Know the Why

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Around 48 hours after Kansas State regained its footing and moved to a .500 Big 12 Conference record with a 34-20 win over UCF, head coach Chris Klieman during his weekly news conference on Monday was asked to share what his message would be to the team later that day.

"Know why we were successful," Klieman said. "That's the first thing. It's not like some magic potion that all the sudden we played better. It was a combination of our preparation, practices with great energy with offense against defense, and celebration after plays. We should play with that energy all the time.

"How do we make sure that it's not a one-off? Notice why we're successful. Now we're going on the road to try and do this. It's going to be 74 players on the trip, and we have to bring the juice together."

K-State, 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Big 12, used a balanced game to defeat previously unbeaten UCF in front of a crowd of 53,013 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The Wildcats, who were coming off back-to-back setbacks — a 24-21 home loss to Army and a 23-17 loss at Arizona — needed a win to find its mojo.

Mission accomplished.

"It'd been a while since we'd celebrated in the locker room," Klieman said. "The guys know why we were successful — better energy, better physicality, better motion. I went back and looked at the film, and we did a lot of things a lot better. We have to clean up a lot of things on both sides of the ball and on special teams. Part of our effort and physicality bailed us out a few times. We've got to be better.

"We're giving up too many explosive plays on defense, not getting as many right now on offense."

Offensively, K-State ranks 14^th in the Big 12 with 18 plays from scrimmage that have covered 20-plus yards. Defensively, K-State ranks last in the Big 12 in allowing 24 plays from scrimmage to travel 20-plus yards.

"We've got to be a little bit more efficient on offense and get a few more explosive plays," Klieman reiterated, "and we can't give up as many explosive plays as we are on defense."

K-State put up 434 total offensive yards, including a season-high 266 rushing yards, on UCF behind the dual-threat capabilities of quarterback Avery Johnson and the spectacular return of standout running back Dylan Edwards, who had 20 carries for 166 yards and one touchdown — a 75-yard dash down the sideline.

While wide receiver Jaron Tibbs had his best game as a Wildcat with eight catches for 72 yards, and true freshman tight end Linkon Cure and wide receiver Sterling Lockett each made their first-career catches, the Wildcats' potent one-two punch in the passing game was sidelined due to injury. Top wide receiver Jayce Brown played only briefly while nursing an injury, and Jerand Bradley missed his second complete game due to injury.

Klieman said that he likely wouldn't know their playing status until Tuesday or Wednesday but remained "hopeful," adding that they are "going to work their tails off to get healthy" and that "they are not out long term."

K-State punter Simon McClannan and kicker Luis Rodriguez garnered particular praise on Monday.

While Rodriguez drilled a 51-yard field goal at Arizona and is 6-for-6 on field goal attempts and 15-for-15 on extra points this season, McClannan on Monday afternoon was named to the Ray's 8 list as one of the best eight punters of the week, as announced by the Ray Guy Award committee after McClannan averaged 51.0 yards on four punts against UCF.

McClannan ranks third in the Big 12 with a 45.1-yard average on 19 punts, which includes seven that have traveled at least 50 yards to tie for second in the Big 12.

"Simon's punting the ball extremely well, which is a big key for us in flipping field position," Klieman said.

As for Rodriguez's kicking touch?

"He's not just leaning into it," Klieman said, "he's piping it in between the goal posts. I'm excited for him. He has confidence already and it's fun to see that confidence pay off in a game."

Defensively, K-State held UCF to 20 points — 19 points below its average. But K-State will be tested when it travels to face Baylor, 3-2 and 1-1, on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. in Waco, Texas.

The Bears have scored 40 or more points in three of their last four games, rank 34^th nationally in averaging 36.6 points per game, and rank fifth nationally with 504.2 total yards and third nationally with 349.4 passing yards per contest.

They are credited as possessing the 11^th-best offense in the FBS.

Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson leads the nation in passing touchdowns (17), passing yards (1,713) and passing yards per game (342.6).

Baylor running back Bryson Washington ranks 10^th nationally with 492 rushing yards this season to go along with five touchdowns.

"Tempo, speed, terrific quarterback — they're a terrific offense that's clicking on all cylinders and has had really good success and is putting up 500 yards and tons of points," Klieman said. "And it's a variety of wide receivers making plays for them and one of the best tight ends in the league and really good running backs, and they're playing well up front.

"If they're going to have 90 plays, we're going to have a problem. We have to get off the field on defense and sustain drives on offense so we can play some complementary football. We don't want to get into a 40s shootout with them. You're not going to have a 10-6 game against these guys."

Klieman had another message for his team as it enters preparation for Baylor.

"We're bringing 74 players, and you better be ready to play," Klieman said. "It's going to be 90 degrees on Saturday morning in Waco. You need to have some value and be able to play. I don't care of that's the ninth or 10^th offensive lineman to the fifth corner, we need everybody right now. We can't go into this thinking if they get 80 plays and we hope to get 80 plays — no kid is going to play that many plays. We have to spread the wealth."

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jerand Bradley

Jayce Brown

Linkon Cure

Dylan Edwards

Avery Johnson

Sterling Lockett

Simon McClannan

Luis Rodriguez

Jaron Tibbs

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