Why one K-State coach thinks Navy’s triple option is the ‘ultimate’ test for Wildcats
Scottie Hazelton wasn’t thrilled when he learned Kansas State was going to play Navy in the Liberty Bowl.
The K-State defensive coordinator has lots of experience coaching against the triple option that Navy runs behind star quarterback Malcolm Perry. So much so that he jokes option teams follow him from job to job. Still, this was his first time teaching it to the Wildcats. It took weeks to install and ate up the majority of bowl practices. He’s not afraid of the challenge, but he would have rather played a different opponent with a more familiar offense.
One of his fellow assistants, K-State safeties coach Joe Klanderman, tried to cheer him up by calling Navy’s offense the “ultimate” test, something that will provide every player with a one-on-one matchup and serve as “the culmination of everything we’ve been working on.”
The speech didn’t work.
“I didn’t see it that way,” Hazelton said. “I would rather do the things we do and work on those things as much as we can and get better at that. It’s a deal that, you’re right, it’s something that will be a challenge, a great test for us to see how far we’ve come. If we had started this same journey in week two and had three days to prepare, I don’t know that we would’ve been ready for it. It’s a different deal.”
We will find out if K-State defenders are prepared to step away from their usual assignments against pass-happy Big 12 opponents and stop a power running team that uses so much deception that Navy offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper says he only calls six plays in most games.
The Wildcats have never faced an opponent like this.
“Not even close,” K-State senior defensive tackle Trey Dishon said. “I don’t think we have played as tough as this team yet these guys they know what they are doing and it is going to be a fight. they are going to hold onto the ball and we have to get them off schedule.”
Navy ranks first nationally at 363.7 rushing yards per game and fourth nationally at 6.1 rushing yards per attempt. They run on 88% of their plays. That will provide a difficult challenge for a K-State defense that allowed 4.9 yards per rush in the regular season.
So how can K-State slow down Navy’s rushing attack? It won’t be as simple as lining up and tackling a running back. Navy likes to use misdirection on all of its plays, presenting the defense with several ball-carrier options including a fullback up the middle, running back on the perimeter, receiver in motion and the quarterback on a keeper.
“It’s a completely different game from what we are all used to but at the same time it’s still football,” K-State defensive end Wyatt Hubert said. “We want to get them off the field in the three plays. You can be athletic, you can be big, you can be strong, but this is the type of offense you have to dig out the morals you represent like mental toughness and physical toughness playing a full four quarters and going through the whistle. It takes all that stuff.”
Most of Navy’s offensive plays flow through Perry, but few teams have figured out how to slow him down, as he has rushed for 1,804 yards and 21 touchdowns while also throwing for 1,027 yards and six touchdowns.
K-State coach Chris Klieman says Perry is a threat to score every time he touches the ball.
“It’s going to be a tremendous challenge but the guys have bought into what we have been teaching them,” Klieman said. “It’s assignment football, trusting your eyes and reading your keys. I think we’re ready, but until you get into it and defend it at full speed in a game setting you don’t really know.”
For that reason, K-State spent more time than usual preparing for its bowl opponent this month. Against any other team, Klieman says the Wildcats would have focused more on developing young players. That simply wasn’t the case when K-State’s starters had to learn how to defend the option.
While that probably sounds tedious, some are pumped about this matchup.
It’s time to see how K-State stacks up against the “ultimate” test.
“Am I tired of seeing the option? No, I’m actually excited to play against the kind of offense,” Dishon said, “because it is something new, it’s my last game in my college career and it’s going to be fun because I am a run defender and I love defending the run.”