K-State’s run game can exploit UCLA’s biggest weakness in Cactus Bowl

Kansas State’s offensive game plan should be simple for the Cactus Bowl.

One look at UCLA and its leaky rushing defense, which allows 282.7 yards per game, has led every team on the Bruins’ schedule to test them on the ground.

“Oh, they are going to run the ball,” UCLA interim coach Jedd Fisch said. “Everyone has shown that they are going to run the ball against us until we prove that we can stop the run.”

This seems like a dream matchup for the Wildcats, at least on paper. K-State’s ground-oriented offense averaged 186.7 rushing yards this season, while UCLA ranked near the bottom of college football (129th out of 130 teams) against the run.

K-State running backs Alex Barnes, Justin Silmon and Dalvin Warmack could all have big games. So could quarterback Skylar Thompson. K-State could reasonably top its season high for rushing yards, which came against lowly Charlotte in September with 304. That’s how bad UCLA has been.

“We need to stop the run and make them pass the ball,” UCLA defender Adarius Pickett said. “Once we make it a one-dimensional game, it’s going to be really fun for us in the secondary.”

That will be difficult to pull off.

You didn’t hear any K-State players say it leading up to the game, as they try to limit bulletin-board material, but they are licking their chops for this opportunity.

Some fans have joked that the Wildcats would be wise to channel Army’s offenses and try to win without completing a single pass.

Still, K-State coach Bill Snyder is wary of focusing too much on the run. He would prefer the Wildcats maintain some semblance of balance, even if he sees a mismatch to exploit.

“You could get caught off in doing that,” Snyder said. “You know, (UCLA coaches) are wise people and they understand that the numbers have not always been in their favor against the run game. So they are going to defend against the run. They will do what they have to do to make their run defense better. If we are all run, we will be in trouble. We have to make them defend the run and the pass. That is the importance of having a balanced offense, making people defend everything and then have a chance.”

Snyder has reasons to be wary of the Bruins’ run defense.

For starters, the Wildcats will be without right tackle and top blocker Dalton Risner. Pressure will be on Nick Kaltmayer, who has played sparingly this year, to perform well in his absence.

Though the numbers are stacked against them, the Bruins showed improvement in the final two games. First, they limited USC to 153 yards on 41 carries. Then they held California to 216 yards on 42 carries. That’s 4.4 yards per rush over that span, down significantly from their season average of 5.7.

“If you look at the last couple weeks, in the USC and Cal games we have shown up and played well against the run,” Fisch said. “It’s just a matter of playing physical football. When you play man coverage, like we do, there really isn’t anyone in the second level to help. We just need to force them into a throw game. I Expect our players to play their best game against the run this week.”

Will that be enough to stop K-State?

We shall see. The Wildcats should want to run the ball in this game.

This story was originally published December 25, 2017 at 11:14 AM with the headline "K-State’s run game can exploit UCLA’s biggest weakness in Cactus Bowl."