Kansas State University Athletics
Cats Ready to Cut it Loose on Saturday
Aug 31, 2022 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Expectations are high for Kansas State this season and Chris Klieman isn't letting anything slip. The K-State head coach put his team through a "mock week" last week, simulating an actual game week. It should bode well as the Wildcats open their season against South Dakota on Saturday.
"Last Friday night we had a mock game and had everybody in their spots, and I think that helped," Klieman said at his weekly news conference. "I think it helped all those new players. We did everything from pregame warmups to where they'd be on the sideline, to pregame at the hotel, just trying to get all the bugs ironed out, and take away all the anxiety to say, 'This is what we do on a Friday and Saturday.'
"I think it was productive. Now it's going to be different because there's going to be 50,000 (fans in the stadium). I know guys are excited about finally getting a chance to play."
The mock week was met by rave reviews.
"Mock week and the mock game is something we try to get into just to make sure whenever it's time to go out and play for real, we've seen and we know exactly what we need to do when we get to the hotel and whenever we get off the bus and whenever we walk down to the stadium, how much time you have to get ready, the pregame, things like that," Preseason All-American Deuce Vaughn said.
"The mock game was good. We had referees out there and Coach Klieman was taking us through every situation you could think of — backed up, coming out of the end zone, 2-minute drill, 4-minute drill, first-down-get-down, and punt safe — everything that could happen in a football game we were going through it, so everybody has a picture of what do if a situation arises."
Center Hayden Gillum was ready to play a real game.
"I said, 'I feel like we're going to tee it off,'" Gillum said. "I had to remind myself it was practice. It definitely felt like it was real. We've put in a ton of work this offseason and now it's here. Now, it's details, details, details, and we'll keep pounding away until we get there."
Here are 10 things Klieman discussed in his weekly news conference:
Klieman on Martinez: 'We're excited to cut him loose and let him play'
The wait is almost over for K-State transfer quarterback Adrian Martinez, who will become the first Power 5 transfer quarterback to start for the Wildcats in a season opener immediately after transferring in. Martinez enjoyed a record-setting performance at Nebraska over a four-year career, and Klieman is excited for him to guide the Wildcats' offense this fall.
"Just seeing how he's developed in the last 30 days since we started camp and just how much more confident he is, he's in rhythm, and he understands where people are supposed to be, and he has a good rapport. I think he's just excited to play.
"We're excited to cut him loose and let him play."
Martinez is eager for his first game as well.
"There's so much that goes into playing quarterback and even more so at playing quarterback at a high level," he said. "I'm just continuing to try and add knowledge in that scheme in making good decisions, and obviously making the jump to K-State, there's a new offense, new reads and different parts of the game that I've gotten to learn that has really helped me to become a better player."
Deuce Vaughn is cool with not getting the football all the time
The best running back in the FBS needs 98 receiving yards to become the second-fastest player since 1996 to reach 2,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in a career. While it's unknown whether Deuce Vaughn might duplicate his 235-carry, 1,468-yard, 18-touchdown performance in 2022, the 5-foot-6, 176-pound junior is eager to do whatever it takes for the K-State offense to succeed in Collin Klein's first season as offensive coordinator.
"I talk with Coach Klein every single day about how we can get everybody involved," Vaughn said. "If I have to be a decoy on some plays to open up somebody else, I'm the happiest person in the world, because we may score a touchdown. I'm super excited for Coach Klein and for this offense playing behind him. He's someone I'm going to play my heart out for. I think everybody feels that way, too."
Vaughn continued, "There's one thing I want to get up under his belt — a Big 12 Championship this year, so we're going to go out there and do that."
Transfer safeties are the buzz of the backfield
Although experienced Julius Brents and Ekow Boye-Doe were no-brainers to start at cornerback, intrigue surrounded the three safety positions throughout fall camp. The wait is over, as transfers Josh Hayes is slated to start at free safety, Kobe Savage at strong safety, and Drake Cheatum at jack safety.
"Josh Hayes is one who jumps out at me who was here in spring ball and came here as a corner and some of the things we're doing differently in the secondary, but he fit right in at free safety, and he's really good in man coverage and has learned how to play zone coverage from the safety spot," Klieman said.
"Drake Cheatum is very smart and played a lot of football. He had a lot of previous success and has a lot of confidence. He's a really good communicator. It's kind of a new position for him in the fact that they didn't run that same defense at his old place, but he's just a really mature guy that understands the game of football really well, so I'm excited.
"Kobe Savage has had a really good summer and fall camp. We have more depth there. We're going to play a lot of bodies in the defensive secondary."
