K-State Q&A: Where would the Wildcats be without freshman phenom Deuce Vaughn?
For the past 11 years, I have worked for both the Eagle and The Star as a Kansas State beat writer. It’s a great job, and I’m lucky to have it, especially on Friday mornings when I get to hear from my most loyal of readers and answer their questions in this weekly mailbag.
Lately, though, I feel like my job title has changed a bit. This season, it’s not that much of a stretch to say I am a Deuce Vaughn beat writer.
Much like some of my coworkers at the Star spend 95% of their time writing about Patrick Mahomes, I spend most of my time writing about K-State’s sensational freshman running back.
When I type Vaughn’s name into our internal search database a whopping 55 stories pop up. And he’s only played in five games!
After writing stories about how K-State landed him as a recruit, the historic pace he is on as a K-State freshman, why he is mature beyond his years, the mismatch problems he provides at running back and receiver and many other topics, I somewhat intentionally chose different topics to write about this week.
Perhaps that was a mistake.
Something dawned on me this week while I wasn’t writing about K-State’s 5-foot-5 dynamo running back. Where would the Wildcats be without him? K-State’s offense is basically a two-man show with Vaughn and senior tight end Briley Moore. Take Vaughn away, and what does this offense look like?
Without Vaughn, I can guarantee the Wildcats wouldn’t be 4-1 and ranked 16th in the national polls. They wouldn’t have beaten Oklahoma without him and they probably wouldn’t have beaten Texas Tech without him. Maybe they still could have beaten TCU with other running backs out there. They probably would have beaten KU with or without him.
But you get my point. He means everything to this team. Because of him (and a good defense and superb special teams) the Wildcats are undefeated in Big 12 play with a brand new offensive line, one consistent receiver and a backup freshman quarterback starting games. Halfway through the season, he is undoubtedly the team’s MVP.
Check out these stats:
- He leads K-State in rushing yards with 319.
- He leads K-State in rushing touchdowns with four.
- He leads K-State in receiving yards with 360.
- He ranks third on the team in receptions with 13.
- He averages 27.69 yards per touch as a receiver.
- He averages 5.2 yards a touch as a rusher.
- He ranks fourth in the Big 12 in all-purpose yards with 679.
If there is a better freshman running back in the country, I haven’t seen him.
I didn’t write about him much this week, but I guess I made up for that here. Tomorrow, 56 stories will pop up in our system.
And with that, let’s dive into your questions. It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
Probably not this week.
Defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman said on Thursday that AJ Parker hasn’t been practicing, but there’s a chance Parker can still play on Saturday. Translation: He’s doubtful.
The good news is Parker didn’t suffer any serious injuries last week against KU, so he might be ready to play against Oklahoma State. If not by then, definitely Iowa State.
It’s too bad he suffered an ankle injury. Parker has been one of K-State’s best defensive backs since moving to the nickel, and Justin Gardner and Ekow Boye Doe have been outstanding at corner.
The Wildcats will lean on Will Jones until Parker returns.
I am personally more worried about West Virginia’s defense than their quarterback.
Did Jarret Doege sneak up on K-State last season when the Mountaineers won 24-20 in Manhattan? Absolutely. But the Wildcats lost that game because of bad offense more than bad defense.
West Virginia has one of the top defenses in the Big 12 once again this season, ranking second against the run (109.2 yards per game) and first against the pass (152.6 yards per game). It is really good at confusing opponents with different formations that feature both three-man fronts and four-man fronts.
Courtney Messingham’s offense has struggled mightily against those changing looks. Can the Wildcats beat them with a freshman quarterback? Yes, but it’s not going to be easy.
K-State fans will scoff at West Virginia being the favorite here. But I think the 3 1/2-point line is accurate because the Mountaineers have the best defense the Wildcats have seen thus far.
Buried on the metaphorical bench behind Deuce Vaughn, Harry Trotter, Tyler Burns and Keyon Mozee.
