Red Zone Success Key to High Rankings

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Just past the midway point of the college football season, Kansas State finds itself in rare air statistically with some previous standout Wildcats teams.

K-State, 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12 Conference, currently ranks 13^th in the FBS in scoring offense (36.9 points per game) and 19^th in scoring defense (18.1 points allowed per game).

It joins Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon and Penn State as the only Power 5 teams to rank top 20 in both categories.

"How you get really good numbers in scoring offense is you don't kick field goals," K-State head coach Chris Klieman said in his weekly news conference. "You get touchdowns in the red zone, and we're at an alarmingly good rate of getting touchdowns in the red zone.

"On defense, the amount of time we put into red-zone defense and keeping people out of the end zone and making them drive the length of the field. We didn't do that early in the season, and were giving up too many explosive plays. Lately, we've done a better job.

"Those are two stats that you do keep track of."

K-State is currently tied for fifth nationally with a red-zone touchdown rate of 80% (28-of-35) and second in the country in holding opponents to just 30% (6-of-20) on red-zone touchdowns.

No Wildcat squad has finished a season ranked top 20 in both scoring offense and scoring defense since 2003. That squad ranked No. 9 in scoring offense (36.6) and No. 8 in scoring defense (16.3) en route to capturing the 2003 Big 12 Championship.

K-State also ranked No. 2 in scoring offense (44.8) and No. 1 in scoring defense (11.8) in 2002, and it ranked No. 6 in scoring offense (39.5) and No. 17 in scoring defense (18.5) in 2000.

The Wildcats ranked No. 1 in scoring offense (48.0) and No. 6 in scoring defense (13.3) on a 1998 team that had the first undefeated regular season in school history.

"That makes us feel great," All-American left guard Cooper Beebe said. "People still don't give us the recognition we deserve. We're still trying to show the nation what we're capable of, and I think we're doing a good job of it."

K-State got a boost with its 41-3 home victory over TCU last Saturday. The Wildcats cruised to 587 yards, the sixth most total yards in school history, while their 406 yards in the first half marked their most in any half since at least 1999.

K-State's three games this season with 500-plus total yards are its most since 2003.

"When we're able to get into a rhythm, we're really hard to stop," quarterback Will Howard said. "We're still scratching the surface on what we can do. That's a good thing."

The Wildcats put the finishing touches on TCU when they stopped the Horned Frogs inside the 5-yard line in the final seconds.

"It goes back to the Mob mentality," linebacker Jake Clifton said. "We're not going to give up touchdowns just because we have one explosive on us. We want to play goal line to goal line all four quarters."

K-State has held 13 of their last 14 Big 12 opponents under their scoring average.

Meanwhile, K-State has scored at least 40 points in four of its seven games.

K-State meets Houston, 3-4 and 1-3, for the first time in history in Saturday's 11 a.m. kickoff at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

The Cougars rank 110^th in giving up 31.3 points per contest while averaging 28.9 points on offense.

"When we play like we should, we can compete with anybody in the country, and I truly believe that," Beebe said. "When we're clicking, we can compete with anybody in the country, not just in the Big 12."

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Cooper Beebe

Jake Clifton

Will Howard

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