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The Voice Of The Wildcats Wyatt Thompson checks in to review K-State/Tulane and more.
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00:01All right, welcome back in everybody, Wyatt Thompson with us voice of the K-State Wildcats and Wyatt as everybody
00:10reacts to the Chiefs overtime late night, it's sometimes hard to go all the way back and rack our brains
00:18of like what wait, what happened on Saturday?
00:20Like what are we, we've played two days of football over the course of time, K-State gets it done,
00:28I think Brady sent me a message that cracked me up, he said new rule in the Protect College Sports
00:33Act, K-State's not allowed to play Tulane anymore, do you agree with that?
00:37That was my first half thought, Wyatt, just for the record.
00:40Pretty darn tough, aren't they?
00:42It's weird, it's kind of like Chiefs-Colts last night, those games always get weird, so does K-State Tulane.
00:49You guys said that really well because the truth is, I understand why people are talking about the Chiefs game
00:54last night, I mean this sincerely, I said to Casey Scott who has Wichita State ties and has been at
01:00Kansas State a long, long time, if you weren't a fan of either of those teams and yet you watched
01:05the entirety of that football game, I would challenge you to find a more entertaining game in the entire league
01:11from yesterday.
01:13I don't know that you can do it, that was really, really fun football.
01:16With that said, you know, I think what sticks out for me with the K-State Tulane thing is, is
01:22that K-State, you know, knew they were going to be challenged in a different way, and they were.
01:28I said going into the game that I thought that Washington State was probably better defensively than Tulane, Tulane probably
01:37better offensively.
01:38I think some of that was true, but not maybe necessarily across the board.
01:42I think they did a really good job early in the game, confusing K-State with some movement and some
01:48stunts.
01:48It took the Cats some time to, you know, kind of get the run game going.
01:53And that run game needed a guy by the name of Avery Johnson on Saturday, didn't it?
01:58I mean, simply stated, they turned him loose and you saw what happened.
02:02He put together, from my perspective, one of his best games in his career, and that led to a 31
02:08-20 win.
02:09Wyatt, when you look at Avery, and we'll stick with that, well, he's accomplished so much.
02:15And when you think of the athletes that have been at K-State, especially, you know, Snyder era and onward,
02:21there's been some guys that can put up some stats in the air and on the ground.
02:26And Avery Johnson, Saturday, became the first K-State player in school history to record at least 200 passing yards
02:34and 150 rushing yards in one game.
02:36First guy to do it, which really blows my mind because, you know, I'm old enough to remember Michael Bishop.
02:42And I was like, wait, Michael Bishop didn't even do that?
02:46That kind of blew my mind a little bit.
02:48Yeah, and, you know, I'd even throw Al Roberson in there, too, to be real honest with you.
02:52Both of those guys were fantastic players.
02:55And so I think what we're talking about here is a little bit of rarefied air.
03:00And I was so proud of Avery from the standpoint of if you look at his game, in the past
03:05game, he goes 21 for 28, right?
03:11And then the run game, I think, just sticks out because, yes, he had the 66-yard run.
03:18And all of those count, you know.
03:21People say, I've had a couple people say, you know, they didn't run the football all that great like they
03:26had done the first couple of games.
03:27And I think that's probably right.
03:30But you do have that thing, that card, so to speak, in your back pocket when you need it.
03:36And I think K-State needed it on Saturday to get them loosened up a little bit.
03:41Once they did that with the pass and the quarterback run game, everything seemed to be a little bit better.
03:47And I was really proud of it.
03:48I'll be honest with you, man.
03:49That drive in the third quarter was terrific.
03:54I just love those kind of things where you just take half the quarter and kind of turn the game
04:00in your favor.
04:00And I thought they did that.
04:02Well, I think, Wyatt, whenever, like when we see a game like that, Tulane did something that a lot of
04:10teams are probably going to try to do, or at least they were, which is to keep K-State from
04:16beating them on the ground in an old school ground and pound football game.
04:19Because that's what, through two weeks, we saw K-State do really well.
04:23So Tulane does that, right?
04:25You mentioned what they were doing on the defensive line.
04:27And they forced K-State to do two things.
04:30One, Avery to take off and run a little bit, which we all know he can do.
04:34But the thing we sort of wait for with him is, I would say, I would call it processing.
04:40I don't know what you'd call it.
04:42But when I see Avery Johnson as a passer, not throw an interception, complete a high percentage of his passes,
04:49but also, man, he's targeting his receivers.
