King Felix an Unknown No More

By: D. Scott Fritchen

You ask Felix Anudike-Uzomah about the beginning. Even now, even after his success, the beginning still stings like a papercut. See, few people outside of his family believed that he would make it this far, that he would be here, sitting upon a podium in a gray Sugar Bowl warmup, answering questions about his three seasons at Kansas State — and the prospect of facing No. 5 Alabama in what could be his final collegiate game.

"I've believed in myself since the beginning," he says. "Nobody believed in me that much. I took all the opportunities to my advantage and made the most of it."

Today, Anudike-Uzomah, a junior defensive end, has his own page in the K-State bowl media guide — his own page — as the ninth-ranked Wildcats (10-3) prepare to meet the fifth-ranked Crimson Tide (10-2) in Saturday's Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Anudike-Uzomah's player biography is stacked full of accolades and a mountain of statistics. The 6-foot-4, 255-pound native of Lee's Summit, Missouri, was named Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year. Not only that, he was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Not only that, but he was named a Second Team All-American by the Walter Camp Foundation, he was a finalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy and Ted Hendricks Award, and he was the first K-State player since Arthur Brown to be named a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award.

That's a lot of major credentials for a guy who, coming out of Lee's Summit High School, wasn't projected to be in the same zip code as such honors.

Today, he's projected to be taken in the 2023 NFL Draft.

"Was your No. 1 objective to become better when you came to K-State?" somebody asks.

"My No. 1 objective was to prove everybody wrong," Anudike-Uzomah says. "People under-recruited me. I was barely a three-star. Some of my high school coaches said they didn't think I'd be at the FBS level or Power 5 level.

"I had to enjoy proving people wrong. I know my capabilities they don't know."

Anudike-Uzomah was a first team all-state selection by the Missouri Football Coaches Association his senior year at Lee's Summit. He had 184 tackles, 55 tackles for loss and 13 sacks over his three-year career. Six FBS schools offered him a football scholarship. K-State was the only Power 5 school to do so. He signed his letter of intent with K-State on December 18, 2019. He entered the Vanier Family Football Complex with a Texas-sized chip on his shoulder.

"Since you were underrecruited," his mother said, "you've got to make a big name for yourself."

Consider it done. Anudike-Uzomah learned from one of the best. Wyatt Hubert took him under his wing, taught him the defensive schemes — "He showed me how to be a better defensive end," Anudike-Uzomah says — and lessons that would pave way for his mountain of success.

Anudike-Uzomah stole the show against Southern Illinois last season. A sophomore, he recorded three sacks and two forced fumbles, including one when he ripped the football from the quarterback with 30 seconds left to secure a 31-23 victory.

"Tremendous," K-State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman says.

Anudike-Uzomah went onto earn Third Team All-America honors and First Team All-Big 12 honors. His 11.0 sacks tied for fifth in K-State history and tied for second by a sophomore. His six forced fumbles tied the school record.

Here's what Anudike-Uzomah is perhaps best known for: He had a FBS record-tying six sacks against TCU — a mark that was later taken away as two of his sacks included fumbles that were recovered on K-State's side of the original line of scrimmage.

"I feel like last year I could've gotten the same awards that I did this year," Anudike-Uzomah says. "It's great to see that people really recognize me and to see all my hard work pay off."

Anudike-Uzomah has 20.5 career sacks, which is tied for sixth in school history and his 8.5 sacks this season nearly put him in the top 10 on the single-season list. He has eight career forced fumbles, which is tied for fourth in school history.

Anudike-Uzomah is such a menace that he's been double teamed all season.

"He gets so much attention," Klanderman says. "We've seen teams that have turned their protection to him. He's made life a lot easier for other guys in part because of himself and because it's a byproduct of the attention that he garners. Some of these guys are really the beneficiaries of what Felix can do and how disruptive he can be.

"Just the growth that he's made in over two years from where he was to where he is now, it's just incredible. I'm so proud of him and his journey so far."

Anudike-Uzomah heads toward Saturday ranked fourth nationally among active players with 0.66 sacks per game in his career, and his 0.26 career forced fumbles per game ranks sixth.

"How do you measure your success this season?" somebody asks.

"I had a lot of adversity," Anudike-Uzomah replies. "I had surgery and a lot of family issues at the beginning of spring. I had to keep working hard and keep staying true to what I believe in, and true to my dreams, and to be defensive player of the year. From the offseason, I kept working and working, even with how hard it was. That's basically where my success came from."

And now he gets his shot against Alabama.

"The whole season we've been underdogs," he says. "Nobody thought we were going to win the Big 12 Championship. People thought we'd be sixth in the Big 12 Conference. We've been underdogs the whole season. This is nothing new to us."

It's nothing new to Anudike-Uzomah, either. Yet he's now one of the most heralded players in college football. And he could be playing in his last college game.

"I haven't decided yet," he says. "I'm still talking with my parents to make sure and just to finalize what I'm going to do. Honestly, I really want to focus on this (game). If you ask me questions after the game, probably I'll have an answer. I'm still not 100% sure."

One thing is for certain: Once an unknown, and not highly regarded coming out of high school, Anudike-Uzomah has proven people wrong and has made a mighty big name for himself in college football.

His mother must be so proud.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Felix Anudike-Uzomah

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