Kansas State will turn to this surprising name as Deuce Vaughn’s backup at Texas Bowl
Who will serve as Kansas State’s backup running back behind Deuce Vaughn at the Texas Bowl?
That has become a popular question ever since the Wildcats lost key contributors Joe Ervin and Jacardia Wright to the NCAA transfer portal following the conclusion of the regular season.
It seems we have an answer.
K-State released its postseason depth chart on Tuesday, a week before the Wildcats are scheduled to play LSU at 8 p.m. on Jan. 4 at NRG Stadium in Houston. Jordan Schippers is listed as the team’s No. 2 running back.
That may come as a surprise. Schippers is hardly a well-known name, even in K-State circles. The 6-foot-1 and 200-pound sophomore has only rushed the ball twice for seven yards during his short time in Manhattan. And both carries came during a blowout victory against Kansas earlier this season.
Before arriving at K-State, Schippers rushed for 131 yards on 29 carries as a freshman at Western Illinois.
The Wildcats didn’t have many proven runners left on their roster following the departures of Ervin and Wright.
Ervin, who is now at Middle Tennessee State, served as K-State’s secondary running back all season and rushed for 322 yards and two touchdowns. Wright, who has not announced his new school, also saw action and rushed for 56 yards this season.
So K-State will turn to Schippers for the Texas Bowl. It’s possible DJ Giddens and Clyde Price could also see some carries against LSU.
But Vaughn will handle most of the work. He led K-State’s offense all season and earned consensus All-America honors as an all-purpose player after amassing 1,717 yards from scrimmage and scoring 18 touchdowns.
“We still have No. 22, and Deuce is going to get the lion’s share of the reps,” K-State football coach Chris Klieman said last week. “Then it will just kind of be running back by committee with everybody else on the roster.”
This story was originally published December 28, 2021 at 3:45 PM.