Rapid Recap: Kansas State and Missouri to re-boot regional rivalry this year

HEALTH UPDATES

Kansas State was down a few starters on defense in the opener and lost starting offensive lineman Taylor Poitier during the game as well. Chris Klieman provided a few health updates during his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

Poitier will miss the remainder of the season with a significant knee injury, and it is the second year in a row where he has been lost for the season with a knee injury. It is still a bit too early to tell if Josh Hayes and Shawn Robinson will return.

One player that Klieman anticipates playing is TJ Smith. Smith was running around yesterday at practice and will give it a go in today’s padded practice.

PLAYERS WHO POPPED ON FILM

We’re a few days removed from the opening shutout of South Dakota and a few players have popped on film. Most were younger players for K-State and playing their first significant action.

Austin Moore played well in his first start and led the team in tackles with five. Others that stood out included Uso Seumalo, Damian Ilalio, Desmond Purnell, Omar Daniels and Kobe Savage.

Seumalo and Ilalio received their first game action in the fourth quarter with the second string defense. Purnell and Daniels played a bunch of snaps, with the latter actually playing the most snaps on the team on the defensive side of the ball. Purnell scored a touchdown after a Seth Porter blocked punt.

A LOOK AT MISSOURI

Offensively, Missouri is very multiple and can cause problems for defenses in a lot of ways. They do a nice job of running the football with good players on the offensive line and have a few dynamic receivers that will provide a challenge for the Kansas State secondary.

The Tigers ran for 328 yards and threw for 230 in their opening week win versus Louisiana Tech and had three different players run the ball for 60 yards or more. Klieman called Missouri quarterback Brady Cook a talented guy who can run well, but can also throw the deep ball well.

Drinkwitz’s group will run a lot of gadget plays, meaning K-State will need to stay disciplined on defense.

Flipping sides of the ball, Missouri is really active up front, have a lot of length and use their hands well. They posted four sacks in the victory over the Bulldogs last Thursday.

FEELS LIKE A RIVALRY

The Wildcats and Tigers haven’t played since 2011 when a lot of the current players were in either grade school or middle school. However, it still feels like a rivalry to Klieman. He mentioned remembering the two teams playing while he was growing up and how good it is to have a regional game for the fanbase.

He also acknowledged how great the crowd was on Saturday, but requested they be even more electric this weekend.