Next-Play Mindset
Oct 29, 2024 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Over winter conditioning, sixth-year Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman had a goal. He wanted his team to get back to a next-play mindset, one that served the Wildcats well during their run to the 2022 Big 12 Championship — and a mindset that waned as the 2023 squad, bent on a repeat, peered down the road instead of taking care of business each step of the way.
The "next-play" 1-0 mindset is serving No. 17 K-State well so far in 2024.
K-State, 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the Big 12 Conference, is off to its best start since 2014, and aside from a disappointing setback at (current conference-leading) BYU on September 21, has performed admirably in all aspects: It is winning games, it is winning on the road, and it is winning close games.
"Last year was a focus of getting back to where we were in 2022, and Coach Klieman did a great job all the way back to this winter of getting us back to that next-play mindset — not the next year mindset," junior nose tackle Damian Ilalio said. "We're not focused on the end of the year, we're focused on this next practice and the very next snap.
"It's very important you focus step-by-step instead of looking too far ahead because you can get lost in the process."
While preseason Big 12 favorite Utah has fizzled and Oklahoma State, picked third in the preseason, has struggled, K-State, which was picked No. 2 in the league's preseason poll, has remained steady in this crazy new-look, 16-team Big 12.
K-State started the season at 4-1, capped by a 42-20 win over Oklahoma State, before its first bye week. The season resumed with wins at Colorado (31-28) and at West Virginia (45-18) before Saturday's nail-biting come-from-behind 29-27 victory over Kansas in Manhattan.
K-State rides a four-game winning streak as it heads to Houston, 3-5 and 2-3, in Saturday's 2:30 p.m. kickoff at TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas.
"We're as good as we want to be," junior linebacker Desmond Purnell said. "The only people who can beat us are ourselves. What happened in the BYU game, we beat ourselves mostly that day, and a lot of mishaps happened, and we came in here and got it corrected. We're still trying to improve."
The Wildcats will take their second bye week after facing the Cougars, then will finish out the regular season against Arizona State, Cincinnati, and at No. 11 Iowa State.
"We broke this season up into three parts," Klieman said. "We had five games and then we had a break, and then we had this four-game stretch (at Colorado, at West Virginia, versus Kansas and at Houston). We never looked ahead once we got into this four-game stretch. We got our open week and were able to get our bodies healthy and get some things accomplished, and then really attacked it one day at a time. You have to continue to build each day."
It hasn't always been perfect, but K-State is 3-0 in one-possession games, all which have been in comeback fashion. The Wildcats' three wins this season when trailing in the fourth quarter are the most since 2017.
K-State trailed Kansas, 27-26, before Chris Tennant's 51-yard field goal with 1:42 left sparked a K-State win. Two weeks ago, K-State trailed 28-24 at Colorado before the game-winning touchdown from Avery Johnson to Jayce Brown with 2:14 remaining.
"Our player ownership, I know the ownership the guys took, especially through the adversity we faced at Colorado in having the lead, losing the lead, and being down in that kind of environment in the fourth quarter," Klieman said. "Just watching those guys help each other, that helped us a bunch in that game in particular.
"The adversity that we've faced during this three-game stretch has really helped us to grow as a football team."
K-State went 3-2 in one-score games in 2022. It went 1-4 in one-score games in 2023. Now the Wildcats are currently unblemished in tight finishes, including a win against a Kansas squad that appears to be better than its record.
"The margin of error in college football is really small," Klieman said, "I mean, razor thin, between winning and losing. That's why I'm so proud of the guys for staying in the fight like they did. It was going great at times, but we stayed in the fight and found a way."
The key? Going 1-0.
"It starts with Coach Klieman, and it's reiterated throughout the whole building," said sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson, who is 9-1 as a starter. "(Director of Strength and Conditioning) Coach Tru (Trumain Carroll) says it all the time in our lifts. It's just being focused on the next game because that's the one that's most important. It's about being where your feet are and not looking too far down the road."
Carroll reiterates that message daily.
"Something that Coach Tru says is we have to have that new-car smell whenever we come back to work on Monday," redshirt freshman tight end Will Anciaux said. "First thing this morning, on the board, it said, 'Still got to train.' No matter what happens, we have to keep our heads down and be humble with everything and continue to know we haven't really accomplished anything yet."
Ilalio echoed that sentiment.
"Our team right now is doing a great job of not being satisfied, staying hungry, eating crumbs," Ilalio said. "We talk about it all the time, and we live it as well in everything that we do.
"We're really good and we can be better, which is really exciting for me. We're really hungry. We're not satisfied. That makes me happy. I know we're good right now and we've won close games and have done well on the road, but that's not our ceiling, and it's not the end goal of where we want to be and where we could be."
If K-State wins out, it will reach the Big 12 Championship Game for a second time in three years.
Asked if the end goal was playing the regular-season finale at No. 11 Iowa State on November 30, Ilalio furrowed his brow.
"The end goal," he replied, "is Houston this week."
