K-State Q&A: Deuce Vaughn, WR concerns, Texas Tech analysis and OU travel adventures
One of the beautiful things about writing a weekly mailbag is that I can type whatever the heck I want at the top of this space, and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop me.
Insert evil laughter here!
With that in mind, this week I have decided to share with you loyal subscribers some stories from my road trip to Norman, Okla., last week to cover Kansas State’s thrilling 38-35 victory over Oklahoma. It was the first work trip I have been on since the Big 12 Tournament came to an abrupt end way back in March, and, let me tell you, it felt different.
The biggest change: waiting to leave Manhattan or book a hotel room until after I received confirmation that the game was going to be played as originally scheduled.
In year’s past, I would have reserved a hotel weeks, if not months, in advance to secure a good rate and left town before lunch on Friday to make sure I arrived in plenty of time to eat dinner in Oklahoma and get acclimated to the road environment.
This year, I didn’t even start looking at hotels until K-State personnel informed me the game was on and the team was heading south on a convoy of six buses at about 12:30 p.m. last Friday.
K-State and Oklahoma kicked off at 11 a.m. on Saturday. I booked my hotel less than 24 hours in advance. Much to my surprise, hotel rates have plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic. Hotels usually jack up their rates all across the Oklahoma City metroplex when the Sooners play a home game. But that wasn’t the case last week with only limited capacity allowed at games. I had my pick of $75 Marriott properties (gotta get those points!) in Norman. Come to think of it, that is probably the lowest rate I have ever booked before a game, basketball or football.
I waited until my wife got home from work on Friday to start making the drive south, so there wasn’t much time for pit stops along the way. That’s fine, considering there’s not a whole lot you can do or see right now. But I did stop in Junction City to grab a burrito at Qdoba, which I ate in the car, and then again in Park City to fill up on gas and grab snacks at my favorite QuikTrip.
Traveling during a pandemic is different, but I felt completely safe and socially distant the whole way ... other than inside that QT. The checkout line was so long you would have thought the gas station was paying customers to take their delicious assortment of salted treats. I even saw two people parading around without masks. It felt unsettling to see a stanger’s face. That’s how bizarre times have gotten. Anyway, I didn’t waste too much time inside and got back on the road.
My hotel, a Springhill Suites, was fine. No complaints. Everything was clean, and the first thing I did upon entering my room was disinfect the remote as if it was emitting radioactive material.
I wish I had some kind of adventure to share with you about my Friday night in Oklahoma, but all I really did was go to sleep. The next morning I hit up Whataburger (of course) for breakfast and loved every bite of my taquito and honey butter breakfast sandwich from my car. Then it was off to the game.
One perk of covering games during a pandemic is a complete lack of traffic. Instead of trying to navigate Norman gridlock on my way to Memorial Stadium, I sailed into my parking spot as if I had a police escort and walked into the press box without passing more than a handful of people. The only time I stopped was to accept a free Chick-fil-A cow mask, which my four sons dueled for when I returned home.
The only problem I encountered was trying to communicate with a member of OU security who was wearing both a mask and a riot shield at the stadium entrance. I couldn’t understand a word he told me, and I eventually had to use trial and error to locate media will call.
The game was a joy to watch. It was like a real life version of “Little Giants.” One team mauled the other in the first half. Then the losing team heard a fiery halftime speech from their coach and pulled off a huge comeback. I’m glad I was able to see it all from the press box, even if all the press conferences were handled on Zoom afterward. It was fun to watch the reactions on the sideline and the post-game celebration. You could also sense how nervous the home crowd was getting as the game went on. Those are things you can’t see at home.
One bummer: wearing a mask for eight straight hours. When you arrive early to watch warm-ups and stay late to write, that’s how long you have to spend inside a press box on Saturdays. Wearing a mask the entire time wasn’t excruciating or anything, but it wasn’t relaxing either. Let’s just say I was happy to remove my mask when I got back to my car that afternoon.
Eating at Whataburger again afterward was also a treat. Did you know their Dr Pepper milkshake is now permanently on the menu? They can’t expand to Kansas soon enough.
Sorry if you aren’t a fan of Whataburger, but this is my space. You can rave all you want about In-N-Out and Five Guys on your weekly mailbag.
The dining room was so deserted I went ahead and ate inside a restaurant for the first time since March. It was fantastic. Normally, I would mix things up with some Torchy’s Tacos or a nicer meal someplace in Oklahoma City. But this wasn’t a normal trip. It was fitting K-State won in unusual fashion.
Now, let’s get to your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
I’m not worried about Joshua Youngblood.
You shouldn’t worry about him, either.
Youngblood wasn’t able to play in K-State’s opening game against Arkansas State and didn’t do a whole lot for the Wildcats against Oklahoma. Sure, that isn’t ideal, but I expect him to get back to his playmaking ways once he finds his rhythm and gets his stamina back after missing some practice time.
If you want to be worried about anything, you should be worried about K-State’s receiving corps as a group. Outside of Chabastin Taylor, I haven’t been impressed by any of them this season.
Taylor has surprisingly established himself as the team’s dominant receiver early on, as he had more than 100 all-purpose yards against Arkansas State and a terrific touchdown catch against Oklahoma.
Everyone else at the position has left much to be desired. I suppose Phillip Brooks has delivered some good moments. But Malik Knowles didn’t have a single catch against the Sooners and simply hasn’t looked to be on the same page as Skylar Thompson thus far. Landry Weber and Youngblood were also held without a catch. Wykeen Gill had three catches for 9 yards.
That position needs to improve.
It’s amazing that Thompson eclipsed 300 passing yards last week. The bulk of his passes went to running backs and tight ends. Deuce Vaughn led the team with 129 yards on four catches. Keyon Mozee ranked second with one catch for 78 yards.
