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The Voice Of Wildcats Sports joins the show
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00:00The Insider Interview on KFH.
00:04All right, welcome back in, everybody.
00:06It is Sports Daily.
00:07Jacob Albrock, Brady Bowman, joined now by the voice of the K-State Wildcats, Wyatt Thompson.
00:12We'll have headlines we missed a little later in the show, getting a little off schedule on a Monday because
00:16they're busy, Wyatt.
00:18We got Chiefs Sunday Night Football.
00:19We got all the college football from the weekend.
00:21College basketball is ramping up, which I do want to talk to you about a little bit from the K
00:26-State side of things.
00:28But we'll start, of course, with football.
00:31And I think this one, Wyatt, is probably more concerning to me than the Houston game.
00:40Just because we just didn't think Arizona State was any good.
00:44Avery Johnson or not, we'll get to him.
00:47That was a tough one.
00:49That was a tough one on Saturday.
00:51Yeah, and for a multitude of reasons, right?
00:54I mean, away from Avery, and we'll talk about that in a moment.
00:56But the bottom line is that Arizona State had been very leaky defensively going into the game.
01:02They'd given up over 50 points to Baylor, over 50 points to Texas Tech.
01:06And this was different, right?
01:08If you look at the numbers, K-State, they averaged about 2.6 yards per carry, had 84 total rush
01:18yards in the game.
01:19And this is a team that was averaging about 6 yards a carry.
01:24I mean, it's just hard to really understand that if you just only look at the numbers.
01:30You know, I sat here and talked to you guys a week ago and talked about K-State beat Kansas
01:35because they won the game at the line of scrimmage.
01:38I'm going to sit here today and say they lost the game in Tempe on Saturday because they clearly lost
01:43the game at the line of scrimmage.
01:45I mean, it's undebatable from my perspective.
01:49Yeah, Wyatt, 3-0 start definitely feels like it was a long, long time ago now.
01:55And let's go ahead and talk about Avery.
01:58You know, from what I was able to catch, I was working for 12 News at the same time, so
02:02I was just trying to catch what I could catch.
02:04It seemed like Knuth did okay, I guess, in the circumstances.
02:09He had 194 yards in the air, not too many yards per pass, 4.7, had a touchdown, no interceptions,
02:18ran for a touchdown.
02:20But let's talk about Avery.
02:22So where do things sit for Avery Johnson right now?
02:27Well, it is the million-dollar question, and I don't know that we really have a great feel for it
02:35yet.
02:35Yet, Coach Klein will be addressing the media this morning about 11 o'clock, and I'll have to get that
02:41kind of secondhand news because I've got myself and a couple of others heading to Grand Island, Nebraska, about 10
02:48o'clock for that basketball game there tonight with the Huskers.
02:51But I think what will be said is that he will be pretty iffy for this week.
02:56I think there is some concern that he might not be available, but that's just me.
03:02Nobody associated with football has said anything quite like that.
03:07But, you know, you have to be on the side of caution here because of the situation.
03:17I don't know enough about what's going on with it.
03:21I kind of have the sense that it did happen on that play in the KU game on the long
03:26run and that there's just some soreness there and what have you, so they have to be pretty careful with
03:32it.
03:33I was surprised at first because, if you think about it, he played the rest of the game.
03:37I've been told that he was pretty good on Sunday but then started to struggle on Monday and didn't practice
03:42Tuesday.
03:42And, as we saw, you know, no Avery on Saturday.
03:46Now, he made the trip.
03:47You know, he was on the sideline.
03:48They showed him on TV a few times, I think.
03:51But I don't have a great feel as to whether he will or he won't.
03:56If I'm a betting person, and I'm not, but I'll say I think it's less than 50-50, but that's
04:03just me right now.
04:04Maybe that'll change after Colin addresses the media this morning.
04:07And as far as Jacob, I do want to say this, for a young man who hasn't really played here
04:14a whole heck of a lot, I thought he did a really good job.
04:19He said on the air with us after the game that it was his first start.
04:23Think about this for a moment.
04:25First start in a game as a quarterback since 2021.
04:29So it's been a while, and I thought he did okay.
04:32You're right in the shorter passes and the curl routes and that kind of stuff.
04:36But generally speaking, he did what was asked of him.
04:39And he's a terrific kid, really works hard.
04:43But this is about winning games, and K-State didn't do that.
04:46And it's frustrating because I think they felt like they were going to win the game.