Remember the name DJ Giddens
Expect Vaughn to smile really big when Junction City High School product DJ Giddens enters the game Saturday. The 6-foot-1, 212-pound redshirt freshman has yet to carry the football in an official game and is slated as the No. 2 running back.
"He's super, super talented and a gifted kid," Vaughn said. "He's someone who's starting to come together mentally. He asks questions every single day of how he can get better. The physical talent was always there. It was just getting him to the right spot to go out and play. The progression he's made this past year is unbelievable. I can't wait for him to get out there this Saturday."
Expect junior college transfer Anthony Frias II to see his first action as well.
"DJ Giddens and Anthony Frias are both going to play," Klieman said. "DJ was here all spring and took most of the reps. We didn't give Deuce that many reps in the spring and then in the fall we tried to push DJ and put him with the ones, and put Anthony with the ones. DJ, over a long body of work, continued to improve. We all know DJ is a really good runner with the football, but just pass routes and pass protection and understanding how important the play-action and fakes were important. I'm excited because DJ is ready to play college football.
"He's going to be a really big asset for us this year."
Khalid Duke is 'going to play on Saturday'
Klieman was quick to dash any lingering speculation regarding the health status of Khalid Duke when he said that the 6-foot-4, 246-pound hybrid defensive end/linebacker is "going to play Saturday" after missing 10 games last season due to an apparent slow-to-heal injury. When healthy, Duke has monster talent, and could combine his skills with defensive ends Felix Anudike-Uzomah and Nate Matlack to form a fearsome threesome.
"(Duke) is in a good position right now," Klieman said. "He's going to play on Saturday. I don't know if he'll play 15 plays or 55 plays, but he practiced all of last week and all this week. He's played enough football that now we just need to get him into some game shape, but he knows what he's doing. Sometimes players like that you have to cut them loose and let them play.
"Without question, Khalid is excited about the opportunity to get on the field. He had his season cut by 10 games last season and that's hard. He's just excited to be out there and be healthy and play fast."
Christian Moore gets the nod at fullback as Jax Dineen recovers from injury
Senior Jax Dineen has 11 starts in his career and was bullish with the football a year ago — five carries for 20 yards and four catches for 16 yards — while proving himself to be a monster blocker. However, Klieman indicated that Dineen has missed time in practice, clearing a path for 6-foot-2, 243-pound sophomore Christian Moore to get his first-career start.
"Jax missed quite a bit of fall camp, but he's back now, so that allowed Christian to get more and more snaps, which I thought was really important for him, because Jax knows our offense and had taken a lion's share of reps in the spring and early fall camp, and then we lost Jax for a little bit, so that elevated Christian to the first spot.
"He's a very physical guy and stayed on his tracks really well from that fullback spot and understands kicking people out. Jax getting nicked up probably helped us because it allowed us to push Christian along and now we feel like we have two guys we can count on. Jax is back healthy now, so we'll see how that plays out."
KT Leveston 'has the ability to be an all-conference player'
Klieman wasn't short on praise for KT Leveston, the 6-foot-5, 320-pound senior who will start at left tackle on Saturday. This will be the sixth start of Leveston's career.
"He's had a really good camp, and it's really important that KT — he's a guy who when I first came here, the amount of growth and maturity and his ability as a football player have improved so much," Klieman said. "KT has the ability to be an all-conference player. I'm excited for him to get the opportunity."
The excitement along the offensive line doesn't stop at Leveston. Senior Hayden Gillum is poised to make his first-career start at center. Preseason All-Big 12 junior Cooper Beebe can play multiple spots and is slated to start at left guard on Saturday. Junior Taylor Poitier is scheduled to start at right guard and senior Christian Duffie at right tackle.
"This is a really good offensive line," Poitier said. "Coach Conor Riley has been hopping on the offensive line. He's like, 'We have to be the most physical offensive linemen out there.' Having those expectations just sets us for the season and what we want to be.
"Christian Duffie, he's a very smart player. He knows what he's doing. He's a very smart player. He is good with his footwork and his hands. He's improved a lot with his pass sets. I'm excited for him. He's a very underrated player in my opinion."
Some young guys are expected to play
The two-deep – and in some areas three-deep – depth chart features eight redshirt freshmen or true freshmen. Of the eight, three are true freshmen in weakside linebacker Jake Clifton, free safety VJ Payne and cornerback Jacob Parrish. Klieman spent a portion of fall camp discussing each as potential breakouts on defense.
Simply put, they may be too good to redshirt.