I predicted Jacardia Wright to lead K-State in rushing yards at the beginning of August before I had any idea how good Vaughn was, so Wright’s disappearing act has been very surprising to me.
He has rushed for 17 yards on six carries, and he is way too talented of a player for that to be the case.
That being said, I don’t think this is a situation where the coaching staff is being unfair to him. I totally get why some fans are frustrated with Harry Trotter continuing to get the lion’s share of carries while he averages 2.9 yards per rush, but Wright’s average is even lower at 2.8.
And the coaching staff loves Trotter as a leader and as a blocker. Those are two advantages he has over Wright. So is there really much to complain about?
I have written this before, but Wright needs to figure out a way to help K-State as a bruising runner that can pick up yards between the tackles.
Trotter is dependable and Vaughn can make plays on the outside. Mozee seems to be coming along as a pass-catching threat. What is Wright’s niche?
As soon as he finds one he will see more playing time.
Man, I hope so.
Faking a hand off to one of those running backs and throwing the ball to the other on a misdirection play seems like it would be incredibly effective.
The Wildcats don’t have many playmakers at receiver right now, so the more they can involve running backs in the passing game the better.
Les Miles: King size candy bars. The KU coach has been handing out free points to other teams like Halloween candy all season. You want your team to play the Jayhawks the same way you want your kids to visit the rich house in your neighborhood on Halloween.
Chris Klieman: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. These tasty treats aren’t big or impressive looking, but the peanut butter inside combined with the chocolate on the outside packs a mighty whallop.
Lincoln Riley: Twizzlers. Teams score lots of points against Oklahoma, but rarely leave the game satisfied.
Mike Gundy: Twix. The Cowboys are one of the few teams in the Big 12 with a good defense and a good offense. Twix is the only candy bar that comes in two parts.
Tom Herman: Snickers. I can imagine him getting very cranky and needing to eat a Snickers every day of the week right now.
Dave Aranda: Gummy Bears. Green and yellow ones.
Matt Campbell: Kit Kat. Overrated candy from an overrated coach.
Neal Brown: Nerds. I assume those are popular in West Virginia.
Matt Wells: Mr. Goodbar. He hasn’t won many games at Texas Tech, but all of the other Big 12 coaches talk about him like he’s Vince Lombardi.
Gary Patterson: Tootsie Rolls. I kind of doubt a guy who has won as many football games as Patterson puts much effort into the Halloween candy he gives away each October.
The biggest difference is the team doesn’t know for certain that the Big 12 will allow it to travel for a road game until about lunch time on Friday. But the Wildcats haven’t missed any games because of COVID-19 yet, so that hasn’t been much of a distraction.
K-State took a convoy of buses to Oklahoma when it normally flies to every road game other than KU. That was one difference. Surprisingly, Chris Klieman said driving to Norman was a nice, relaxing way to prepare the team for that game.
It flew to TCU and will fly to West Virginia. My guess is it will bus to Iowa State, but we’ll see.
Players never got to do much on the road other than maybe interact with family members in their hotel lobby the night before a game. That is no longer allowed. Everything else is pretty much the same.
The pandemic has had a bigger impact on the media that usually travel with the team. For example, I am not traveling to West Virginia for this game. Instead, I am going to watch the game from home and interview coaches and players afterward via Zoom.
It’s sad I won’t be at the game, but my hope is that there are some hidden advantages to covering a game from home. Not sure how I’m going to recreate a Primanti Bros. sandwich, though.
Well, they don’t need Darren Sproles with Deuce Vaughn running wild right now.
Michael Bishop would probably be my choice. No offense to Will Howard, but an elite dual-threat quarterback would really help this team.
If not him, then give me Tyler Lockett. Did you see what he did to the Arizona Cardinals last weekend?
This question is in reference to where Kansas State was picked to finish in the Big 12 preseason poll, as voted on by coaches (not media).
