K-State Q&A: Adrian Martinez, Will Howard, football injuries, Big 12 coaches and more
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
Chris Klieman had to answer lots of questions about football injuries this week. Now it’s my turn. Before we get to your questions, here is a quick rundown on the status of several key starters ahead of Saturday’s game against Oklahoma State.
Definitely playing: Julius Brents (DB), Josh Hayes (DB), Will Howard (QB), Deuce Vaughn (RB).
Probable: Ben Sinnott (TE).
Questionable: Adrian Martinez (QB).
Doubtful: Daniel Green (LB).
The Wildcats don’t actually put out an injury report. That’s just me reading between the lines and making a few educated guesses after talking to insiders.
Now, let’s dive into your questions. We have got lots of great ones. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
I believe K-State coaches when they say Adrian Martinez will be a game-time decision against Oklahoma State on Saturday.
I expect Martinez to suit up and go through warm-ups, but his playing status will come down to how his injured knee is feeling and how fast he is running as kickoff approaches.
It’s hard to say for sure what will ultimately happen, because Martinez has played through myriad injuries before. And he has so much experience as a college football player that he can start a game without practicing much beforehand. So what he did all week leading up to this game might be irrelevant.
He wants to play. K-State coaches want him to play. It all depends on how his body responds.
All that being said, I would still probably lean Will Howard. Why? Because it might be worth giving Martinez an extra week off rather than risking yet another early exit from a game.
The way Will Howard played in the first half against TCU last weekend really makes you wonder how much of a dropoff there truly is when K-State’s offense plays with its backup quarterback rather than Adrian Martinez.
K-State was moving the ball at will on TCU in the first half of that game.
Howard threw touchdown passes to Kade Warner and Sammy Wheeler. He nearly threw another to Malik Knowles and then rushed for a score.
The Wildcats scored four touchdowns on four drives with him at the helm. They haven’t looked better at any point this season.
Now, Howard obviously cooled off in the second half and the Wildcats didn’t score a single point after those four drives. But Howard did miss two possessions with a shoulder injury. Perhaps that explains why he misfired on a potential late touchdown pass to Warner.
Still, he threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns. He might actually be an upgrade when it comes to passing.
He is just very different as a runner. K-State can’t call as many zone reads when Howard is in the game. Nor can it rely on him scrambling against man coverage.
Linebacker is definitely one of K-State’s thinnest positions. I don’t expect Daniel Green or reserve Beau Palmer to play against Oklahoma State. And Khalid Duke will miss the first half, because of a targeting penalty he picked up at TCU.
That leaves the Wildcats with Austin Moore, Nick Allen, Gavin Forsha, Jake Clifton, Krew Jackson and Tobi Osunsanmi to play linebacker.
Recruiting that position, and wide receiver, has been difficult for K-State coaches in recent years. It hurts when veteran starters get hurt at either spot.
The interesting thing about this game is that BOTH teams are beat up right now.
Oklahoma State is nowhere near full strength, either. There is a chance the Cowboys will be missing the following starters on Saturday:
Jaden Bray (receiver)
Thomas Harper (safety)
- Braydon Johnson (receiver)
Brock Martin (defensive end)
- Dominic Richardson (running back)
Jason Taylor (safety)
- Preston Wilson (center)
There has also been quite a bit of speculation that Spencer Sanders has been playing at far less than 100% in Oklahoma State’s past two games, but he did look really good against Texas. So maybe he’s fine.
The injury situation should be about even, in my mind. If anything, the Wildcats are the healthier team.
I’m not really concerned about K-State putting up points on Oklahoma State. Will Howard looked great before he got hurt at TCU. The Cowboys are weak against the run, and Deuce Vaughn should be able to move the chains against them.
My bigger concern is on defense. I don’t think Green will play, and the Wildcats aren’t very good at linebacker when he’s not on the field.
The most realistic final record for Kansas State feels like 8-4 to me, with a 6-3 mark in Big 12 play.
K-State has games remaining against Oklahoma State, Texas, at Baylor, at West Virginia and Kansas.
Predicting the Wildcats has been nearly impossible this season. They lost to Tulane as a 13.5-point favorite, beat Oklahoma as a 13.5-point underdog, survived a rock fight against Iowa State and lost a game they probably should have won at TCU.
My projections were on the wrong side of all four of those games. So take my analysis with a grain of salt, I guess.
But I think K-State finds a way to win three of their final five.
Winning nine games is possible, but unlikely when you consider Chris Klieman is 0-3 against Oklahoma State, Texas and Baylor.
Let’s put 9-3 at 20%.
Winning eight games feels like 70%. Winning seven games is more like 25%. Winning six games at 10%. Winning only five games (or losing out) is maybe 1%.
First of all, it’s good to know this happens at other schools and they hate it just as much as K-State fans do.
Second of all, I have never thought opening conference play on the road was a big deal. Every Big 12 team has to play nine road games in league play over a two-year span. Why does it matter when they are played?
The Wildcats have opened Big 12 play on the road in each of the past five seasons and 10 of the past 13. I get why some fans don’t like it. That number should be much closer to six or seven. But K-State has also benefited from playing late home games more than other teams.
It’s all about the same in the end. Why complain about it?
To answer your question, though, I do think the Big 12 office would try to help out the Wildcats if they passionately complained about something like this. Then again, I know it has been mentioned in the past and nothing has changed. So maybe not.
Going public about it like Penn State was a bad move. That gave the Big Ten more reason to continue giving the Nittany Lions road games.
All I can say is: The best way to handle an early road game is to win it like K-State did this season at Oklahoma.
Leading scorer: Keyontae Johnson.
This seems like a slam dunk. Johnson made the All SEC team at Florida before his college basketball career was put on hold because of a scary heart condition. He averaged 14 points and 7.1 rebounds in a power conference as a sophomore. Now he is the oldest and best player on Jerome Tang’s team. If he stays healthy, he should have no problem leading the Wildcats in scoring.
Leading rebounder: Abayomi Iyiola.
He put up impressive rebounding numbers at his previous schools, including 7.1 per game last season at Hofstra. I will give him a slight edge in this area over Jerrell Colbert, who is only a sophomore.
Leading passer: Markquis Nowell.
You’re right. It would be silly to pick anyone else here. But I do think Cam Carter will have quite a few assists, as well.
I actually think all four incoming Big 12 teams retain their coaches next season.
Unless Ohio State opens, I bet Luke Fickell stays at Cincinnati. I don’t think any other schools are eager to hire Gus Malzahn away from UCF. Houston is on pace for a bowl, so Dana Holgorsen isn’t going anywhere. Kalani Sitake seems like an ideal fit at BYU.
I have more questions about current Big 12 coaches.
Will Nebraska come after Lance Leipold or Matt Campbell? Has West Virginia seen enough from Neal Brown?
Brown seems like the most likely coaching change at the moment.