Cats Blocking Out the Noise and Staying the Course

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman, who earlier this week was named to the Bobby Dodd Trophy midseason watch list, has learned a few important things about his team during the first half of the regular season.

It can perhaps be summarized in three words.

"Resolve. Resiliency. Belief," Klieman said. "We block out the outside noise and just focus on the next day and the next opportunity. It's not always going to be pretty, but if you can continue to believe in the plan, each other, and that you're going to find a way — it's been really cool to watch the last three weeks, us survive and attack the adversity that we've faced and not just say, 'We're facing adversity, here we go,' it's, 'All right, who's going to stand up and make a play and flip the momentum?' We had it at Oklahoma, against Texas Tech and at Iowa State where all three of those games could've gone the other way.

"Our guys have such great belief in each other, the plan, and these coaches, and that carries over once you get into the fourth quarter."

Following that recipe for success could bode well as No. 17 Kansas State comes off a bye and kicks off the second half of the regular season with a grand opportunity.

The Wildcats, 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big 12 Conference, travel to face No. 8 TCU, 6-0 and 3-0, in a high-stakes matchup at 7 p.m. Saturday (FS1) at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.

The victor will take over sole possession of first place in the league standings with five Big 12 games to go.

A win would also clinch bowl eligibility for the Wildcats for a second straight year — a fact that isn't lost on players as they prepare to battle a TCU squad that has already defeated three consecutive AP Top 25 teams — No. 18 Oklahoma (55-24), No. 19 Kansas (38-31) and No. 8 Oklahoma State (43-40) — for the first time in history.

Does this game have a big-game feel?

"How could it not?" K-State quarterback Adrian Martinez said. "A top-25 matchup and we get the opportunity to go on the road and play at night in a cool atmosphere? We're obviously very excited about that."

As for potential bowl eligibility?

"It's huge. I won't shy away from it," continued Martinez, a fifth-year transfer from Nebraska. "For me, that's a big deal. I never got the opportunity to go to a bowl game in my four years and now we're close to getting one here. That sixth win is big for me and it's a part of this one-week mindset."

The K-State offense features Martinez (546 rushing yards) and returning All-American running back Deuce Vaughn (661), who are the only FBS quarterback/running back duo to both have more than 500 yards on the ground this season. The Wildcats' defense ranks 14^th in scoring defense (16.7) — it is on pace for its best mark since 2003 — and it is stingy in total defense (355 yards) and ranks near the top in the nation in interceptions (nine). The Wildcats' special teams units have largely been effective as well.

K-State is seven points away from an unbeaten record with a 17-10 loss to Tulane, which entered this week ranked 25^th in the nation. Since then, the Wildcats have outlasted three Big 12 opponents — at No. 6 Oklahoma (41-34), Texas Tech (37-28) and at Iowa State (10-9).

"Every week, you just keep building off the previous week, and we've been doing that all year long," K-State nose tackle Eli Huggins said. "Obviously, we had a little hiccup earlier in the season, but since then we've just been taking steps forward.

"We're ready to roll."

Although K-State thumped Missouri (40-12) in Game 2, players believe there's more in store and contend they're still searching for their first complete game of the season against a FBS foe.

"We can be even more robust," said Vaughn, who ranks second in the Big 12 with 110.2 rushing yards per game. "I don't feel like we've put together a complete game as a football team or as an offense. We're excited because it gives us fuel understanding we haven't touched the peak of our performance.

"We just keep grinding."

After facing TCU, K-State's remaining five Big 12 opponents are No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 20 Texas, at Baylor, at West Virginia, and Kansas.

However, it all starts against the Horned Frogs, who under first-year head coach Sonny Dykes are ranked their highest since 2017, and will look to snap a three-game skid in the series against the Wildcats.

"When we look at this season after it's all done, obviously we'll remember what happens here over the next six, seven, eight weeks, and how that plays out," Dykes told the Associated Press earlier this week. "That will determine really how we feel about this whole thing."

This is the first time since the 2015 Alamo Bowl that K-State is playing in a game when both teams are ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll.