Here’s what the poll looks like:
1. Baylor
2. Kansas
3. West Virginia
4. Texas
5. Texas Tech
6. Oklahoma
7. Oklahoma State
8. Iowa State
9. TCU
10. K-State
This probably isn’t what you want to hear, but I have no beef with where the Wildcats are ranked. They finished last in the Big 12 a year ago and are bringing in nine new players. There’s not much reason to expect a NCAA Tournament run this season.
But I will say this: It won’t take all that much for the Wildcats to finish eighth. Iowa State and TCU aren’t going to be any good.
I think Kansas, not Baylor, will win the league. But it will be a close race. My two sleeper teams are Texas and Oklahoma State. I will be shocked if the Cowboys finish seventh with all the talent they now possess.
My current plan is to cover all of K-State’s home games from a seat behind the north goal like I traditionally have.
There is no plan for road games, at the time being.
Lots of the games intrigue me. K-State will host its own tournament, playing Drake and Colorado right off the bat. UNLV and Butler (maybe?) should be fun nonconference games. Every Big 12 game is an adventure.
It will be interesting to hear 3,000 fans cheer against KU instead of the usual full house at Bramlage.
The only game I’m not fired up about is Texas A&M. When will the Wildcats stop playing them? I see the Aggies so often I feel like they are still in the Big 12.
Based on what KU athletic director Jeff Long said about KU football earlier this week, it doesn’t sound like Les Miles will be leaving Lawrence any time soon.
I think it’s safe to say Miles will be around for at least three more rivalry games against K-State.
His job seems to be more about recruiting high school players and trying to build a foundation than actually winning games right now. Laugh all you want, but that is probably what the Jayhawks need after all their other recent coaches struck out hard chasing junior-college players.
Let’s put the over/under at 3 1/2.
Before I answer this question, think about this for a moment: How giddy do you think a K-State football fan would have been back in 1988 if you told him this would be an actual thing sports writers are wondering about in 2020?
I mean, the Jayhawks led the Sunflower Showdown 57-24-5 back then.
Then Bill Snyder and Chris Klieman arrived. All of a sudden, their lead is down to 64-49-5.
Talk about recent domination. Mark Mangino deserves a statue in Lawrence for winning four times against the Wildcats.
But I digress ... The answer to your question is yes. K-State is currently on a 12-game winning streak in the series and will have to win the next 16 to move into the all-time lead. That’s a 28-game winning streak.
I don’t care how bad the Jayhawks are, surely they can find a way to prevent losing 28 straight in this series. Heck, they beat Texas a few years ago.
That being said, K-State could realistically own the outright lead in the Sunflower Showdown by about 2040.
It’s hard to know who to believe after last week’s PuntGate.
Les Miles said KU punters were instructed to stop kicking the ball to Phillip Brooks after he burned the Jayhawks for a touchdown and another long return early in the game, but then they sent a line drive right at him on the final play of the first half. And he returned it for the most predictable touchdown of all time.
KU was down to its third-string punter for parts of that game. The quarterback even punted at one point. So it’s possible those players didn’t understand what they were supposed to do in those situations or they simply had some awful punts. But it’s also possible that Miles and KU’s special-teams coaches were foolish and chose to keep punting to Brooks.
Either way, K-State took advantage and built a 34-7 lead at halftime with just 150 yards of offense.
Give me the under.
It’s not that I don’t think K-State is capable of piling up three more touchdowns on special teams and defense, it’s just hard for me to see future teams continuing to punt or kick the ball anywhere near the Wildcats’ return men.
K-State has four non-offensive touchdowns so far — a pick six against TCU and KU, plus a pair of punt returns against the Jayhawks.
That’s mighty impressive. But the Wildcats don’t get to play the Jayhawks again. Here’s guessing the final five opponents on their schedule stop gift-wrapping touchdowns for Chris Klieman’s defense and special teams.
This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 5:00 AM.