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Rapid Recap: Kansas State defense sharpening in red zone

On3 imageby:Derek Young10/26/23

DerekYoungKSO

On3 image
Joe Klanderman/Drew Galloway

Shuffling Kansas State quarterbacks

Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein, unsurprisingly, was non-committal about how they would approach the quarterback position moving forward. He wouldn’t rule out alternating both Will Howard and Avery Johnson every series again and wouldn’t rule out a different approach.

They aren’t giving away any trades or secrets. It is safe to say that it will likely be a similar plan as the one that K-State used for Texas Tech and TCU. Both signal callers will see a drive or two early and that and how the game is going will dictate the coaching staff’s direction.

What the coaches love and what continues to amaze many of us onlookers is how the players have handled it. Klein knows both want to play a lot. He even pointed out that he wouldn’t want to coach someone that didn’t. However, they’ve continued to check their egos at the door for the sake of the team.

Purnell praise

There wasn’t a player that was praised more this week than Kansas State linebacker Desmond Purnell.

He was once a safety, but as defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman shared, he out-grew the spot. He even joked that they had to move the Topeka native because his butt looked differently than everyone else’s.

Additionally, Klanderman dared everyone in the room to find another linebacker in the Big 12 that was playing as fast as Purnell is right now. That’s how good he has been and, in ways, has carried the Wildcats on that side of the ball the past few weeks.

Health update

The report today spelled out the good news that we were expecting for K-State. Though there was no update provided on RJ Garcia and Keagan Johnson, we did learn that the Wildcats should have both tight end Ben Sinnott and linebacker Austin Romaine available this week.

K-State tendencies

Klein admitted that it isn’t a bad thing to have tendencies as an offense. Doing so allows players to find a rhythm and to have more comfort. What works is what works. Also, breaking tendency can also create some big plays.

That is partially why Kansas State incorporates some new looks every now and then such as the tackle over scheme from last week. That means they would slide KT Leveston over next to Christian Duffie or vise versa. It creates a bit of an overload situation and the tight end almost becomes a tackle in that situation.

However, another part of it was them just seeing things during preparation during the given week, this time being ahead of the TCU contest, and wanting to design different ways to find some double teams against the Horned Frogs.

Red zone and third down defense

Did anyone know that K-State was an elite defense when it came to the red zone and third down? The latter was the case last week when the Wildcats converted 10 of their 13 third down attempts and held TCU to just 2 of 13.

That is a trend that has carried through the 2023 regular season.

However, the Wildcats are also No. 2 in the nation when it comes to keeping teams out of the end zone once they reach the 20-yard line. Yes, the touchdown percentage allowed by the Wildcats in the red zone is just 30 percent, which is the second best mark in the country.

Never mind that the top number is from Michigan at just 11.11 percent, meaning they’re nearly 20 percent better than anyone else in college football.

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