"These are the games you dream about as a player and games you think about in the summer when you're running and it's 100 degrees outside," said K-State linebacker Austin Moore, who leads the team with 41 tackles. "We're playing with a lot of confidence."

K-State will be challenged by TCU fifth-year quarterback Max Duggan, who ranks sixth in the FBS in passing efficiency (179.9) and has 16 touchdowns to just one interception so far this season. Duggan, who has rushed for 261 yards on 43 carries and four touchdowns, put together a gem-like performance in completing 23 of 33 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 116 yards and two scores against the Sooners.

"(Duggan) is just playing with a lot of confidence right now," K-State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman said. "There's not a lot of slowdown in what he's doing, he's making decisions and going with them, and he's healthy. That's kind of the thing that's been his downfall over the years, too, is that he runs the ball so much and runs so hard that he takes a pounding.

"There's been years in the past where he hasn't been the same at the end of the year as he is in the beginning sometimes. Right now he's healthy and he's playing fast."

While TCU ranks third nationally in both points (45.8) and total yards (526.7), the Wildcats have steadily increased their explosiveness behind the arm and legs of Martinez, who's thrown for 900 yards and four touchdowns while ranking fifth in the Big 12 in averaging 91.0 rushing yards with nine touchdowns. He is also the only starting FBS quarterback not to throw a single interception this season.

"(Martinez) has done a tremendous job," K-State offensive coordinator Collin Klein said. "The offense has rallied around him and we've continued to get better. In Coach's words, he's 'cut it loose,' and not being afraid to make a mistake, but trying to be aggressive in making plays. He's done that and has still let the game come to him, which is something you've got to be able to do.

"I'm super proud of him. Our best football is still ahead of us. We know that, and that's the exciting part."

This matchup features a personal feel for K-State safety Kobe Savage, a junior college transfer who grew up in Paris, Texas, and was an avid TCU fan from a young age. Lightly recruited, Savage played two seasons at Tyler (Texas) Junior College, earning 2021 Second Team NJCAA All-American honors.

Savage expects many family members to attend the contest.

"When I was younger, TCU was my dream school," Savage said. "It's a very important game for me."

Asked if he had a chip on his shoulder this week, Savage replied, "It's like I have a Pringles can on my shoulder right now. It's real personal. It's a different feeling about this game."

Klieman preaches for the Wildcats to stay the course and attack each game in hopes of going 1-0.

"We talk about one-week seasons and we have six left," Klieman said. "The stakes keep getting higher. TCU is playing really well. They're playing with a lot of confidence. It'll be a big challenge for us."

Dykes served as head coach at SMU the past four seasons, and served as offensive analyst on the 2017 TCU team that posted an 11-3 record, played in the Big 12 Championship Game, and finished No. 9 in final AP Top 25 Poll — its last top-10 appearance.

"I've been here long enough to know that when it doesn't end the right way, it takes all those happy feelings away," Dykes told the AP. "We've just got to keep grinding."

Eleven Big 12 interleague games already have been decided by single digits. Three of the last four meetings between the Wildcats and Horned Frogs have been decided by fewer than eight points as well.

"You can see it in the landscape of the Big 12," Klieman said. "Anybody can beat anybody. It comes down to a handful of plays in the fourth quarter, and if you make it more than that, then you're probably missing the boat, and probably aren't preparing for what you have to face for four quarters — one play at a time."

How close is K-State to putting together a complete game?

"Darned close," Martinez said. "Hope it's the next one, right? We're continuing to grow and buy into this process realizing we're not a complete product yet, and shoot, as good as we've been playing, we can be so much better because we haven't played a complete game yet to this point.

"It's our mantra to pound the stone. Let's hammer home the finer details. As good as we've been, we can be even better."

If the Wildcats put together their best game yet on Saturday, and play with resolve, resiliency and belief, it could improve their chances of reaching an elite category: All alone atop the Big 12.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Eli Huggins

Adrian Martinez

Austin Moore

Kobe Savage

Deuce Vaughn

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