04:51They approached it like they were going to win, even without Avery.
04:54And I was impressed by that.
04:56But unfortunately, you know, they just didn't get enough done to win the game.
05:01And, Wyatt, I mean, we're hearing things.
05:05I'm hearing things like this could potentially with Avery linger and maybe cost him a season.
05:11So we're all anxious about hearing that news and what that might mean and long-term and all those things.
05:19But K-State football has got to be able to go win a game against an Arizona State team that's
05:24not very good either way.
05:26I think your point's good.
05:28Jacob Knuth didn't cost Kansas State that game on Saturday.
05:32Right.
05:33I mean, he just didn't.
05:34They didn't.
05:36Card A-Mac, he's a true freshman?
05:39Freshman, right?
05:41161 yards?
05:43Four touchdowns?
05:44I know.
05:45I know.
05:46What in the world?
05:47Yeah.
05:48And I'm going to give him some credit because he ran hard.
05:52And if you go back and you watch the tape, and I did Sunday morning here working and working ahead
05:57on football charts and stuff because of basketball and all of that stuff.
06:01But what impressed me about him was his strength.
06:06He would not go down at first contact.
06:08He always was moving.
06:10He was low enough that he was moving forward.
06:12It seemed like you had him stop for a three-yard gain, and you mark it, and it's second down
06:16and four.
06:17So I'm going to give him a lot of credit, along with their offensive line that had been really pretty
06:25decimated, to be honest with you, with some injuries.
06:28They don't have a lot of guys that are in the positions they're in now that were in those positions
06:33when the year started.
06:34So they've had some things happen with them, too.
06:37And we've had injury issues all across the board, as you understand and know.
06:41But, again, I just thought looking and crunching the numbers and watching and studying them that, you know, K-State
06:51would be able to run the ball.
06:52And if you could mix in Knuth and throw it a little bit, which he did, things will turn out
06:56okay.
06:56But, unfortunately, that wasn't the way this played in any way, shape, or form.
07:01Yeah, Wyatt and Jacob, yeah, Cardi Mack, I was looking at his game log because I was thinking, like, you
07:06know, where did this come from exactly?
07:08He did have another big game against Hawaii.
07:10He had 154 yards and two touchdowns against Hawaii.
07:13But before that, he had a season opener, three carries, 24 yards.
07:18Next game, one carry, two yards.
07:20Texas Tech, seven carries, 27 yards.
07:23Baylor, five carries, 34 yards.
07:24So, for the most part, we have not seen this from Cardi Mack.
07:28And, Wyatt, this has kind of been an issue that we're seeing week in, week out, since the Big 12
07:35conference on the defensive side of the ball.
07:36And, Jacob, like you said, you know, Knuth did all right, and Avery doesn't play defense.
07:42So, whether Avery's healthy or not, he's not lining up to play defense.
07:46And we've seen these issues this conference season.
07:50Wyatt, how does the defense get right?
07:52A couple of things here real quick that I want to touch on because you said it perfectly.
07:57K-State, in league play, gave up 271 rushing yards to Cincinnati, 233 to Houston, 168 to Kansas, and 147
08:08on Saturday.
08:09Okay?
08:10That basically equates out to you're giving up just almost 205 rushing yards a game as opposed to 158 for
08:18the entirety of the season.
08:20So, they haven't been as good at the conference level as they were early on.
08:25And I think we've said that.
08:26But I also want to give credit where credit is due.
08:29Sometimes things happen in sports that maybe is a good thing through something that you don't think is going to
08:36be.
08:37Here's what I mean by that.
08:38You talked about Cardi Mack and opportunity.
08:41The reason he wasn't getting opportunity early was because their top running back had been taking most of the reps.
08:51Right?
08:52Kyson Brown, last couple of games, has not played.
08:56It's given him opportunity.
08:58And, boy, is he taking advantage of it.
09:00I'm going to tell you, this is a Wally Pipp thing.
09:02I don't know that Kyson Brown is going to get his job back when he gets healthy.
09:07Well.
09:09Don't you think?
09:10Yeah.
09:11I just – I'm worried, Wyatt, that this season could get away from him a little bit.
09:17100%.
09:17With the Avery news combined on what you just mentioned, they cannot stop the run.
09:24Well, here's what –
09:26Because if they're going to win games now without Avery, they're going to have to kind of control games and
09:32simplify it a little bit.
