Grades from Kansas State’s blowout win over South Dakota and a look ahead to Missouri
The Kansas State football team opened its season with a 34-0 victory over South Dakota on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
A day later, it is now time to look back on the action and hand out a few awards and grades. We also look ahead to next week’s game against the Missouri Tigers.
Play of the game
If you blinked you might have missed it.
K-State scored on its first play from scrimmage when senior receiver Malik Knowles went in motion took an end-around handoff 75 yards. It was the earliest score in school history. The Wildcats were ahead 7-0 just 10 seconds after kickoff.
Knowles was the hero of the play, but don’t overlook Kade Warner for sealing the perimeter with a block that kept two defenders away from the runner. Deuce Vaughn also looked like a fullback and made a downfield block that ensured Knowles would go the distance.
“I was trying to joke with Malik before that,” K-State offensive lineman Cooper Beebe said. “I told him, ‘Hey, why don’t you just house this first play and we can go back to sideline.’ That is exactly what happened. To start off the game like that is huge. It’s a huge momentum boost and it gets everybody juiced.”
Player of the game
Deuce Vaughn gets the first game ball of the season.
A few members of the defense were considered. The Wildcats did win by shutout, after all. Austin Moore led the team with five tackles and Felix Anudike-Uzomah had several disruptive plays. But Vaughn had a bigger impact.
Not only did he rush for 126 yards and a touchdown, he played a key role in Knowles’ touchdown run at the start of the night.
Stat of the game
Four, as in rushing touchdowns for the Wildcats.
They came from four different players. Knowles set the tone early. Adrian Martinez, DJ Giddens and Vaughn all found the end zone by the end of the night.
Quote to note
“You always prefer to learn from a win instead of a loss. I feel really good about that, but know we can be a lot better.” — QB Adrian Martinez.
Grades
Offense: B. Collin Klein made an encouraging debut as K-State’s offensive coordinator. The Wildcats ran 64 plays and didn’t commit any turnovers while averaging 6.1 yards per snap. Rushing for 297 yards is always a positive. But it was far from a perfect day. K-State only threw for 95 yards and punted five times. Adrian Martinez had a quiet night.
Defense: A+. South Dakota averaged 3.9 yards per play and didn’t score a single point. Austin Moore looked as good as advertised at linebacker and the Wildcats had 10 tackles for loss. That will do.
Special Teams: A. Seth Porter (block) and Desmond Purnell (return) combined for a touchdown on a blocked punt in the first quarter that gave the Wildcats a 14-0 lead. Ty Zentner averaged 40.9 yards per punt. Those were positives. Chris Tennant missing a field goal and an extra point were negatives.
Coaching: A. K-State was missing four contributors on defense and lost a starting offensive lineman midway through the game with an injury, but you wouldn’t realize it based on the score.
Next Up
The Wildcats are moving on to Missouri in Game 2.
K-State will host the Tigers at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
It promises to be a competitive game between former conference rivals. Missouri started its season with a resounding 52-24 victory over Louisiana Tech. Could this be the best team of the Eliah Drinkwitz era?
Too early to tell. But that’s not exactly a high bar to clear, as his overall record in Columbia is 12-12.
Much like K-State’s win over South Dakota, it’s difficult to determine exactly what an early season blowout means when it comes against inferior competition.
The Tigers rushed for 328 yards and threw for 230 against Louisiana Tech. Their defense held the Bulldogs to 344 total yards and came up with three interceptions.