Cats Mindful That Anything Can Happen
Sep 16, 2022 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Kansas State Preseason All-American running back Deuce Vaughn grinned, grimaced, and shook his head at the myriad of upsets that shook college football last Saturday.
No. 6 Texas A&M lost at home to Appalachian State, No. 8 Notre Dame lost at home to Marshall, Nebraska lost at home to Georgia Southern. The list of upsets goes on.
"That's the craziest thing about college football, is that anybody can beat anybody on any given Saturday," Vaughn said. "One of the things we talk about during the week here is to make sure we take care of our business. We have to make sure we're able to play our game on Saturday. That process really started on Monday.
"We must do everything we can to put ourselves into a position to be successful."
K-State, 2-0, will look to avoid falling into the list of Power 5 schools that have lost to Group of 5 competition when it faces American Athletic Conference opponent Tulane, 2-0, in a 2 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
The Wildcats are 80-8 in home games against non-conference opponents since 1990, including 6-1 under fourth-year head coach Chris Klieman. He will go against Tulane head coach Willie Fritz, who is 0-14 against Power 5 schools in his career.
Tulane is off to its first 2-0 start since 2002 and comes off its first shutout victory since November 1, 1997, following a 52-0 win over Alcorn State last Saturday.
Klieman said the Wildcats cannot afford to peek ahead at next weekend's primetime Big 12 Conference opener at No. 6 Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma.
"No way, we can't," Klieman said. "We're not good enough to do that. Tulane is too good of a football team to do that. There are no shortcuts to success."
Several Power 5 teams found that out the hard way last Saturday.
"Something I believe makes this program special is our preparation, and that's recognized on this team and something we understand," said quarterback Adrian Martinez, a senior transfer from Nebraska.
K-State has been largely dominant with wins over South Dakota (34-0) and Missouri (40-12). It wasn't until a game-ending, untimed down by the Tigers that the Wildcats allowed their first touchdown of the season.
"(K-State) got after Missouri," Fritz told NOLA.com. "I was surprised by how they just really dominated the game. I thought they'd win, but it was in a convincing fashion. They dominated both lines of scrimmage and got on the perimeter and really showed their speed."
Michael Pratt, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior quarterback, has completed 29 of 41 passes for 482 yards and five touchdowns and no interceptions for the Green Wave, and he also has nine carries for 52 yards and one score on the ground. Pratt went 17 of 21 for a career-high 318 yards and three touchdowns against Alcorn State. He has tossed a touchdown in 22 of his 23 career games.
Four Tulane pass-catchers have at least five receptions, including 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior Shae Wyatt, who has six catches for 150 yards and one touchdown. Redshirt freshman Iverson Celestine leads the team with 17 carries for 89 yards after two games.
K-State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman believes the Wildcats will be in for a challenge in facing Pratt.
"He's a stud," Klanderman said. "He's a really good player. He's extremely sharp and tough. He took some big shots last week and jumped up Rocky Balboa style, and he showed a lot of heart. He makes good decisions, he knows what to do with the ball, looks really comfortable out there, and has played a lot of snaps in his career.
"He's definitely going to be one of the better quarterbacks we'll see this year."
Pratt earlier in the week indicated that he was excited about the prospect of playing in front of 50,000 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Tulane nearly pulled off a shocker in a 40-35 loss at No. 2 Oklahoma last season.
"That (opportunity) gets me fired up, and I just have to translate it to the rest of the team," Pratt told NOLA.com. "Something we have to emphasize going into the game is firing on all cylinders on both sides of the ball."
K-State has hurt opponents in all three phases of the game.
Aside from possessing one of the top rushing offenses in the FBS, the Wildcats have recorded a special teams touchdown in each of their first two games for the first time since 1998. Phillip Brooks earned Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors after his 76-yard punt-return touchdown against the Tigers.
Meanwhile, K-State's defense has been lights out, ranking top-15 in the FBS scoring defense (fifth), passing defense (13th) and total defense (15th). The Wildcats are allowing just 3.66 yards per play and have given up just three plays longer than 20 yards.
The Wildcats intercepted the Tigers on four straight possessions and their five interceptions on the season, which are tied for fifth most in the FBS, mark their most through the first two games of a season since 2000.
"We say 'pound the stone,' and stack good days upon good days," said Preseason All-Big 12 senior linebacker Daniel Green, who has eight tackles and one interception. "That's our mindset. Each day is about how we can be better today because tomorrow is too far away and yesterday is already over. It's about what you do today."
