How Kansas State running back DJ Giddens produced video-game numbers in win over UCF
Shortly after he delivered one of the best stat lines you will ever see from a Kansas State running back in a Big 12 football game, DJ Giddens celebrated his achievement by scarfing down a cupcake.
“I don’t usually eat sweets,” he said, “but I decided to try something new.”
No one could blame Giddens for treating himself on Saturday night at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. K-State (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) had just put the finishing touches on a 44-31 victory over UCF (3-1, 0-1 Big 12), and Giddens was the main reason why.
The sophomore from Junction City was more or less a one-man wrecking crew for the Wildcats on offense. They ran 82 plays against the Knights, which is the second highest total they have achieved over the past decade, and nearly half of them revolved around their star player. Giddens touched the ball 30 times on designed rushing plays and quarterback Will Howard targeted him 10 times on passing downs.
Giddens took advantage of the massive workload by putting up numbers that belong in a video game. He rushed for 207 yards and four touchdowns, in addition to grabbing eight passes for another 86 yards through the air.
He literally did it all.
By the end of the night he was responsible for 293 total yards and 24 points. It was easily one of the top five games in school history for a running back, right up there with some of the big days that Darren Sproles and Deuce Vaughn had when they were wearing purple.
For perspective, Vaughn never topped 229 total yards or three rushing touchdowns in a game.
Sproles only topped Giddens’ yardage total twice during his career. He set the school record with 323 yards from scrimmage in the 2003 Big 12 championship game. Giddens wasn’t far behind him on Saturday.
“In fishing terms, it was probably like going out there and catching a 20-pound catfish,” Giddens said. “It was cool.”
Giddens chose an ideal time to have a career game. The Wildcats were without backup running back Treshaun Ward and Howard was recovering from a leg injury that he suffered last week against Missouri. But head coach Chris Klieman wanted to run the ball early and often against the Knights. He thought K-State had to establish a strong rushing attack to win this game.
That meant Giddens needed to play his best.
“We challenged DJ,” Klieman said. “We said, ‘We’re going to give you the football. You need to step up. You have all the ability in the world. We’ve got to get you believing it, and we’re going to keep giving it to you and keep giving it to you.’”
No one had a problem with that strategy.
“Oh that helped me a ton,” Howard said. “Sequencing is huge, not getting behind the sticks. That’s the thing about throwing on first and second down. If you don’t hit on it, you’re sitting in third-and-10 and you’re behind the sticks. When you can run the ball and get positive plays on first and second down and you’re sitting in third-and-medium or third-and-short, (it) is a lot easier to deal with. Or you are just getting first downs.
“It takes pressure off me, because I don’t feel like I have to do everything in the pass game. That was huge. If you look at our explosive plays, I’m sure most of them were runs, and that’s huge.”
Indeed, Giddens broke away on runs that went for as many as 36 yards.
Giddens gave credit to his offensive line for setting him up with big holes to run through, but he also gained a good chunk of his yardage by making plays in the open field.
He forced defenders to miss tackles with his shiftiness and also had 68 yards after the catch as a receiver.
Last year, most labeled Giddens as a power runner who did all of his damage between the tackles. Turns out, he can do a lot more than that. He proved what he is capable of.
The only disappointing thing about his performance happened after the game was over. He earned a hammer in the locker room as one of the team’s top performers, and K-State players begged for him to make a speech. But Giddens declined.
“He is kind of like Forrest Gump,” K-State left guard Cooper Beebe said. “He just runs and doesn’t say much.”
The beautiful thing about putting up nearly 300 yards of offense is you don’t have to say anything when the game is over. You’re allowed to eat a cupcake instead, because your play did the talking.
“I’m glad DJ got to show the world what we’ve seen in practice all the time,” Beebe said. “I love that kid to death. It’s funny, he still does not say much. Even when the dude scores four touchdowns, he’s still the same old person. But it’s a great feeling just to know we can give him the ball.”