09:33If they can't stop the run, they can't do that.
09:35Well, that's true.
09:35But this isn't just stopping the run from Saturday.
09:40Again, we mentioned the rush yards, and I'll mention it again.
09:45K-State had 84 rushing yards.
09:47This is a football team going into the game and now is averaging about 217 rushing yards a game.
09:54Where was that team that dominated KU at the line of scrimmage?
09:58I don't know the answer to that.
10:00And I think in addition to that, K-State didn't turn it over.
10:06They had only three penalties.
10:08But it is really hard when you go 4 of 15 on third down and 0 for 4 on fourth
10:17down on the road.
10:19And that really is just the truth of it.
10:24They just haven't had – I mean, you can criticize Colin on the fourth and 12, go for it or
10:29not.
10:29I'm good with that.
10:30I think he is too.
10:31We probably should.
10:31Yeah, I was going to bring that up.
10:33I get it.
10:34You can argue that all day long.
10:36He wanted to do it.
10:37They did it.
10:38It didn't work.
10:39It probably changed the game, right?
10:44But, man, this is frustrating because I think what I would tell you is, even through the injuries, they're a
10:51better football team than what we saw on Saturday.
10:53I do believe that.
10:55Are they going to continue to struggle and find ways to – finding ways to win going forward?
11:01Well, if you look at what lies ahead, you could say that's a possibility.
11:08I'm looking at Colorado stuff this morning and putting – I did all of their player notes and stuff yesterday.
11:14And then on Mondays, I get all the updated national and Big 12 stuff.
11:20Their numbers are horrible.
11:21They're awful.
11:23As a matter of fact, let me call that up real quick, and I'll just give you a quick example
11:27of this, okay?
11:28Their defense.
11:31You ready for this?
11:32Let's do it.
11:33They are 15th in the conference in scoring, 14th in total defense, 10th against the rush, 12th against the pass.
11:41Are you confident K-State's going to go out there and win that game based on that?
11:44Well, you should be, but they're still going to have to stop them.
11:46Absolutely, you should be.
11:47You're still going to have to stop them.
11:49Well, that's the other thing.
11:52But let's go talk about their offense if you want to do that.
11:55And I don't want to make this all about just previewing Colorado, but they're 16th in the league in scoring.
12:01Yeah.
12:02That's last.
12:04I'm trying to remember now.
12:05Was it Tech that they quietly and sneakily played well?
12:09They had a game earlier in the year where you're like, okay.
12:13Yeah, they lost 29-7, but they were kind of part of the game, and that's the thing.
12:19They've been in a lot – I'll remind you that they won a Georgia Tech.
12:22That wasn't a bad win.
12:23Yeah, that's right.
12:24That's right.
12:24Early in the year, yeah.
12:26They got crushed at Northwestern.
12:28That was kind of the start.
12:29Then he got mad at Juju Lewis, and now they're playing another quarterback, and they've just been all over the
12:36map.
12:37They're turning the ball over at a great rate.
12:39I mean, they're – let's see, turnover margin, if I can find it real quick.
12:48They're last in the league in turnover margin, and it's not very close.
12:55So, they have lots of issues.
12:56But this is going to be, in my mind, it's Halloween afternoon.
13:02It's terrifying.
13:02They have a big crowd.
13:03This is a terrifying game because of what we just saw.
13:07I'm just telling you it will be because I do think through all of Colorado's issues at the line of
13:12scrimmage, especially on defense, they've got a couple of guys up there that can play.
13:17They've got a tackling machine at the mid-level and in the back end.
13:22And with or without Avery, I think it'll be hard.
13:24I just do.
13:26Yeah, it's definitely – you don't have that confidence going in that maybe at the beginning of the season that
13:31you're thinking, oh, well, Colorado, that should be fine.
13:34And it was Utah.
13:35Utah played – Colorado played Utah close.
13:38That was just a 27-24 loss for Colorado against Utah.
13:42Wyatt, we know how competitive Colin Klein is, and I think I've been thinking about it more the last couple
13:48weeks, reminding myself of like, hey,
13:50I remind myself, this is a 37-year-old guy, younger than me, and his first year as a head
13:57coach at this level.
13:59I mean, first year as a head coach, I think, ever, right?
14:01He's always been a coordinator.
14:02Correct.
14:03And we know his competitive spirit.
14:05We know these losses are hard on him.