The Wildcats could use a No. 2 or No. 3 receiver behind Taylor to emerge. The sooner the better.
Hey Kellis! Let’s try a fill in the blank question this week. Deuce Vaughn is the best player K-State has had at a skill position since ________. - Andrew B. via e-mail.
The answer is almost certainly Tyler Lockett.
He is also the most recent player to make huge contributions to K-State’s offense as a true freshman.
I’m not saying Deuce Vaughn will match everything Lockett accomplished in Manhattan or go on to have a stellar NFL career, but he has that kind of ceiling after two games.
At this moment, Vaughn is arguably the best freshman in the entire country. With 245 all-purpose yards, two touchdowns and all kinds of explosive plays already, it’s scary to think about what he may accomplish as he gets older.
Some other contenders for the skill-position contest: Alex Barnes, Byron Pringle, Dalton Schoen, Isaiah Zuber and Joshua Youngblood.
This is an area Klieman seems to have infused with talent with a more energetic approach on the recruiting trail.
This game makes me nervous.
I might be the only person who thinks that, but the 2 1/2-point spread seems perfect for Saturday’s game.
Texas Tech showed tremendous improvement from its embarrassing near defeat against Houston Baptist in Game 1 to its humiliating almost-victory against Texas in Game 2.
All the Red Raiders had to do was not completely choke during the final minutes against the Longhorns, and this game would be a battle for first place in the Big 12 standings. And it would have been between teams that just knocked off Texas and Oklahoma.
Instead we get a matchup that probably deserves its FS1 broadcast slot.
What makes me most nervous is that no one in Manhattan seems to be talking about the Red Raiders ... at all. As I write these words on Thursday afternoon, I haven’t heard but two or three questions all week lobbed at K-State coaches or players about Texas Tech. Everyone’s focus remains on the Oklahoma win.
I’m not saying it’s that way within the walls of K-State’s football complex. I’m sure the Wildcats moved on to Texas Tech immediately and are taking this game seriously. But there will be no us-against-the-world talk before this game.
This feels more like a trap game than a prove-it game.
Matt Wells and his team are going to be desperate for a win on Saturday. Chris Klieman and his team have spent the entire week talking about how great it was to beat Oklahoma. Maybe I’m reading too much into that. But I think motivation will be on Texas Tech’s side.
Texas Tech also has a top-10 passing offense and a top-10 third-down offense. It won’t be easy for the Wildcats to get Alan Bowman and Company off the field. Texas Tech will also benefit from having film on Deuce Vaughn and the secondary K-State slapped together last week.
That being said, I’m still picking K-State to win this game.
The Wildcats have owned the Red Raiders over the years, winning eight of the past nine in this series and four straight at home. Patrick Mahomes never won here. The last time Texas Tech visited town, it looked like Kliff Kingsbury’s team wanted to be anywhere else on the planet. Maybe a limited crowd changes some things, but I still think K-State’s style of play will win the (dang) day by a slim margin.
K-State did have a very nice haul of awards this week, with Chris Klieman, Jahron McPherson, Skylar Thompson and Deuce Vaughn all receiving Big 12 or national honors.
I can’t recall the last time the Wildcats received that much weekly hardware, but they won a lot of awards back in 2012 when they won the Big 12 behind Collin Klein, Arthur Brown and Tyler Lockett.
Hard to see it happening again, because it takes a special upset against a team like Oklahoma to get that much national attention, but a win over Texas late in the season or Oklahoma State could possibly provide another big stage.
Coaches have always loved McPherson for his maturity and versatility, He has played three different positions in the secondary for K-State and everything finally came together for him on Saturday.
He is the quarterback of the defense. Just look at what his presence meant on Saturday.
It’s just a shame he couldn’t play more than a few plays against Arkansas State. There’s no way the Wildcats lose that game if he plays four quarters.
I’m not sure how much conditioning has to do with anything. But K-State coaches did an outstanding job of rotating players against Oklahoma.
The Wildcats used darn near every player they brought with them to Norman.
The Wildcats were at their substituting best on defense, where we saw what felt like dozens of players in the secondary. I didn’t initially love the idea of K-State rotating in Cody Fletcher and Daniel Green at linebacker or Hunter Henry at safety or an army of defensive linemen every other series (the starters are starters for a reason, right?) but the plan worked wonders.
K-State had lots of energy in the fourth quarter and Oklahoma did not.
Joe Klanderman said Thursday that he wishes he rotated in even more players.
“I could name a number of guys that we tried to rotate,” he said. “I’m screaming on the headset, I just wanted to keep fresh rushers in there and just continue to keep throwing bodies at (Spencer Rattler).”
Courtney Messingham also said this about the offense: “I felt like we were as fresh and ready to go as you could be in the fourth quarter, even though it was in the fourth quarter. I felt like when you watched the game, we were in better shape. And it wasn’t that each individual was in better shape. We used as many people as we can. When you watch the Texas/Texas Tech game, by the fourth quarter and overtime, you could see they were two teams that were gassed and were spent. We want to make sure we have as much left in the tank when we get to the fourth quarter as we can.”
Here’s hoping no news is good news for the Wildcats, because I don’t have any intel about any new key players being lost to COVID or contact tracing at the moment.
The roster should look very similar to what we saw during the Oklahoma game.
Chris Klieman said earlier this week that K-State might be able to get one or two players back for this game, but no more.
Two players I will be looking for during pregame warm-ups will be Harry Trotter and Ryan Henington, as I think they have a chance to return. Call them questionable for now.
We will have to wait and see what news the Friday tests bring, but right now it seems like K-State has experienced a good week on the COVID front.
I will say, though, it was a little unsettling to see Riley County officials share that 56 members of the football team have tested positive since summer workouts began. That has surely been a headache for Klieman and his staff to manage.