Saturday will mark the latest opportunity for the Wildcats to unleash their passing offense.
Blowout wins in the first two contests, including a rainstorm against the Tigers, have limited the Wildcats' passing game. Martinez, one of just two active FBS players with 8,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards in his career, has completed 20 of 35 passes for 154 yards in two games with the Wildcats.
"We can throw the football," offensive coordinator Collin Klein said. "We have great receivers and a good quarterback. I've been very pleased with (Martinez's) decision making, and he definitely is processing the game at a really high clip and protecting us in certain runs and in some passes that he's checked out of because of some pressure looks he's seen, and he's taking the game as it comes.
"(Passing) isn't something I want to force, but I think it'll be a more natural flow hopefully as we move forward."
Meanwhile, Vaughn continues his charge toward more records.
Vaughn's 271 rushing yards ranks fifth nationally and Martinez has 22 carries for 110 yards as well for a rushing offense that has churned out 531 yards, which ranks sixth in the FBS.
Vaughn currently ranks second in school history with eight consecutive 100-yard rushing performances — Darren Sproles had 10 — and Vaughn's nine straight games with a rushing touchdown marks the longest streak since Klein had a rushing touchdown in 12 games in 2012.
"Deuce is Deuce," Klein said. "I'm not surprised one bit. He's top shelf in every area. You see his notebook from the week of him watching tape on his own and it's darned near a novel. He's special."
K-State seeks its 18th perfect regular season in non-conference contests since 1990. The Wildcats went undefeated against non-conference regular-season foes in both 2019 and 2021 under Klieman.
Players remain mindful of last Saturday's victorious day for underdog opponents as K-State nears its final non-conference regular-season contest before heading to No. 6 Oklahoma.
"There were so many crazy upsets last weekend and so many crazy games," wide receiver Kade Warner said. "You have to go about your work every single day and can't take a single opponent off or else you see what'll happen to you.
"It'd be a huge confidence boost to go 3-0 before we go into conference play."
Kansas State Preseason All-American running back Deuce Vaughn grinned, grimaced, and shook his head at the myriad of upsets that shook college football last Saturday.
No. 6 Texas A&M lost at home to Appalachian State, No. 8 Notre Dame lost at home to Marshall, Nebraska lost at home to Georgia Southern. The list of upsets goes on.
"That's the craziest thing about college football, is that anybody can beat anybody on any given Saturday," Vaughn said. "One of the things we talk about during the week here is to make sure we take care of our business. We have to make sure we're able to play our game on Saturday. That process really started on Monday.
"We must do everything we can to put ourselves into a position to be successful."
K-State, 2-0, will look to avoid falling into the list of Power 5 schools that have lost to Group of 5 competition when it faces American Athletic Conference opponent Tulane, 2-0, in a 2 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
The Wildcats are 80-8 in home games against non-conference opponents since 1990, including 6-1 under fourth-year head coach Chris Klieman. He will go against Tulane head coach Willie Fritz, who is 0-14 against Power 5 schools in his career.
Tulane is off to its first 2-0 start since 2002 and comes off its first shutout victory since November 1, 1997, following a 52-0 win over Alcorn State last Saturday.
Klieman said the Wildcats cannot afford to peek ahead at next weekend's primetime Big 12 Conference opener at No. 6 Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma.
"No way, we can't," Klieman said. "We're not good enough to do that. Tulane is too good of a football team to do that. There are no shortcuts to success."
Several Power 5 teams found that out the hard way last Saturday.
"Something I believe makes this program special is our preparation, and that's recognized on this team and something we understand," said quarterback Adrian Martinez, a senior transfer from Nebraska.
K-State has been largely dominant with wins over South Dakota (34-0) and Missouri (40-12). It wasn't until a game-ending, untimed down by the Tigers that the Wildcats allowed their first touchdown of the season.
"(K-State) got after Missouri," Fritz told NOLA.com. "I was surprised by how they just really dominated the game. I thought they'd win, but it was in a convincing fashion. They dominated both lines of scrimmage and got on the perimeter and really showed their speed."
Michael Pratt, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior quarterback, has completed 29 of 41 passes for 482 yards and five touchdowns and no interceptions for the Green Wave, and he also has nine carries for 52 yards and one score on the ground. Pratt went 17 of 21 for a career-high 318 yards and three touchdowns against Alcorn State. He has tossed a touchdown in 22 of his 23 career games.