"Right now, if they're in the two-deep, our plan is to play them," Klieman said. "Now maybe something will change that, but there's a handful of guys that leave their mark that we're going to play, and maybe even a few more. You knock on wood that you don't lose some older experienced guys, but we've done a really nice job finding ways to get those guys repetitions late into fall camp when you start to focus on game planning and trying to get some of those really young players or redshirt freshmen more reps against each other so they're comfortable if you have to throw them out there and the lights are on."
Klieman wants to see a clean game Saturday
K-State was one of the least penalized teams in the nation over the final few weeks of the 2021 regular season, as the Wildcats totaled only four penalties (1.3 per game) for 41 yards (13.7 yards per game) over their final three regular-season games. K-State finished 34th nationally (a 43-spot jump) and fourth in the Big 12 in penalties (a five-spot jump) because of its regular season-ending efforts to cut down penalties.
Klieman hopes there won't be many miscues on Saturday.
"We want to play our systems offensively and defensively fast and physical and with great communication and great mental focus and with a lack of mental errors," Klieman said. "You always worry that first game, whether it's play clock, substitution errors, false starts, or not being able to get a team off the field, tackling — all the things that early on you're hopeful that are things you've prepared the guys for. The game repetition is going to be so critical and key for us."
When asked to share his thoughts on former K-State quarterback Skylar Thompson, a seventh-round draft pick, making the 53-man active roster for the Miami Dolphins, Klieman quipped, "He completed a lot of passes didn't he? And he didn't throw a pick."
"I had good communication with Skylar on Sunday, so I knew he made the 53 (player roster) on Sunday, but he didn't make the 53, he earned to be on the 53. I don't know that business very well, but I think if they'd released him, he would've been picked up pretty quickly. It's a great fit for him in Miami. He's excited to be down there and learn from the older guys, but the stage wasn't too big, and he had a chip on his shoulder, and played really good football, and he was prepared to play really good football."
Count Vaughn among Thompson's biggest supporters.
"Man, I watched every single preseason game I could get my hands on, and if I couldn't watch the game, I watched the highlights," Vaughn said. "To see the things he's doing out there is unbelievable. Everybody in this building knew he was capable of it, and to see him doing it, I'm so excited for him. I can't wait to see what he does next."
Expectations are high for Kansas State this season and Chris Klieman isn't letting anything slip. The K-State head coach put his team through a "mock week" last week, simulating an actual game week. It should bode well as the Wildcats open their season against South Dakota on Saturday.
"Last Friday night we had a mock game and had everybody in their spots, and I think that helped," Klieman said at his weekly news conference. "I think it helped all those new players. We did everything from pregame warmups to where they'd be on the sideline, to pregame at the hotel, just trying to get all the bugs ironed out, and take away all the anxiety to say, 'This is what we do on a Friday and Saturday.'
"I think it was productive. Now it's going to be different because there's going to be 50,000 (fans in the stadium). I know guys are excited about finally getting a chance to play."
The mock week was met by rave reviews.
"Mock week and the mock game is something we try to get into just to make sure whenever it's time to go out and play for real, we've seen and we know exactly what we need to do when we get to the hotel and whenever we get off the bus and whenever we walk down to the stadium, how much time you have to get ready, the pregame, things like that," Preseason All-American Deuce Vaughn said.
"The mock game was good. We had referees out there and Coach Klieman was taking us through every situation you could think of — backed up, coming out of the end zone, 2-minute drill, 4-minute drill, first-down-get-down, and punt safe — everything that could happen in a football game we were going through it, so everybody has a picture of what do if a situation arises."
Center Hayden Gillum was ready to play a real game.
"I said, 'I feel like we're going to tee it off,'" Gillum said. "I had to remind myself it was practice. It definitely felt like it was real. We've put in a ton of work this offseason and now it's here. Now, it's details, details, details, and we'll keep pounding away until we get there."
Here are 10 things Klieman discussed in his weekly news conference:
Klieman on Martinez: 'We're excited to cut him loose and let him play'
The wait is almost over for K-State transfer quarterback Adrian Martinez, who will become the first Power 5 transfer quarterback to start for the Wildcats in a season opener immediately after transferring in. Martinez enjoyed a record-setting performance at Nebraska over a four-year career, and Klieman is excited for him to guide the Wildcats' offense this fall.
"Just seeing how he's developed in the last 30 days since we started camp and just how much more confident he is, he's in rhythm, and he understands where people are supposed to be, and he has a good rapport. I think he's just excited to play.
"We're excited to cut him loose and let him play."
Martinez is eager for his first game as well.