04:53Now, he's kind of honing in.
04:55He did it on Tibbs this game, Manning the last game, but he also hit all three tight ends.
04:59Yeah.
05:00The target share was spread out, which you tell me, that would tell me he's processing and he's getting through
05:07second and third reads as a quarterback.
05:09And that is his final evolution.
05:11That is the thing he's going to have to do if he wants to play in the NFL, if he
05:15wants to do all of these things, is to process that way.
05:18And when Tulane forced him to do it because they weren't going to let them run on him, he did
05:23it.
05:24Well, you look at the tight ends as an example.
05:27When Stan said this, I looked at my stats monitor to make sure it was right.
05:32And I never questioned him.
05:33But they had 10 receptions with the tight ends between Anseo's 3 for 59, Oakley's 4 for 27, and Lincoln
05:42Cure's 3 for 23.
05:44I don't know that those yardage things are eye-popping, but the 10 catches, I believe, is.
05:49Yeah, I do, too.
05:50Especially when you throw in Tibbs with the 9 for 114, right?
05:54And I think there's something to what you're saying there.
05:57And the other thing, too, is this was a challenge for Kansas State.
06:03Like, I think they're going to see a lot in the Big 12 with the Tulane team speed.
06:08And, I mean, that's everybody.
06:12Secondary, running backs, receivers, linemen, linebackers.
06:16That is a football team that they can run.
06:20I really thought they were pretty well coached.
06:24And not that I wasn't expecting it, but K-State had to take the fight to them.
06:29And, I mean, they just had to do it that way because they weren't going to give you a thing.
06:36If you're going to beat us, you're going to beat us, right?
06:39I think that's the way the game played.
06:41Wyatt, maybe one of the best stat lines of the game, if you're a player, if you're Jay Harris,
06:47two carries, two yards, two touchdowns.
06:51I mean, those two touchdowns were huge, obviously, right at the goal line.
06:54But how important is it and how good is it, Colin Klein?
06:58Just, if anything, you've got to think that you're keeping opposing teams and defenses in the film room kind of
07:05honest
07:06because you've got so many guys that are scoring in so many different ways.
07:11How smart is it of Colin Klein to use Jay Harris in that way yesterday just to show, hey, it
07:17could be anybody.
07:18You've got to be prepared for anybody that's behind Avery or Avery.
07:22I mean, you've got to be honest and on your toes.
07:23Well, it's a really good subject in my personal opinion because think about how many years K-State has had
07:31smaller running backs,
07:33whether it's, you know, you go back to Darren Sproles, John Hubert, those types of guys.
07:37Yeah, they've had some bigger ones too.
07:40But, man, is it nice to have a 225-pound guy back there.
07:44You know, I remember Stanton Weber saying when I asked him about him returning kickoffs,
07:50he said, I just want to see somebody tackle that 225-pound beast.
07:54I don't know that it's all that different at the line of scrimmage other than the fact that he's running
07:59against, you know, bigger people.
08:01But he is really strong.
08:03He's got some speed to him, which also matters even that close to the goal line.
08:08And, you know, I know he had that fumble and felt really bad at it, about it early in that
08:15first game.
08:15But, you know, the way he's bounced back and he hasn't lost his confidence or his attitude with those other
08:23two guys getting a little bit more run.
08:25And I was really proud of Jay.
08:27I think he's a really good football player.
08:29And he can play a role and I think will play a role on this football team.
08:33I want to get your opinion, Wyatt, on two areas that we're still trying to evaluate that were questions before.
08:39Voice of the Wildcats, Wyatt Thompson.
08:42How do you evaluate, A, the offensive line, the biggest question I think we had coming in, and B, the
08:47defense after a little bit maybe of an early scare as Tulane marched it down the field, their performance through
08:54three games?
08:55Well, I think both of those are really legitimate questions.
08:59Let me start with the offensive line because I do think we have seen better play there than what I
09:05was actually expecting.
09:07You know, I felt like I saw in camp some pieces that this could work if everything fell into place.
09:15And then the John Pastore thing happened.
09:17Okay, so now you really need somebody to step up other than those other guys.
09:22And I got to give Ryan Howard a lot of credit.
09:24He hasn't been perfect, but he's been really pretty good.
09:27Not first team all Big 12 like John Pastore good, but he's been solid.
09:32I'll be honest.
09:34When I heard Colin a couple of weeks ago just kind of rave about Charlie Adams and now you've got
09:39at left guard and you've got Morley coming back there, that is a good thing.
