- 8 minutes ago
Wyatt Thompson makes his weekly visit with the boys of Sports Daily!
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:01And now, digging deeper with the teams you follow, it's another Sports Daily Insider
00:07interview on KFH.
00:11And welcome back in.
00:12Glad to have voice of the K-State Wildcats, Wyatt Thompson with us.
00:15Just a day away now from the start of the college basketball season, which we're really
00:19excited about.
00:20No more exhibitions.
00:22The bullets are flying for real now.
00:25But we got to talk football.
00:26And unfortunately, that has become, Wyatt, a little less relevant than we'd like this
00:33time of year.
00:33Never thought we'd be here going into Week 10, 4-4, the loss to Colorado.
00:39I got to tell you, it wasn't a Blake Barnett issue.
00:44I mean, you can't blame that one on Avery Johnson being out.
00:50Couldn't agree more.
00:51You know, they started Dylan Duff.
00:53He didn't do well at all.
00:55Win a couple of series.
00:57At that particular point, I'm thinking, well, okay, what's going to happen here?
01:01Because I'll be honest, I thought Dylan would come in and play okay.
01:04Did I think he would do as well last week as Jacob Knuth?
01:09Probably not, just based on lack of experience.
01:13But I wasn't expecting that.
01:15Nor was I expecting Blake to play like that.
01:18You know, he's a Colorado boy.
01:20I'm sure he was pretty geeked up for it.
01:21But Stan and I were talking about this during the broadcast.
01:24He's got a little toughness to him.
01:26And he likes being a leader.
01:28And he doesn't mind throwing his body around.
01:30And he doesn't mind hitting people.
01:31And he's confident.
01:33I think all of that kind of showed, don't you?
01:35I mean, he was really pretty good.
01:37I think at the end of the day, you know, it was a game where, like we say so many
01:43times here in the recent weeks, K-State had chances, but just didn't pull off the victory.
01:50And it stings because Colorado had been reeling.
01:53They hadn't won a game in conference play.
01:54And all of those numbers that you know about, turnovers, really, really bad when it comes to penalties and that
02:02kind of stuff.
02:02But they didn't do a lot of that on Saturday either.
02:05So hard game, tough to lose on the road always, but especially like it happened, you know, with an overtime
02:12game.
02:13Yeah, Wyatt, I was doing some 12 News stuff, reporting out on the field during the game, you know, following
02:19as best as I could and saw that just epic.
02:22I heard some celebration from some K-State fans.
02:27I was doing a story over at Eureka Downs, the horse track that reopened over there.
02:31And there's a lot of K-State fans, you know, gathering around the phone.
02:34And I heard some celebration.
02:35I was like, oh, I need to double check and saw that K-State was there to tie it and
02:40go to overtime.
02:41Talk about that two-point decision and going out there, lining up the go-for-two, timeout, change the mind.
02:50And is that just kind of an example of Coach Klein kind of still kind of feeling some things out
02:55as far as decisiveness and maybe sticking with some decisions?
02:59You know, obviously got the extra point with the overtime and, you know, it could still go differently there.
03:04We could easily be talking about a win in overtime.
03:07But talk about decision-making and how Coach Klein is kind of feeling things out first year.
03:13One, from the sideline as well, and as head coach.
03:17Yeah, I think feeling things out is fair in year one.
03:22But based on what he told Stan and I in postgame after the game, I don't think that would be
03:27in that category.
03:28I think they had all the momentum in the game.
03:30He wanted to go for two and win it.
03:35Unfortunately, they had what they described, he described, as the two-point play that they liked and the Colorado defensive
03:43alignment that they liked.
03:44And then, unfortunately, Colorado called timeout.
03:47And once they, you know, made the adjustment, Colin wasn't nearly as comfortable as the way he put it with
03:56options two and three on the two-point conversion.
03:59Thus, he walks away from that.
04:01And, of course, a penalty in there, too, for delay, which stunk.
04:04Let's be honest about that.
04:06So he goes for the tie, gets to tie, and then you lose in overtime.
04:10So, I don't know how you guys feel about it, but I thought that was a fairly decent explanation.
04:16I think, by nature, he is a very, I guess, aggressive guy.
04:23And I didn't have a problem with him going for two there, to be real honest with you.
04:27Because, like I said, I mean, I never almost ever disagree with Stan's thoughts.