"There's so much that goes into playing quarterback and even more so at playing quarterback at a high level," he said. "I'm just continuing to try and add knowledge in that scheme in making good decisions, and obviously making the jump to K-State, there's a new offense, new reads and different parts of the game that I've gotten to learn that has really helped me to become a better player."
Deuce Vaughn is cool with not getting the football all the time
The best running back in the FBS needs 98 receiving yards to become the second-fastest player since 1996 to reach 2,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in a career. While it's unknown whether Deuce Vaughn might duplicate his 235-carry, 1,468-yard, 18-touchdown performance in 2022, the 5-foot-6, 176-pound junior is eager to do whatever it takes for the K-State offense to succeed in Collin Klein's first season as offensive coordinator.
"I talk with Coach Klein every single day about how we can get everybody involved," Vaughn said. "If I have to be a decoy on some plays to open up somebody else, I'm the happiest person in the world, because we may score a touchdown. I'm super excited for Coach Klein and for this offense playing behind him. He's someone I'm going to play my heart out for. I think everybody feels that way, too."
Vaughn continued, "There's one thing I want to get up under his belt — a Big 12 Championship this year, so we're going to go out there and do that."
Transfer safeties are the buzz of the backfield
Although experienced Julius Brents and Ekow Boye-Doe were no-brainers to start at cornerback, intrigue surrounded the three safety positions throughout fall camp. The wait is over, as transfers Josh Hayes is slated to start at free safety, Kobe Savage at strong safety, and Drake Cheatum at jack safety.
"Josh Hayes is one who jumps out at me who was here in spring ball and came here as a corner and some of the things we're doing differently in the secondary, but he fit right in at free safety, and he's really good in man coverage and has learned how to play zone coverage from the safety spot," Klieman said.
"Drake Cheatum is very smart and played a lot of football. He had a lot of previous success and has a lot of confidence. He's a really good communicator. It's kind of a new position for him in the fact that they didn't run that same defense at his old place, but he's just a really mature guy that understands the game of football really well, so I'm excited.
"Kobe Savage has had a really good summer and fall camp. We have more depth there. We're going to play a lot of bodies in the defensive secondary."
Remember the name DJ Giddens
Expect Vaughn to smile really big when Junction City High School product DJ Giddens enters the game Saturday. The 6-foot-1, 212-pound redshirt freshman has yet to carry the football in an official game and is slated as the No. 2 running back.
"He's super, super talented and a gifted kid," Vaughn said. "He's someone who's starting to come together mentally. He asks questions every single day of how he can get better. The physical talent was always there. It was just getting him to the right spot to go out and play. The progression he's made this past year is unbelievable. I can't wait for him to get out there this Saturday."
Expect junior college transfer Anthony Frias II to see his first action as well.
"DJ Giddens and Anthony Frias are both going to play," Klieman said. "DJ was here all spring and took most of the reps. We didn't give Deuce that many reps in the spring and then in the fall we tried to push DJ and put him with the ones, and put Anthony with the ones. DJ, over a long body of work, continued to improve. We all know DJ is a really good runner with the football, but just pass routes and pass protection and understanding how important the play-action and fakes were important. I'm excited because DJ is ready to play college football.
"He's going to be a really big asset for us this year."
Khalid Duke is 'going to play on Saturday'
Klieman was quick to dash any lingering speculation regarding the health status of Khalid Duke when he said that the 6-foot-4, 246-pound hybrid defensive end/linebacker is "going to play Saturday" after missing 10 games last season due to an apparent slow-to-heal injury. When healthy, Duke has monster talent, and could combine his skills with defensive ends Felix Anudike-Uzomah and Nate Matlack to form a fearsome threesome.
"(Duke) is in a good position right now," Klieman said. "He's going to play on Saturday. I don't know if he'll play 15 plays or 55 plays, but he practiced all of last week and all this week. He's played enough football that now we just need to get him into some game shape, but he knows what he's doing. Sometimes players like that you have to cut them loose and let them play.
"Without question, Khalid is excited about the opportunity to get on the field. He had his season cut by 10 games last season and that's hard. He's just excited to be out there and be healthy and play fast."
Christian Moore gets the nod at fullback as Jax Dineen recovers from injury
Senior Jax Dineen has 11 starts in his career and was bullish with the football a year ago — five carries for 20 yards and four catches for 16 yards — while proving himself to be a monster blocker. However, Klieman indicated that Dineen has missed time in practice, clearing a path for 6-foot-2, 243-pound sophomore Christian Moore to get his first-career start.