09:45And Chase Duarte is coming in and spelling Keaton Jones at the other guard spot.
09:50Generally speaking, I think those guys have done a pretty good job.
09:53And I think they're capable of getting better.
09:56You know, I don't think we're too far down the road from seeing more improvement from them.
10:00Some of that I think will help when you get Oliver Miller back.
10:04So that's been good.
10:07Running was harder Saturday because of the team speed of Tulane and thus the quarterback run game, as we've said.
10:15Now, now you move on to the other side.
10:18I thought the question about the defense, most people said I was just surprised that they got to the edge
10:26sometimes, maybe easier than I thought they were going to.
10:30Well, some of that is their schemes and their work.
10:35And that's something I think concerned the coaching staff and they'll be they'll work on that.
10:41You know, you're playing a team in Cincinnati this week that I don't know what you guys think of them
10:46or if you know much about them, but they have a quarterback who can run the ball.
10:50They've got pretty decent running backs.
10:52I don't know that they're going to I don't even know what what how to say this scare the dickens
10:58out of you, but but they're they're competent for sure right now running the ball.
11:03Why it like 10 in the country.
11:05Oh, I know.
11:05And here's why and I'm not trying to take anything away from running backs, but people are talking about their
11:12offensive line and they should be those kids are huge.
11:17I mean, Tangis Dahl, Tyo, the center, those left guard in the center, both are really, really good players.
11:25That's going to be a big focus in this game on Saturday for the first road game of the year.
11:30No question about that.
11:31If their offensive line and K-State's defensive front is the battle, I think it's going to be.
11:36We could be in for a little bit of a scary afternoon or I guess in this case evening.
11:41Yeah, why that reminds me I've been meaning to ask you.
11:44Well, I'm actually getting married on Saturday during the during the Wildcats first away game conference game.
11:52Should I still go through with it?
11:55Well, I'm going to guess she'll say yes.
11:58So I'm probably going to say yes.
12:00I'll go through with it.
12:02Don't worry.
12:02Now, here's the thing.
12:04You know how many times in my 24 plus seasons here that I've heard a K-Stater say something like,
12:11what kind of Wildcat fan gets married in the fall?
12:14What is wrong with you?
12:16I'm not going to.
12:17I know.
12:18I know.
12:18And she's a fellow K-State alum.
12:20I'm just going to tell you, I do hear that a lot.
12:22She's a fellow K-State alum.
12:24He's not judging you, Brady.
12:25That's awesome.
12:26He's just saying others might.
12:28Yeah, yeah.
12:28Sure.
12:29But at least you took the road game, right?
12:31Exactly.
12:32You took the road game.
12:33That's legit.
12:34Yeah.
12:34I'll record it.
12:35I'll get right into it.
12:36You know, I'm not too worried about it.
12:38I'll be checking my phone.
12:39I'm probably not going to put the little earpiece in during the ceremony sort of thing.
12:42I'll probably try to avoid that.
12:44I do want to ask you, though, real quick.
12:46And I know it's been a much easier start to this season schedule-wise than last year.
12:51But, boy, it just feels so good.
12:52It's just so much fun.
12:53But, you know, looking back at last season when you had four games or five of those losses were lost
12:59by four points or way less a point, it could have been a much different sort of feeling last year
13:05if anything goes a different way.
13:09Does it just kind of show you just how thin that margin is and just how much just, you know,
13:15enjoy this and don't take it for granted?
13:17I feel like maybe last year that was part of the frustration is that maybe we're kind of taking some
13:21things for granted a little bit.
13:22Well, I think that's absolutely right on the money.
13:26And I think you don't have to go back too far.
13:29Think about the game Friday night.
13:32Houston at Tech, two top 25 teams.
13:35That's a two-point game and a two-point conversion in the last minute to go to overtime.
13:41Those are two really good teams.
13:45You've got BYU.
13:46You've got Utah.
13:48You've got K-State.
13:49What are we thinking about West Virginia as an example?
13:52That's a heck of a win for them to defeat Virginia.
13:56Their quarterback is good.
13:57They've got a good running back.
13:59I just, for that matter, what are we thinking about Iowa State?
14:05Anybody expect them to be 2-1 with a tight loss at Iowa?
14:10I guess the point is, this is what this league is, tight games.
14:17I haven't looked at the line.
14:18Have you guys looked at the K-State Cincinnati line?
14:20Six and a half.
14:21I have no idea.
14:21Six and a half.
