Back in a Rhythm

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Things were a little bit different around the Vanier Family Football Complex on Labor Day as Kansas State reviewed its 38-35 nailbiter against North Dakota before shifting full focus to a dangerous Army squad that the Wildcats will face Saturday night at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

"It's been a busy day around here," K-State head coach Chris Klieman said. "With it being Labor Day and having the players around a little bit more, we were able to watch film this morning. Typically, we don't get to do that because of classes. We made some corrections on a handful of things on both sides of the ball.

"This afternoon, we'll come back together and have our team meeting, and then change our focus to Army, which will be a big task for us. They have a really good team and they're really well coached. I've known Coach (Jeff) Monken an awful long time and have tons of respect. I've competed against Jeff for a long time, and I know how good his teams are."

Army is 16-3 in its last 19 games dating to November 2023 — a stretch that ranks second nationally in winning percentage (.889), trailing only Oregon. But the Black Knights, 0-1, come off a 30-27 double-overtime loss to FCS member Tarleton State, snapping a 17-game winning streak against FCS opponents.

K-State, 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the Big 12 Conference, needed some heroics from junior quarterback Avery Johnson with an 81-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes and then a game-ending defensive stand to defeat its FCS opponent — North Dakota — in the home opener at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

"Football is football, and I've been saying that since 2019," Klieman said. "Tarleton State is probably a pretty good team. North Dakota, probably a pretty good team. Maybe they overlooked them, maybe we overlooked UND, maybe people have good teams."

Immediately after the K-State win, Klieman said that "we have to get a lot better."

Klieman on Monday detailed some of the ways the Wildcats must improve while hinting that there could've been too much focus on recovering from their trip to Ireland to open the 2025 college football season.

"This week, we emphasized and talked about it and probably put too much attention on Ireland rather than turning the page of saying, 'We know you guys are tired, and we're getting your bodies back,' — we probably emphasized that too much, and that's on me," Klieman said.

"Now we're in a rhythm of it that there are no excuses and we've talked about that with the guys," he continued. "It's not a talent issue. We have good talent. It's an execution and a little bit of a discipline issue, and those things are going to get corrected."

Another apparent area of improvement? Run blocking.

"We're pass protecting effectively," Klieman said. "We missed a couple of twists, but Avery is really athletic, so he can get out of some of those things. We have to be better at picking up stunts and coming off the ball and mashing people. That was probably the one area I thought we didn't do a good job of on Saturday, and I thought we did a better job against Iowa State. We didn't come off the ball, and we were guessing at what gains were coming rather than just coming off the ball. We're a continued improving product there, especially in the run game. It's been inconsistent. We need to be better there."

What would Klieman like to see on Saturday that would make him feel better about the progress the Wildcats have made over the non-conference season?

"Eye discipline on defense, playing more physical on the offensive and defensive lines, and playing faster," he said. "Some of our better players are pressing and trying to make every play rather than letting the game come to them."

Avery Johnson doesn't seem to be pressing. The junior quarterback, who will make his 17^th career start on Saturday, has completed 49-of-73 (67.1%) of his passes for 591 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions in two games. He ranks 14^th in the FBS in passing yards per game (295.5) and 16^th in completions per game (24.5). After completing 58.3% of his throws last season, his accuracy has jumped to 67.1%.

"I'm sure he'll tell you he's missed some things," Klieman said, "but there are some plays he's probably left out there that he'll tell you, and then there are some plays that he's made some pretty darned good throws on."

Klieman more than once in his news conference appeared disappointed with the number of snaps some players are taking on the field. He opened up when asked about the chances that junior wide receiver Sterling Lockett, the starting punt returner, might be closer to seeing some action as wide receiver.

"(Lockett) is reliable on punt return," Klieman said, referring to Lockett's 22-yard punt return against North Dakota. "I'm so happy he got a chance. We blocked it pretty well. There are some guys that are playing too much at a lot of positions, which happened with us playing a four-quarter, last-possession game against Iowa State to a four-quarter, last-possession game against North Dakota that I believe not just Sterling Lockett but a handful of other positions and a handful of other guys where you say, 'Boy, I plan on getting him in the game.' But then the game kind of changed, and it wasn't what we thought it was that in the heat of the moment you don't realize the amount of plays guys are playing until it comes back to you on Sunday.

"We don't have 14 analysts on each side of the ball counting plays. We're very limited on our staff. We've got to do a better job with the handful of guys we do have so that we do get some more guys opportunities because a kid like Sterling has earned it, or another player at another position. We've got to get him in there, so we don't wear this other guy out. We've got to do a better job of keeping track of that within our support staffs."

Sophomore running back Joe Jackson and redshirt freshman DeVon Rice have anchored the running game while junior Dylan Edwards recovers from injury. K-State ranks 13^th in the Big 12 in averaging 126.5 rushing yards in its two games. Jackson leads the team with 23 carries for 106 yards. Johnson has 15 carries for 64 yards. Rice has 12 carries for 49 yards and two touchdowns.

"Joe played well (against North Dakota). He played 60-something plays, and that's too many," Klieman said. "The week before he had to play 60 plays because we lost Dylan. We have to find a way to get DeVon more, JB Price more, Antonio Martin Jr. more, so we're not playing a kid 60 plays. That's something we have to do a great job of as a staff of recognizing it and most importantly executing it. Joe is doing a really good job. I thought DeVon did some good things. I know Joe liked to play 60 snaps, but it'll be better if he plays 40."

Klieman said that "we'll learn more in the middle or later in the week" regarding the injury status of Edwards and true freshman tight end Linkon Cure.

"For me to say they're definitely playing or definitely out this week, it'd be hard for me to answer that right now," Klieman said. "Linkon practiced, and that's positive. He practiced Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and maybe was a little bit limited, but I saw a lot of semblances of what we saw early in camp. He's really close. And Dylan didn't practice last week, so I don't know on that one."

Meanwhile, it appears senior transfer left tackle George Fitzpatrick is getting closer in his recovery. Fitzpatrick, who arrived over the summer from Ohio State, suffered a medical situation that has required a slow, careful recovery.

"Excited and pleased to report the progress," Klieman said. "His weight is coming back up. He's doing almost everything but putting the pads on. Full workouts, full weight workouts, running. Somebody said he ran about an 8-minute or 8:25 mile. So, he's really progressing. I don't know what that looks like, if that's end of September or early October, somewhere in there, that's the hope, but let's just take it on a week-by-week, day-by-day basis."

In this current state of college football, it appears it'll be a day-by-day and week-by-week process for teams throughout the country with the possibility of upsets galore.

K-State avoided an upset. Army wasn't as fortunate.

And now the two teams prepare for an important meeting in Manhattan.

"I was pleased with the way we finished the game, getting a stop on defense and taking a two-minute drive 81 yards," Klieman said. "Great job of Avery and the offense getting that done, and then getting the stop on defense. In the end, obviously, disappointed.

"I'm happy that the guys had resolve to find a way."

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Linkon Cure

Dylan Edwards

George Fitzpatrick

Joe Jackson

Avery Johnson

Sterling Lockett

Antonio Martin Jr.

JB Price

DeVon Rice

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