Rapid Recap: Kansas State hoping to be fresher after more recovery time

KANSAS STATE DEFENDING DUGGAN

A lot of the Kansas State discussion on Tuesday centered around how difficult it is to defend TCU quarterback Max Duggan. The entire contingent from Manhattan that spoke with the media unanimously agreed that he’s playing his best football.

The remarkable improvement that he has made was consistently noted throughout the session. K-State head coach Chris Klieman identified his ability to win with both his arm and legs and feels as if he’s the one pulling all the strings for the Horned Frogs.

Defensive tackle Eli Huggins discussed how many times he and Kansas State have seen Duggan and how he has improved with each year. His confidence is soaring at the moment, and that can probably be the best way to explain his ascent in the conference.

PREPARING FOR ANOTHER 3-3-5 DEFENSE

The theme amongst Big 12 defenses has been much of the league’s transition to the 3-3-5 look that was initially engineered by defensive coordinator Jon Heacock of Iowa State. Even K-State has adopted the alignment, but many others have followed suit. That includes Brent Venables and Oklahoma.

Sonny Dykes is the new boss in Fort Worth and they have chosen that configuration, too. TCU used it to success versus Oklahoma State last Saturday, and Klieman particularly was impressed with how much man coverage they could play out of it against the talented Cowboy receivers.

That could make the passing game for Kansas State even more of a challenge if they continue to run it that effectively and in that way, but it could also open up some running lanes via the scramble for quarterback Adrian Martinez.

TURNOVERS

Speaking of Martinez, for some reason, turnovers have resumed as a primary topic in association with him. It was before the season because of his tendency to cough the ball up an abundant amount of times. Now, he’s making headlines for being the only starting quarterback not to toss an interception.

For the record, Martinez has yet to lose a fumble, either. He’s been flawless when it comes to turnovers. Action Network’s Brett McMurphy made note of that on Twitter, and the Fox College Football account did the same.

That observation leaked into the press conference when he and Klieman were asked about it.

His head coach at K-State explained it by revealing that they were staying ahead of the sticks and not forcing him into tough situations. Some of it was also a result of not being aggressive during non-conference action, too.

Martinez brought it up himself for the first time since making the transfer to Manhattan. He was asked where he has made the biggest strides, and he pointed to his decision-making and avoiding the catastrophic error this season.

Kansas State is nation's only team that hasn't thrown an interception this season. QB Adrian Martinez threw 30 interceptions in 4 years at Nebraska (1 in every 35 attempts), but has none in 138 attempts this year at KSU

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) October 17, 2022

BYE WEEK

I was curious about it, so I asked Klieman if there was a distinct or sizable schematic or preparation advantage when it came to having a bye week versus a team that didn’t have a bye week, in his experience and what he’s seen as a football coach at the college level.

His answer was that he didn’t believe so. Football is football, and at the end of the day each team is going to do what they do best, even if there are some wrinkles to it. The biggest dictator comes down to mental focus, how hard a team plays and which side makes the best adjustments.

The only differentiator that might occur that can have a large impact on the game is that one of the clubs could be much fresher, faster and healthier than the other. As we will share later on, Kansas State was helped out in regards to recovery.

K-STATE HEALTH

The good news is that there is no bad news. Everyone that played for K-State against Iowa State is on track to play once again versus TCU. That means Deuce Vaughn, Daniel Green, Huggins, Felix Anudike-Uzomah and Nate Matlack are good to go.

Khalid Duke is good to go, too. He’s even going to practice on Tuesday (on a limited basis).

TCU’S SIZE AT RECEIVER

Kansas State will be at a size disadvantage on the perimeter versus the Horned Frogs, particularly at wideout. Nearly all of the TCU receivers that they will throw on the field are 6-foot-4 or taller. That is a difficult task for the secondary of the Wildcats.

Not only that, TCU does a fantastic job of catching it at the highest point. They play to their length. And aside from Julius Brents, K-State does not possess that same length in the back end. Their weapon against it will have to be to disrupt the timing, whether that be more physical at the beginning of the route or sending more pressure.