14:23Six and a half.
14:24That's probably in the neighborhood, but I just think this will be a hard game because
14:30it's the first one on the road and all of that.
14:32But that's what I want.
14:33The road part of that, why?
14:34Because it's nice that they didn't have the gauntlet they had a year ago.
14:39Right.
14:39But, however, now they have to go try the road the first time in what should easily be
14:47the best opponent they've faced.
14:49That seems a little scary to me.
14:52Sure.
14:52And it probably should.
14:54You know, I do think K-State's the better team, but that does not guarantee anything on
14:59the road.
15:00You have to go out there and really fight.
15:02I think they're going to have to, you know, somewhat neutralize their run game with their
15:07offensive line.
15:07I think you've got to have some balance.
15:10How much will they have to use Avery in the quarterback run game?
15:14Those types of things all matter.
15:15One thing that I will say about last week that I was encouraged by, okay?
15:20When you look at K-State as an example, let's say on the defensive side, you know, I think
15:26we know what Wendell Gregory is now, and I think we know Travis Bates, Kamari Burns, those
15:32types of guys.
15:33But one thing that was really fun for me Saturday was watching Jaden Bryant, as an example, start
15:40to come on a little bit.
15:42Elijah Hill starting to come on a little bit.
15:44Those guys start doing that.
15:46And you could probably, I know Wesley Fair has been around a long time, but I was so proud
15:50of him coming in there after Logan Bartley got dinged up, led the team with eight tackles.
15:56I think this team has some depth, and you're going to need it on the road and as these
16:01games get harder.
16:02The other factor is this is such a big game for a lot of reasons.
16:06First conference game, first road game, all of that.
16:09But again, we've talked about this, guys, but this is the truth.
16:12This will happen.
16:14You've got five of your first six at home, then four of your last six on the road.
16:21We're in the enjoyment period now.
16:24That back end is going to be a hell of a lot harder.
16:26Period.
16:26End of story.
16:27This is a big ballgame.
16:29It's a big one, and you guys will have it right here for us on KFH.
16:32Wyatt, it's a six o'clock kick.
16:35What do you have special on the broadcast for us this week?
16:37Well, we're still working on that a little bit, but I'm going to try to see if I can
16:40cornerization on Rich.
16:41We're talking about the secondary people, and he's been really rock solid steady back
16:46there.
16:47And I think a leader, a good kid from Minnesota.
16:50I'm hoping to get him for pregame and probably one other player.
16:53We'll talk to the coordinators and, of course, Colin and kind of do some of the things we
16:58do, preview some of the other games in the Big 12.
17:00And this will be, I think, a really cool week in the Big 12.
17:04You've got some interesting games.
17:06You know, Utah, Iowa State.
17:08Can Iowa State give them a game as an example?
17:11What about, we didn't talk about TCU all ago.
17:13How good are they really?
17:15Do we know?
17:17Well, it's just a fun league to cover, man.
17:19That's all I'm saying.
17:21OSU West Virginia could be interesting, too, don't you think?
17:23Well, I heard Nick Saban in all the college game day stuff.
17:29He kind of tipped his cap a little bit to the way West Virginia.
17:32He didn't pick them, but he said they do look pretty good.
17:35I'll take his word for it, for sure.
17:37Yeah.
17:38I think Iowa State might get creamed, Wyatt.
17:41They lost on paper to KU.
17:43They had a couple of fluky plays.
17:46They did.
17:47KU outgained them, what, almost 2-1, didn't they?
17:49Coming back from London a little bit.
17:52I don't know.
17:53Yeah.
17:54I can see it.
17:55I mean, those trips are hard.
17:57We know first.
17:58As K-Staters know.
18:00Wyatt, I might have you, instead of the traditional walk-up wedding music,
18:04I might just pipe in you and Stan for the walk-up music down the aisle.
18:10If she okays it, I'm golden, right?
18:13Yeah.
18:14Hey, good luck, too, by the way, man.
18:15Yeah.
18:16Appreciate it.
18:17Good luck, Brady.
18:17Good luck.
18:18Yeah.
18:18Wyatt, we appreciate it.
18:19We're going to tune in.
18:20We'll be ready for you on Saturday night.
18:24Thanks a lot, guys.
18:25Looking forward to it.
18:26Appreciate it.
18:26Here goes Wyatt Thompson, voice of the K-State Wildcats.
18:30We will have headlines we missed in a little different place.
18:35We got sidetracked there a little bit.
18:36That'll be on the other.
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