Kansas State University Athletics
‘Another Opportunity to Add to This Journey’
Dec 20, 2022 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Kansas State doesn't need a precursor on Alabama. The Wildcats, during their first press availability since Sugar Bowl announcement, appeared aptly enthusiastic about the opportunity to face arguably the biggest powerhouse college football program of the last 20 years.
"We're going to get to go against the Gold Standard in college football for over the past few decades," head coach Chris Klieman said. "It's always been Alabama and really everybody else, so it's a great opportunity."
Added quarterback Will Howard: "When you're a kid and you think about college football, it's always Alabama. They're top tier. They're the standard of college football. People are saying they're having a down year for them and the fact that they're still ranked No. 5 tells you everything about Alabama. The stage is bigtime, and I'm excited to measure ourselves against the best.
"We feel like we're one of the best, too."
No. 9 K-State, 10-3, reached its first-ever meeting against No. 5 Alabama, 10-2, by virtue of its 31-28 overtime victory against No. 3 TCU in the Big 12 Championship Game.
"If the CFP has the top four, I'd argue this might be the best game or matchup outside the CFP," Klieman said. "I know it's going to be a great challenge, but our guys are excited about it."
The Wildcats now seek a program record-tying 11 wins. They'll have to get past the Crimson Tide and star quarterback Bryce Young and star linebacker Will Anderson to do so.
Both Young and Anderson, two top NFL prospects, are expected to play when the teams face off at 11 a.m. on December 31 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
"I think everybody that will be eligible to play (for K-State) will play," Klieman said. "I did see Alabama had the same thing, which I'm excited for the fanbase of both teams and the fans in general that the best players want to play with their teammates one last time.
"That's a good sign for college football in general when you have a game of this magnitude with two really good programs."
Alabama head coach Nick Saban during his news conference believes that the Crimson Tide will face an opponent in K-State that belongs.
"This is a good old-fashioned, well-coached, disciplined, tough, good football team," Saban said. "They could make an argument that since they beat one of the teams that are in the playoffs maybe they should be in the playoffs. I think they're a really good team."
This marks just the second time in nine years that Alabama wasn't selected to play in the College Football Playoffs. Alabama entered the CFP as a No. 1 seed in five of the previous eight years. It last didn't participate in the CFP in 2019-20.
This will mark K-State's first appearance in a New Year's Six bowl, although the Wildcats played in the Fiesta Bowl and Cotton Bowl during the previous BCS era.
"We still have a story to write," All-American offensive lineman Cooper Beebe said. "We've put the (Big 12) championship game behind us and we've moved on to Alabama. Ever since I've been alive they've been at the top of college football and they're still at the top of college football. It's going to be a big challenge for us, but I think we're ready for it."
K-State, which last won the Big 12 title in 2012, has won five of its last six games, and has beaten three top-10 opponents in a single season for the first time in history in No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 9 Oklahoma State and No. 3 TCU.
"It's another opportunity to add to this journey and this season that we've put together as a team," center Hayden Gillum said. "It's one last ride with this crew because each year you never have the same team coming back, so to be able to do it one more time with this team and against them, they're a great team, and I'm happy they're all playing. You want the full deck when you're going to play them. We're excited for that."
Alabama has won four of its last six with its two losses at Tennessee (52-49) and at LSU (32-31) coming on the final play.
The Wildcats would like to hand the Crimson Tide their third loss.
"We want to play the best of the best, and we feel like we're a team that'll play with the best of the best," linebacker Austin Moore said. "We know the job's not finished."
K-State players expect a large fan turnout.
"K-State Nation travels so well," Howard said. "I know last year in Houston it was a good turnout, and the Sugar Bowl is a little bigger bowl game and everyone is fired up. Just being out in Manhattan, people are like, 'Good luck in New Orleans and we'll see you down there.'"
Klieman outlines bowl practices
"We finally get to practice with some consecutive days now because we've been on the road the last couple weeks, so we'd just come back on the weekends and practice on Saturday and Sunday and then head out again. Coach Tru (Trumain Carroll) has been with them a little bit doing some strength and conditioning. We've had finals. We were able to practice on Saturday with a lot of developmental stuff, and yesterday we got a little bit more into prep work. We'll practice again today, tomorrow and Wednesday before we have a little break and reconvene.
"We hope to get some consistency going forward this week because you don't get consistency when you're practicing two days and you're off five days. The ball is on the ground more on offense and you don't maybe fit things right on defense or you're out of alignment. We need to practice now. We need to go consistent days to get back into that football realm. We're going to give them a little bit of a break around Christmas – which the guys need – but then we're fortunate we get a normal preparation and arrive in New Orleans on Monday and have a normal Monday through Friday."
Klieman comments on Adrian Martinez's status
"He practiced yesterday, which was good, and it was a normal practice. He took reps. Will took reps with the ones and then he and Jake Rubley took reps with the twos. We eased him into it yesterday. We'll probably give him a few more reps. I think he came out of it OK yesterday. We'll probably give him a few more reps these next three days and push him a little bit more because I'd love to see him play. Will is going to start. Will is the guy in the bowl game. But I'd love to have Adrian get an opportunity to play in this bowl game, and if he's healthy that's the plan is trying to get him some snaps in there, but I want to make sure he's healthy first. We probably need to get through these next three days and then he'll get a few days off before we reconvene in New Orleans."
Klieman excited to use new indoor practice facility
"We are in the new indoor. We haven't opened up the garage doors and I don't think we'll do that today to get to the other part of it, plus it's not quite finished yet. It's a lot brighter than the old indoor. The surface is different and it's taking us a little bit to get used to it. The turf is a little bit higher and longer, but it's refreshing to be in there. I know the guys are excited about having a new environment and you can actually coach and talk in there without the furnace being on. It's really neat to be in there."