Four Tulane pass-catchers have at least five receptions, including 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior Shae Wyatt, who has six catches for 150 yards and one touchdown. Redshirt freshman Iverson Celestine leads the team with 17 carries for 89 yards after two games.
K-State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman believes the Wildcats will be in for a challenge in facing Pratt.
"He's a stud," Klanderman said. "He's a really good player. He's extremely sharp and tough. He took some big shots last week and jumped up Rocky Balboa style, and he showed a lot of heart. He makes good decisions, he knows what to do with the ball, looks really comfortable out there, and has played a lot of snaps in his career.
"He's definitely going to be one of the better quarterbacks we'll see this year."
Pratt earlier in the week indicated that he was excited about the prospect of playing in front of 50,000 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Tulane nearly pulled off a shocker in a 40-35 loss at No. 2 Oklahoma last season.
"That (opportunity) gets me fired up, and I just have to translate it to the rest of the team," Pratt told NOLA.com. "Something we have to emphasize going into the game is firing on all cylinders on both sides of the ball."
K-State has hurt opponents in all three phases of the game.
Aside from possessing one of the top rushing offenses in the FBS, the Wildcats have recorded a special teams touchdown in each of their first two games for the first time since 1998. Phillip Brooks earned Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors after his 76-yard punt-return touchdown against the Tigers.
Meanwhile, K-State's defense has been lights out, ranking top-15 in the FBS scoring defense (fifth), passing defense (13th) and total defense (15th). The Wildcats are allowing just 3.66 yards per play and have given up just three plays longer than 20 yards.
The Wildcats intercepted the Tigers on four straight possessions and their five interceptions on the season, which are tied for fifth most in the FBS, mark their most through the first two games of a season since 2000.
"We say 'pound the stone,' and stack good days upon good days," said Preseason All-Big 12 senior linebacker Daniel Green, who has eight tackles and one interception. "That's our mindset. Each day is about how we can be better today because tomorrow is too far away and yesterday is already over. It's about what you do today."
Saturday will mark the latest opportunity for the Wildcats to unleash their passing offense.
Blowout wins in the first two contests, including a rainstorm against the Tigers, have limited the Wildcats' passing game. Martinez, one of just two active FBS players with 8,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards in his career, has completed 20 of 35 passes for 154 yards in two games with the Wildcats.
"We can throw the football," offensive coordinator Collin Klein said. "We have great receivers and a good quarterback. I've been very pleased with (Martinez's) decision making, and he definitely is processing the game at a really high clip and protecting us in certain runs and in some passes that he's checked out of because of some pressure looks he's seen, and he's taking the game as it comes.
"(Passing) isn't something I want to force, but I think it'll be a more natural flow hopefully as we move forward."
Meanwhile, Vaughn continues his charge toward more records.
Vaughn's 271 rushing yards ranks fifth nationally and Martinez has 22 carries for 110 yards as well for a rushing offense that has churned out 531 yards, which ranks sixth in the FBS.
Vaughn currently ranks second in school history with eight consecutive 100-yard rushing performances — Darren Sproles had 10 — and Vaughn's nine straight games with a rushing touchdown marks the longest streak since Klein had a rushing touchdown in 12 games in 2012.
"Deuce is Deuce," Klein said. "I'm not surprised one bit. He's top shelf in every area. You see his notebook from the week of him watching tape on his own and it's darned near a novel. He's special."
K-State seeks its 18th perfect regular season in non-conference contests since 1990. The Wildcats went undefeated against non-conference regular-season foes in both 2019 and 2021 under Klieman.
Players remain mindful of last Saturday's victorious day for underdog opponents as K-State nears its final non-conference regular-season contest before heading to No. 6 Oklahoma.
"There were so many crazy upsets last weekend and so many crazy games," wide receiver Kade Warner said. "You have to go about your work every single day and can't take a single opponent off or else you see what'll happen to you.
"It'd be a huge confidence boost to go 3-0 before we go into conference play."
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ FootballK-State Rowing | Media Day
Tuesday, February 24
K-State Rowing | Weights Practice
Tuesday, February 24
K-State Tennis | Weekend Recap vs Old Dominion & Minnesota
Tuesday, February 24
K-State Track and Field | Sights & Sounds Steve Miller Invitational
Monday, February 23
