Bill Snyder running out ways to improve K-State special teams

In an attempt to improve a special-teams unit that has been downright bad by Kansas State standards this season, Wildcats coach Bill Snyder made significant personnel changes on kicks and punts last week.

Landry Weber and Phillip Brooks, a pair of freshmen receivers with little playing experience, handled return duties while usual returners Isaiah Zuber and Dalvin Warmack watched from the sideline. Andrew Hicks attempted a 53-yard field goal instead of usual kicker Blake Lynch. And several other new faces rotated in and out on coverage teams.

The results were far from spectacular.

K-State defeated Kansas 21-17 on Saturday, but the Wildcats didn’t look any better on special teams. Outside of punter Devin Anctil booting a 61-yard punt and pinning KU within its 20 three times, there were few positives for K-State in this area.

The Wildcats failed to field the opening kickoff of the third quarter, which resulted in an extra possession for Kansas. They also muffed a punt, missed a field goal, botched the hold on another and finished with a mere 12 return yards. In a season filled with disappointing play on special teams, K-State found a way to get even worse.

Snyder would like to continue altering K-State’s special teams lineups until he finds a combination that produces better results, but that’s a luxury he can’t currently afford. The Wildcats, it seems, don’t have enough healthy players to experiment further in their next game against Texas Tech.

“We are in a situation where they kind of have to grow into their new roles,” Snyder said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. “We are in a situation where our injury chart is somewhat significant, two pages for the first time. (We are) just (playing) guys who fit the capabilities. We are running very, very thin on it, so there isn’t going to be and there can’t be a great deal of change in regards to who we have out there on special teams.”

In other words, K-State is going to have to get by with the healthy personnel it has. The only change Snyder made this week was restricting players from speaking with media.

Numbers have dwindled this season for several reasons. For starters, injuries have hit the team hard. The Wildcats are currently down starters at linebacker (Elijah Sullivan), defensive back (Duke Shelley, Walter Neil), quarterback (Skylar Thompson) and tight end (Nick Lenners). And Lynch is only able to kick from short distances. That has bled into special teams, which limits Snyder’s options as he searches for answers with a struggling unit.

Attrition has compounded matters. With nearly 30 players choosing to leave the program for reasons other than graduation since 2017, the Wildcats are facing a numbers problem.

K-State only used 33 players against Kansas, while the Jayhawks used 41.

Of course, not all personnel changes are based on injuries or dropping numbers. Snyder stripped Zuber of his return duties last week after losing a costly fumble, his third of the season, against TCU. He appeared to favor a safe return team on Saturday, favoring ball security more than return speed.

Snyder showed more confidence in his field-goal team and left holder Colby Moore in the lineup despite mishandling two snaps against TCU. But he botched another against KU.

For a coach accustomed to stellar results on special teams, that type of inconsistency has him considering his options on fourth down more than ever.

“You do have to think (about that), but that has always been the case,” Snyder said. “Some of it depends on what your offense is capable of doing at that particular point in time, and some of it is predicated on the special teams in that environment.”

Snyder says he remains confident in his punting unit, and that’s why he has been willing to punt as far down field as the opposition’s 35. But every other decision is made on a case-by-case basis.

Options are dwindling.

“As it relates to the field-goal situation,” Snyder said, “we just don’t have the capacity of doing that consistently from the range that we did when Lynch was out there, so that affects it as well.”