"Jax missed quite a bit of fall camp, but he's back now, so that allowed Christian to get more and more snaps, which I thought was really important for him, because Jax knows our offense and had taken a lion's share of reps in the spring and early fall camp, and then we lost Jax for a little bit, so that elevated Christian to the first spot.
"He's a very physical guy and stayed on his tracks really well from that fullback spot and understands kicking people out. Jax getting nicked up probably helped us because it allowed us to push Christian along and now we feel like we have two guys we can count on. Jax is back healthy now, so we'll see how that plays out."
KT Leveston 'has the ability to be an all-conference player'
Klieman wasn't short on praise for KT Leveston, the 6-foot-5, 320-pound senior who will start at left tackle on Saturday. This will be the sixth start of Leveston's career.
"He's had a really good camp, and it's really important that KT — he's a guy who when I first came here, the amount of growth and maturity and his ability as a football player have improved so much," Klieman said. "KT has the ability to be an all-conference player. I'm excited for him to get the opportunity."
The excitement along the offensive line doesn't stop at Leveston. Senior Hayden Gillum is poised to make his first-career start at center. Preseason All-Big 12 junior Cooper Beebe can play multiple spots and is slated to start at left guard on Saturday. Junior Taylor Poitier is scheduled to start at right guard and senior Christian Duffie at right tackle.
"This is a really good offensive line," Poitier said. "Coach Conor Riley has been hopping on the offensive line. He's like, 'We have to be the most physical offensive linemen out there.' Having those expectations just sets us for the season and what we want to be.
"Christian Duffie, he's a very smart player. He knows what he's doing. He's a very smart player. He is good with his footwork and his hands. He's improved a lot with his pass sets. I'm excited for him. He's a very underrated player in my opinion."
Some young guys are expected to play
The two-deep – and in some areas three-deep – depth chart features eight redshirt freshmen or true freshmen. Of the eight, three are true freshmen in weakside linebacker Jake Clifton, free safety VJ Payne and cornerback Jacob Parrish. Klieman spent a portion of fall camp discussing each as potential breakouts on defense.
Simply put, they may be too good to redshirt.
"Right now, if they're in the two-deep, our plan is to play them," Klieman said. "Now maybe something will change that, but there's a handful of guys that leave their mark that we're going to play, and maybe even a few more. You knock on wood that you don't lose some older experienced guys, but we've done a really nice job finding ways to get those guys repetitions late into fall camp when you start to focus on game planning and trying to get some of those really young players or redshirt freshmen more reps against each other so they're comfortable if you have to throw them out there and the lights are on."
Klieman wants to see a clean game Saturday
K-State was one of the least penalized teams in the nation over the final few weeks of the 2021 regular season, as the Wildcats totaled only four penalties (1.3 per game) for 41 yards (13.7 yards per game) over their final three regular-season games. K-State finished 34th nationally (a 43-spot jump) and fourth in the Big 12 in penalties (a five-spot jump) because of its regular season-ending efforts to cut down penalties.
Klieman hopes there won't be many miscues on Saturday.
"We want to play our systems offensively and defensively fast and physical and with great communication and great mental focus and with a lack of mental errors," Klieman said. "You always worry that first game, whether it's play clock, substitution errors, false starts, or not being able to get a team off the field, tackling — all the things that early on you're hopeful that are things you've prepared the guys for. The game repetition is going to be so critical and key for us."
Skylar Thompson 'earned' spot on Dolphins' 53-man rosterThe initial 5️⃣3️⃣ man roster is here! #FinsUp pic.twitter.com/vzPi1vX4Pv
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) August 30, 2022
When asked to share his thoughts on former K-State quarterback Skylar Thompson, a seventh-round draft pick, making the 53-man active roster for the Miami Dolphins, Klieman quipped, "He completed a lot of passes didn't he? And he didn't throw a pick."
"I had good communication with Skylar on Sunday, so I knew he made the 53 (player roster) on Sunday, but he didn't make the 53, he earned to be on the 53. I don't know that business very well, but I think if they'd released him, he would've been picked up pretty quickly. It's a great fit for him in Miami. He's excited to be down there and learn from the older guys, but the stage wasn't too big, and he had a chip on his shoulder, and played really good football, and he was prepared to play really good football."
Count Vaughn among Thompson's biggest supporters.
"Man, I watched every single preseason game I could get my hands on, and if I couldn't watch the game, I watched the highlights," Vaughn said. "To see the things he's doing out there is unbelievable. Everybody in this building knew he was capable of it, and to see him doing it, I'm so excited for him. I can't wait to see what he does next."
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