14:06I feel like we've seen it in his face and some of these post-game press conferences, how much it's
14:12killing him.
14:13How's he dealing with this?
14:15And is this – talk about the learning curve this is for him and how much this adversity could probably
14:21steal him
14:22and make him a better coach when it's all said and done.
14:24I really like the question, to be honest with you.
14:27And for me, it's personally pretty easy to answer.
14:30This is killing him, right?
14:32He hates it because of that competitive fire.
14:36But I don't think it's deterred the work ethic and the determination to kind of get the thing going back
14:42in the right direction.
14:43Are they fighting some things?
14:45100% yes.
14:48You know, you've got – you're projected starting left guard playing H-back and tight end out there.
14:56And I'm not making excuses, but that's reality.
14:59This team has morphed into what it is over the course of several weeks here.
15:05And bluntly, injuries are part of it.
15:09I'm not going to try to mask that because I believe that.
15:13I think Colin is always in the mode – this is just my opinion now.
15:18I think he is very concerned about what's going on, wants to try to get it fixed, but understands this
15:24is year one,
15:25and this is a process for him, and he's thinking more long-term and getting better.
15:28And I think they will continue to work that way.
15:32But it doesn't make it any easier going through this.
15:35That was a winnable game Saturday, and they didn't win it.
15:38The game at Cincinnati was a winnable game.
15:41I mean, they really didn't have a chance in the Houston game after the first little bit there.
15:46But that's the one game that's – you know, you can say that they were just kind of outclassed.
15:54The rest of these are going to be tight, tense, nail-biting, hard-to-win games, home road, whatever, in
16:00my mind.
16:01We're going to spend more time, Wyatt Thompson, voice of the K-State Wildcats, on K-State basketball next week,
16:06just ahead of their opener when we talk, which I'm looking forward to the timing on that.
16:10Real quick, though, they did play Missouri.
16:12They played them pretty well, I think.
16:14I don't know what we take out of these games.
16:15You know, number one thing for Wyatt Thompson coming out of the first sort of live action we've seen of
16:24Casey Alexander's squad is what?
16:26Twofold, effort and defense.
16:28Both were much better than I was expecting.
16:32I loved the competitive nature.
16:35They jumped out.
16:36They played really well in the first half, to be honest with you.
16:39They're up 32-27.
16:40Missouri's a top 25, top 30-ish type team, 20 to 30, somewhere in there as this season starts.
16:47And, guys, you'd be so impressed with their length.
16:50They've got like seven guys that are 6'8 or taller, all the way up to 7'5".
16:55And K-State struggled with their size, and you knew they would, but they fought.
16:59They're up 5.5.
17:01Unfortunately, the most down part of that game Friday was the fact that coming out of the gate in the
17:08second half, they had about four consecutive turnovers that were bad.
17:12And that, boom, led to a 13-0 run, and then they're down, next thing you know, they're down 61
17:18-47.
17:19But they closed the game on a 20-10 run and really fought to get back in it, made it
17:23a two-point game late.
17:24They didn't shoot the ball at all, and Casey Alexander, I talked to him yesterday before they left, and he
17:31talked about that he didn't like a lot of the shot selection stuff.
17:35And that's something that, you know, we can work on and get better at.
17:39Those are his words, not mine.
17:40But I do think people that were here saw, and if you watched it on TV or listened, like the
17:48effort up and above and beyond everything.
17:52And they're beat up a little bit in the frontcourt right now.
17:54They've got to get healthy there, but I think when they do, they're going to continue to thrive and get
17:59better.
17:59This will be a different challenge tonight because Nebraska's a little bit more like they are stylistically.
18:05I'm anxious to see that.
18:07The Huskers are good, though.
18:08They've got two sharpshooting guards, and it's a 6,000-seat arena that's sold out at $135 a pop.
18:15So they're excited, aren't they?
18:16And I get it after last year going 28-7, but I still think it was a pretty good start
18:23overall competing with Mizzou because they did compete with Mizzou in a big way.
18:276.30 tip there, and then the opener at home, the true opener at home, right, is South Dakota State
18:36next week.
18:36Is that right?
18:37Yeah, next Tuesday.
18:38On games that count.
18:39Let's go.
18:40Wyatt, we're ready for it.
18:41We'll see what happens with football this weekend.
18:43You'll have a call again on the K-State Radio Network as well.
18:46Appreciate it.
18:47Absolutely, guys.
18:48Great.