Over winter conditioning, sixth-year Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman had a goal. He wanted his team to get back to a next-play mindset, one that served the Wildcats well during their run to the 2022 Big 12 Championship — and a mindset that waned as the 2023 squad, bent on a repeat, peered down the road instead of taking care of business each step of the way.
The "next-play" 1-0 mindset is serving No. 17 K-State well so far in 2024.
K-State, 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the Big 12 Conference, is off to its best start since 2014, and aside from a disappointing setback at (current conference-leading) BYU on September 21, has performed admirably in all aspects: It is winning games, it is winning on the road, and it is winning close games.
"Last year was a focus of getting back to where we were in 2022, and Coach Klieman did a great job all the way back to this winter of getting us back to that next-play mindset — not the next year mindset," junior nose tackle Damian Ilalio said. "We're not focused on the end of the year, we're focused on this next practice and the very next snap.
"It's very important you focus step-by-step instead of looking too far ahead because you can get lost in the process."
While preseason Big 12 favorite Utah has fizzled and Oklahoma State, picked third in the preseason, has struggled, K-State, which was picked No. 2 in the league's preseason poll, has remained steady in this crazy new-look, 16-team Big 12.
K-State started the season at 4-1, capped by a 42-20 win over Oklahoma State, before its first bye week. The season resumed with wins at Colorado (31-28) and at West Virginia (45-18) before Saturday's nail-biting come-from-behind 29-27 victory over Kansas in Manhattan.
K-State rides a four-game winning streak as it heads to Houston, 3-5 and 2-3, in Saturday's 2:30 p.m. kickoff at TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas.
"We're as good as we want to be," junior linebacker Desmond Purnell said. "The only people who can beat us are ourselves. What happened in the BYU game, we beat ourselves mostly that day, and a lot of mishaps happened, and we came in here and got it corrected. We're still trying to improve."
The Wildcats will take their second bye week after facing the Cougars, then will finish out the regular season against Arizona State, Cincinnati, and at No. 11 Iowa State.
"We broke this season up into three parts," Klieman said. "We had five games and then we had a break, and then we had this four-game stretch (at Colorado, at West Virginia, versus Kansas and at Houston). We never looked ahead once we got into this four-game stretch. We got our open week and were able to get our bodies healthy and get some things accomplished, and then really attacked it one day at a time. You have to continue to build each day."
It hasn't always been perfect, but K-State is 3-0 in one-possession games, all which have been in comeback fashion. The Wildcats' three wins this season when trailing in the fourth quarter are the most since 2017.
K-State trailed Kansas, 27-26, before Chris Tennant's 51-yard field goal with 1:42 left sparked a K-State win. Two weeks ago, K-State trailed 28-24 at Colorado before the game-winning touchdown from Avery Johnson to Jayce Brown with 2:14 remaining.
"Our player ownership, I know the ownership the guys took, especially through the adversity we faced at Colorado in having the lead, losing the lead, and being down in that kind of environment in the fourth quarter," Klieman said. "Just watching those guys help each other, that helped us a bunch in that game in particular.
"The adversity that we've faced during this three-game stretch has really helped us to grow as a football team."
K-State went 3-2 in one-score games in 2022. It went 1-4 in one-score games in 2023. Now the Wildcats are currently unblemished in tight finishes, including a win against a Kansas squad that appears to be better than its record.
"The margin of error in college football is really small," Klieman said, "I mean, razor thin, between winning and losing. That's why I'm so proud of the guys for staying in the fight like they did. It was going great at times, but we stayed in the fight and found a way."
The key? Going 1-0.
"It starts with Coach Klieman, and it's reiterated throughout the whole building," said sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson, who is 9-1 as a starter. "(Director of Strength and Conditioning) Coach Tru (Trumain Carroll) says it all the time in our lifts. It's just being focused on the next game because that's the one that's most important. It's about being where your feet are and not looking too far down the road."
Carroll reiterates that message daily.
"Something that Coach Tru says is we have to have that new-car smell whenever we come back to work on Monday," redshirt freshman tight end Will Anciaux said. "First thing this morning, on the board, it said, 'Still got to train.' No matter what happens, we have to keep our heads down and be humble with everything and continue to know we haven't really accomplished anything yet."
Ilalio echoed that sentiment.
"Our team right now is doing a great job of not being satisfied, staying hungry, eating crumbs," Ilalio said. "We talk about it all the time, and we live it as well in everything that we do.
"We're really good and we can be better, which is really exciting for me. We're really hungry. We're not satisfied. That makes me happy. I know we're good right now and we've won close games and have done well on the road, but that's not our ceiling, and it's not the end goal of where we want to be and where we could be."
If K-State wins out, it will reach the Big 12 Championship Game for a second time in three years.
Asked if the end goal was playing the regular-season finale at No. 11 Iowa State on November 30, Ilalio furrowed his brow.
"The end goal," he replied, "is Houston this week."
Players Mentioned
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