A Quick Turnaround

By: D. Scott Fritchen

It's a shortened week for Kansas State, which less than 48 hours after a frustrating 24-21 home loss to Army, has plenty to do before leaving Thursday evening for an important non-conference Big 12 Conference showdown at Arizona on Friday at 8:00 p.m. (CT) at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona.

K-State head coach Chris Klieman began his weekly news conference on Monday breaking down the week ahead.

"Today is a Tuesday afternoon for us from a practice standpoint, so we've had to move on pretty quickly," he said. "We were with the guys (Sunday). Didn't practice, just walked through some things, and today will be like a normal Tuesday practice. We won't put pads on today, but we'll resume that tomorrow.

"It's going to be a quick turnaround."

K-State, 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the Big 12 Conference, beat Arizona in a non-conference clash 31-7 last year during a Friday night game in Manhattan. The Wildcats are 4-1 in the regular season against non-conference Power 4 opponents under Klieman, beating Mississippi State (2019), Stanford (2021), Missouri (2022) and Arizona (2024), while the lone loss came on a last-second field goal by Missouri (2023).

After the emotional loss at Missouri, the Wildcats collected themselves and went 7-3 the remainder of the 2023 season.

Klieman hopes this K-State team, too, can turn things around. The Wildcats suffered a 24-21 loss to Iowa State in Ireland, and then needed late-game heroics to survive FCS member North Dakota, before possessing the football just 19:31 in a 24-21 loss to Army — a nighttime battle that drained the Wildcats and their fans at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

"The week before when it went our way (against UND), it's probably easier to be hard on them, and I thought we were really hard on them after UND," Klieman said. "This week, two-fold, with it being a short week, we were probably both (hard and gentle). We were challenging on some guys that we know have to and can play better, and on the flipside, we've got to be firm and then wipe it clean, because we have to get back and get ready to work."

A total of seven points separates K-State from an unblemished season.

"(Guys are) frustrated, obviously not a great mental state when you have three one-score games and don't find a way to win two of them," Klieman said. "I think they realize, and we all do, when you look at the three games, how close we are, but close doesn't count, and it's a handful of plays in all three phases that if we can flip it, we really can turn this."

Arizona, 2-0, has begun its season with a pair of convincing home wins in following up a 40-6 victory over Hawai'i with a 48-3 win over Weber State at 50,800-capacity Arizona Stadium. Arizona, led by second-year head coach Brent Brennan, possesses talent.

Quarterback Noah Fifita has a 210.35 passing efficiency rating in completing 30-of-45 passes for 534 yards and six touchdowns and no interceptions. Wide receiver Javin Whatley has eight catches for 206 yards (25.75 yards per catch) and two touchdowns. Running back Quincy Craig has 15 carries for 156 yards (10.4 yards per attempt) and one touchdown.

"When you blow people out the first two weeks, you gain confidence," Klieman said, "and you can tell they're playing with a lot of confidence on both sides of the ball."

K-State has posted at least 375 total yards in 34 games since 2022, which is tied for fourth among Power 4 teams, but the Wildcats against Army managed just 246 yards on 43 plays — their fewest plays in a game since against Navy in the 2019 Liberty Bowl — while possessing the football just 3 minutes, 16 seconds in the final two quarters.

Army ran 82 plays and gained 332 total yards, and Klieman and his staff are all-too aware of the wear-and-tear the contest took on the Wildcats.

"Our defensive line is the one that we've got to be smart with those guys," Klieman said. "(Our) guys are going to play physical and they've proven they have for the amount of years that these kids have been here on the defensive line, and so we have to take care of those guys. Damian Ilalio and Uso Seumalo are going to play their tails off. We have to make sure they're as fresh and as healthy as we can get them for Friday night rather than them seeing a ton of pictures that they've probably seen over the last handful of years. Those two in particular really stand out to me.

"We rotated enough of the defensive ends that they're not as probably as beat up, although they played a lot of snaps. We just have to be really smart. On a short week, you can't go a normal padded Tuesday. We have to take care of those guys."

Klieman indicated that there's a "really good chance" the defensive line could get some good news on Friday with the return of defensive end Ryan Davis. Junior Tobi Osunsanmi has played lights out for the Wildcats, but the addition of the 6-foot-4, 252-pound Davis could also help things along a defensive line that features four defensive linemen this season.

"I'm pleased with it," Klieman said of the four-man defensive front this season. "We didn't play very well against UND, and then you have to take the Army game out. That's the hard thing. We were going to play in a four-man front regardless of what we were going to change because that's what Joe and I know in defending the option. Against North Dakota, we didn't play great and (defensive coordinator) Joe Klanderman would tell you the same thing, that I don't think we put our kids in the best possibilities to make plays against North Dakota on the defensive line. We're going to find out this week if we've cleaned some of that up.

"There's a really good chance we can get Ryan Davis back this week. Tobi is playing really good football, but it'll give us another guy on the edge. That would help solidify some things on the defensive line and maybe not have to play Damion and Uso as much as we have."

Conversely, Klieman delivered less-than-ideal reports on junior running back Dylan Edwards and senior wide receiver Jerand Bradley.

As for Edwards?

"It's probably 50/50," Klieman said. "He was out there with the walk-through. He's not practicing today. That's a concern for him moving forward. I know we don't have injury reports this week because it's not a Big 12 game. I don't know. It's not out, but he's probably in that questionable-to-doubtful range."

Bradley, one of the top receiving targets in the first three games, suffered an injury on Saturday while diving into the end zone with the ball in his hands for what officials deemed an incompletion.

"We will not have JB," Klieman said. "I think he's going to be down for a few weeks. We're learning more this week with some more imaging, but it's likely we're going to miss him for a few weeks, but I don't know if that's two or four."

Klieman did comment on a new trend in college football — the prevalent nature of facing a former player.

K-State senior safety Gunner Maldonado arrived this offseason from Arizona, where he served as a team captain. Sophomore wide receiver Tre Spivey transferred to Arizona after playing at K-State last season.

"That's college football now," Klieman said. "I'm happy Tre Spivey found a home and is playing. That's what it's about is finding a place that you fit and play, and I'm happy we were able to get Gunner here. That's just college football now."

The game of college football has changed in many ways in recent years.

The method for reaching sustained success typically hasn't. And that, in part, includes player leadership.

"We had a good meeting yesterday of the accountability factor for those guys that they understand that we're in a tough spot – not a crisis – but a tough spot," Klieman said. "We're still growing and still going to get some guys back that are banged up.

"We just need to keep finding ways to play better football every day."

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jerand Bradley

Ryan Davis

Dylan Edwards

Damian Ilalio

Gunner Maldonado

Tobi Osunsanmi

Uso Seumalo

Tre Spivey

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