to have the opportunity, blessed for my family to give their heart out to let me play this game," he replied. "That's all I want to say. I'm just blessed."
You might recall the story, how he was underrecruited when he signed his letter-of-intent with K-State on December 18, 2019. Six teams offered him a scholarship. K-State was the only Power 5 squad to do so. Anudike-Uzomah arrived in Manhattan after earning all-state honors his senior season at Lee's Summit (Mo.) High School.
"Since you were underrecruited," his mother said, "you've got to make a big name for yourself."
He's listened to his mother's words.
Duggan will never forget his name. Opposing offensive tackles will never forget his name.
And Campbell figures Anudike-Uzomah will set his name apart from the best in school history as he eyes the K-State season sack record beginning this Saturday.
"He's coming off a world-class performance, and he's going to be ticked off because he got those sacks taken away from him," Campbell said. "That's an interesting dynamic. Defensive players remember that stuff. You don't normally have a guy who has that kind of world-class performance head into the next game even more mad than he was the week before. He's going to be really upset, and I don't blame him. I'm upset for him."
For a couple hours Saturday, it appeared Anudike-Uzomah had collected more sacks in a college football game than Dwight Freeney, Terrell Suggs, Ndamukong Suh and Jadeveon Clowney — they had 4.5 sacks — ever did in their careers. It appeared that he had tied the FBS single-game sack record, which is held by Louisville's Elvis Durnervil (2005), Western Michigan's Ameer Ismail (2006), and Miami of Ohio's Ivan Pace Jr. (2019).
Even after recording one of the greatest defensive performances in K-State history, and even after enjoying one of the top defensive performances we'll see in the FBS this season, there are still opportunities for Anudike-Uzomah to accomplish even more this season.
If he records two more sacks, he will stand alone as the first player in K-State history to record 12 sacks in a season.
If he records five more sacks, he'll join another elite club. He'll have 15 sacks this season.
Only 10 other players in the nation have achieved that feat in the last decade.
Players Mentioned
DE
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