Kansas State doesn't need a precursor on Alabama. The Wildcats, during their first press availability since Sugar Bowl announcement, appeared aptly enthusiastic about the opportunity to face arguably the biggest powerhouse college football program of the last 20 years.
"We're going to get to go against the Gold Standard in college football for over the past few decades," head coach Chris Klieman said. "It's always been Alabama and really everybody else, so it's a great opportunity."
Added quarterback Will Howard: "When you're a kid and you think about college football, it's always Alabama. They're top tier. They're the standard of college football. People are saying they're having a down year for them and the fact that they're still ranked No. 5 tells you everything about Alabama. The stage is bigtime, and I'm excited to measure ourselves against the best.
"We feel like we're one of the best, too."
No. 9 K-State, 10-3, reached its first-ever meeting against No. 5 Alabama, 10-2, by virtue of its 31-28 overtime victory against No. 3 TCU in the Big 12 Championship Game.
"If the CFP has the top four, I'd argue this might be the best game or matchup outside the CFP," Klieman said. "I know it's going to be a great challenge, but our guys are excited about it."
The Wildcats now seek a program record-tying 11 wins. They'll have to get past the Crimson Tide and star quarterback Bryce Young and star linebacker Will Anderson to do so.
Both Young and Anderson, two top NFL prospects, are expected to play when the teams face off at 11 a.m. on December 31 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
"I think everybody that will be eligible to play (for K-State) will play," Klieman said. "I did see Alabama had the same thing, which I'm excited for the fanbase of both teams and the fans in general that the best players want to play with their teammates one last time.
"That's a good sign for college football in general when you have a game of this magnitude with two really good programs."
Alabama head coach Nick Saban during his news conference believes that the Crimson Tide will face an opponent in K-State that belongs.
"This is a good old-fashioned, well-coached, disciplined, tough, good football team," Saban said. "They could make an argument that since they beat one of the teams that are in the playoffs maybe they should be in the playoffs. I think they're a really good team."
This marks just the second time in nine years that Alabama wasn't selected to play in the College Football Playoffs. Alabama entered the CFP as a No. 1 seed in five of the previous eight years. It last didn't participate in the CFP in 2019-20.
This will mark K-State's first appearance in a New Year's Six bowl, although the Wildcats played in the Fiesta Bowl and Cotton Bowl during the previous BCS era.
"We still have a story to write," All-American offensive lineman Cooper Beebe said. "We've put the (Big 12) championship game behind us and we've moved on to Alabama. Ever since I've been alive they've been at the top of college football and they're still at the top of college football. It's going to be a big challenge for us, but I think we're ready for it."
K-State, which last won the Big 12 title in 2012, has won five of its last six games, and has beaten three top-10 opponents in a single season for the first time in history in No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 9 Oklahoma State and No. 3 TCU.
"It's another opportunity to add to this journey and this season that we've put together as a team," center Hayden Gillum said. "It's one last ride with this crew because each year you never have the same team coming back, so to be able to do it one more time with this team and against them, they're a great team, and I'm happy they're all playing. You want the full deck when you're going to play them. We're excited for that."
Alabama has won four of its last six with its two losses at Tennessee (52-49) and at LSU (32-31) coming on the final play.
The Wildcats would like to hand the Crimson Tide their third loss.
"We want to play the best of the best, and we feel like we're a team that'll play with the best of the best," linebacker Austin Moore said. "We know the job's not finished."
K-State players expect a large fan turnout.
"K-State Nation travels so well," Howard said. "I know last year in Houston it was a good turnout, and the Sugar Bowl is a little bigger bowl game and everyone is fired up. Just being out in Manhattan, people are like, 'Good luck in New Orleans and we'll see you down there.'"
Klieman outlines bowl practices
"We finally get to practice with some consecutive days now because we've been on the road the last couple weeks, so we'd just come back on the weekends and practice on Saturday and Sunday and then head out again. Coach Tru (Trumain Carroll) has been with them a little bit doing some strength and conditioning. We've had finals. We were able to practice on Saturday with a lot of developmental stuff, and yesterday we got a little bit more into prep work. We'll practice again today, tomorrow and Wednesday before we have a little break and reconvene.
"We hope to get some consistency going forward this week because you don't get consistency when you're practicing two days and you're off five days. The ball is on the ground more on offense and you don't maybe fit things right on defense or you're out of alignment. We need to practice now. We need to go consistent days to get back into that football realm. We're going to give them a little bit of a break around Christmas – which the guys need – but then we're fortunate we get a normal preparation and arrive in New Orleans on Monday and have a normal Monday through Friday."
Klieman comments on Adrian Martinez's status
"He practiced yesterday, which was good, and it was a normal practice. He took reps. Will took reps with the ones and then he and Jake Rubley took reps with the twos. We eased him into it yesterday. We'll probably give him a few more reps. I think he came out of it OK yesterday. We'll probably give him a few more reps these next three days and push him a little bit more because I'd love to see him play. Will is going to start. Will is the guy in the bowl game. But I'd love to have Adrian get an opportunity to play in this bowl game, and if he's healthy that's the plan is trying to get him some snaps in there, but I want to make sure he's healthy first. We probably need to get through these next three days and then he'll get a few days off before we reconvene in New Orleans."
Klieman excited to use new indoor practice facility
"We are in the new indoor. We haven't opened up the garage doors and I don't think we'll do that today to get to the other part of it, plus it's not quite finished yet. It's a lot brighter than the old indoor. The surface is different and it's taking us a little bit to get used to it. The turf is a little bit higher and longer, but it's refreshing to be in there. I know the guys are excited about having a new environment and you can actually coach and talk in there without the furnace being on. It's really neat to be in there."
Players Mentioned
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