K-State Q&A: Dylan Edwards, Avery Johnson, winning with ‘Country Ball’ and more
Kansas State defensive back Jack Fabris mentioned something interesting after he scooped up a loose ball and ran 60 yards for a game-changing touchdown during a 34-27 victory at Tulane last week.
He said the Wildcats work on scoop-and-score touchdowns in practice. Not just every once in a while, but every single Tuesday.
That makes sense, if you think about it. Knowing how and when to pick up a fumble and then return it versus when to dive on the loose ball and simply secure a turnover is a difficult thing to learn on the fly. Might as well practice it every once in a while.
But that still took me by surprise. How does that type of drill work? Who came up with it? How often do the Wildcats do it?
Turns out cornerbacks coach Val Malone invented the drill. The Wildcats call it “Country Ball.”
I asked defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman to explain.
“We just try to get the ball going a lot of different ways,” Klanderman said. “We call it, ‘Country Ball.’ You know, meaning there is big, wide-open space in the country and you need to get your knuckles on the ground and scoop that thing up like a baseball player.
“Jack has an awesome baseball background. He could probably play college baseball here if he wanted to. So he is used to that. He just did it. I asked him what he was thinking and he said, ‘I wasn’t thinking about anything. I was just trying to make sure I didn’t fall down.’ So I was excited about him having his breakout moment there.”
Fabris is only a redshirt freshman and he hasn’t played in many games for the Wildcats. But he knew exactly how to handle that situation because K-State is smart enough to work on it every single week.
Sometimes, little things can make a big difference.
That’s enough of a lead in. Let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
Why should I be patient with Conor Riley? -@FakeTrophyWife via X.
Avery Johnson pointed this out when he was asked to evaluate his play at quarterback this week, but the quote also applies to K-State offensive coordinator Conor Riley.
The Wildcats are 3-0 with Johnson as the team’s starting quarterback and with Riley as the team’s play-caller.
K-State fans can probably wait until the Wildcats lose a game before they give up on their offensive coordinator, right?
Look, I understand why some have been critical of Riley thus far. The offense looked mediocre, at best, during a 41-6 victory over Tennessee-Martin and then also struggled at times during a 34-27 victory at Tulane. The Wildcats were outgained by nearly 100 yards last week.
That’s not great.
The offense looks like it might be taking a step back without Collin Klein.
The Wildcats have also leaned on running back DJ Giddens more than some expected, as he leads the team in rushing attempts (32), rushing yards (238) and catches (seven) through two games.
Why aren’t the receivers more involved? Why isn’t Johnson completing more passes downfield? Why isn’t Dylan Edwards getting more touches? How come many of the team’s outside runs are going to a portion of the field where the defense has a numbers advantage?
They are all valid questions.
But at least Riley has been smart enough to give the ball to Giddens in key moments and win games, even if the results could have looked prettier.
That’s more than you can say for the new offensive coordinator in Lawrence. Sorry to pick on Jeff Grimes here. I could probably come up with other examples. But he asked Jalon Daniels to throw the ball 32 times against Illinois and the results were disastrous. All the while, leading rusher Devin Neal only ran the ball 14 times even though he was averaging 7.2 yards per attempt.
Also in Riley’s defense: I have been impressed by some of his play designs. K-State has used play-action to get tight ends and running backs wide open on wheel routes. Giddens blocking for Edwards on a jet sweep in Game 1 was also a fantastic look. In the passing game, Johnson could have helped him out by connecting with Sterling Lockett for a sure touchdown last week. Sometimes plays go wrong because of execution instead of design.
K-State is averaging 37.5 points and 422.5 yards per game.
Things could always be better, but the offense is performing well enough to win games.
How many carries does Dylan Edwards get against Arizona? -@patemaw7 via X.
Let’s set the over/under at 5.5 carries.
I bet he goes over with six.
Dylan Edwards has only seen nine carries this season, and he has turned those opportunities into 97 yards and two touchdowns. It would be wise to give the ball to him more, considering he is averaging 10.8 yards per rush. Have I mentioned he is also a threat when you line him up at receiver?
This will be a good game for K-State to get his snap count up. The Wildcats are going to want to run the ball and control clock against Arizona’s potent offense, and that means more carries for both DJ Giddens and Edwards.
Chris Klieman and Conor Riley are also both very aware that the fan base wants to see more of Edwards. It will be very surprising if he’s not more involved on Friday.
What’s going on with our receivers? Hard to have a consistent passing game when it seems like every other passing down they are running a different route than what the QB is throwing. -@ksuwildkat via X.
I mentioned this above, but things will probably look better for the K-State wide receivers once Johnson starts connecting with his open targets. He had both Jadon Jackson and Lockett open for big gains against Tulane and simply missed on both throws.
But your point is valid.
Even if Johnson connects on those two passes Jayce Brown (six catches for 88 yards) and Keagan Johnson (four catches for 57 yards) would both be off to slow starts. Dante Cephas hasn’t even caught a pass yet.
I’m not sure exactly what the issue is. Johnson has made big plays as a passer, but most of his best throws have gone to tight ends and running backs.
It’s possible we overrated the K-State receiving corps coming into the season. But I’m not ready to go there. Riley can surely call some plays that are more favorable for Johnson and his receivers. But Johnson also needs to take advantage of his opportunities.
The Wildcats will need to put up yards and points against Arizona. Maybe that will motivate them to produce more in the passing game.
What do you think is the best/your preference would be on 8-9-10 conference games for the Big 12? -@garretts_myth via X.
I think nine is a solid number.
Chris Klieman has said a few times this year that he would prefer the Big 12 to move to eight or 10 conference games per season, because that would allow the league to eliminate the unbalanced home/road split on the schedule. I understand where he’s coming from, but I personally don’t see it as a big deal that certain teams play more home games than road games.
Finding a good schedule balance for every team seems like a more important issue, regardless of how many Big 12 games are on the schedule. I will always miss the round-robin schedule that the Big 12 used when it had 10 members, because it was the fairest model around. Now you have teams that don’t have to play Utah, K-State and Oklahoma State this season.
But I digress.
If the Big 12 had to move away from nine games I would be in favor of going to 10, especially if it meant protecting more regional rivalries on a yearly basis.
Given recent “news”, will the cats look to avoid playing any future games in the state of Ohio? -@ngleach via X.
Now that people in Ohio are apparently eating cats and dogs, several Big 12 teams may need to stay away from Ohio.
The Bearcats, Cougars and Wildcats might be able to defend themselves, but better safe than sorry.
Arizona, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and K-State can play in the other 49 states.
A quick aside: How weird is it that the Big 12 has five cat mascots and no dog mascots?
Is Austin Romaine quietly turning into the next BIG linebacker at KSU? Or do I need to temper my growing expectations? -@ChadFullington via X.
You might as well dream big.
Austin Romaine is off to a terrific start to his K-State career. The 6-foot-2 linebacker from Hillsboro played in 12 games as a freshman and finished the 2023 season with 22 tackles. That came as a surprise to some, but I remember Daniel Green telling anyone who would listen that Romaine was going to be a stud.
He has more experience than most sophomores and now he is putting that to good use in the middle of K-State’s defense.
Romaine is tied for the team lead with 11 tackles through two games. He also has two sacks and he played a huge role in the defensive touchdown that lifted K-State to a victory at Tulane.
He could be a very good college linebacker for a very long time.