04:31But I said, you know, they've got all the momentum here.
04:35I like it.
04:36He goes, no, you've got to kick it.
04:37You've got to kick it.
04:38So I guess it goes both ways.
04:39And that's – look, we're going to let Colin Kline – I'm fine letting him work through that stuff.
04:46He's a former quarterback.
04:47Like, he wants to go for it.
04:48He's a former quarterback.
04:51But I just can't get over the fact that they still went and lost that game to Colorado.
04:58And, like, if you'd have come in and you just said, oh, well, Avery Johnson's hurt,
05:02and they got real bad quarterback play and everything else, you're like, okay, that's –
05:05you know, you can't really overcome quarterback injuries at any level.
05:09It just wasn't the issue.
05:11So then it goes back to – I mean, I hate – like, this team's not nearly as good as
05:16we thought it might be.
05:17Oh, for sure.
05:18You said that perfectly.
05:20And Coach mentioned this after visiting with Stan and I in his postgame press conference.
05:25And I'm paraphrasing what he's saying, but he says, look, the bottom line is we are not playing well enough.
05:33And here's the key.
05:34We are also not coaching well enough.
05:37I thought that was pretty telling there, and I think he means that sincerely.
05:41He has been frustrated by that.
05:44But I think the really hard part of this is there's part of him that thinks the guys are still
05:52trying and working and what have you,
05:54but it all comes down to doing it and execution.
05:58And, I mean, you look at the numbers.
06:01I hate to harp on this at all, but you look at Kansas State defensively, right?
06:08They are now rush defense, last in the league.
06:13Colorado, who didn't run hardly at all the week before, rushed for 222 yards and 5.2 yards per carry.
06:19For my money, it all starts right there.
06:22All of it.
06:24I agree.
06:25Yeah, that's right, Wyatt.
06:26That's where I was going to start looking into, looking at the defensive stats and those issues,
06:31especially how good they look.
06:32We had such a good feeling those first couple games about this defense and what it could be.
06:38But now, fast forward, on the offensive side, there are things you can point at.
06:43Offensive line issues, obviously big ones right out of the gate in the offseason.
06:47Issues that continue.
06:49Quarterback injuries, not just with Avery, but basically the whole quarterback room.
06:54So, you know, there are some excuses that you can point to that are legitimate excuses and hindrances for the
07:00offense.
07:00On the defensive side, that's where I'm struggling to find what exactly the excuse is, other than just the players
07:10or scheme.
07:11How are we going to reevaluate that going into the offseason?
07:16Is this a coaching staff issue?
07:18Is this a player issue?
07:20Where do we point to on the defensive woes?
07:22Well, there's a lot of meat on the bone there.
07:25You asked and covered a lot, and rightfully so.
07:29I think everybody is questioning everything now when it comes to Kansas State's defense.
07:34Are they good enough?
07:36And I think most people would say, not at the line of scrimmage, right?
07:40Are they good enough in the second level?
07:42You could argue that all day long.
07:43I do think the secondary has been decent, not great, a little bit inconsistent, but probably the strength compared to
07:52everywhere else.
07:53What I would tell you, too, is I think there are people that are going to question the schemes, right?
08:00When you don't have success and you're giving up that kind of rush yards and all of those kind of
08:04things.
08:06I'm pretty conservative by nature, I would say.
08:09I don't know that I'm ready to throw Jordan Peterson out with the bathwater because just of his track record
08:15of some success.
08:18But you have to also think a little bit about, you know, what they lost, what they brought in.
08:25You look at the portal, and truthfully, there are going to be some things you'll find that are hits.
08:31And then there are others that probably weren't so much.
08:34I'll say it this way.
08:36One guy that I think all of us talk about a lot who's done a pretty good job is Wendell
08:42Gregory, right?
08:45But to be honest, and I'm being pretty critical here, he didn't do much Saturday.
08:50No, he didn't.
08:51He didn't.
08:52And then on the other end of that spectrum is Elijah Hill.
08:56You would have to say, even being the most fair guy in the world, he's been a bust.
09:01He's done almost nothing.
09:02So there's a lot of things on the table there.
09:07They've just got to get better.
09:08And I think at some point, you know, it's hard getting better on the run in this league.
09:13I mean, we're going to face a team on Saturday that throws it all over the yard, but they also
09:19average 190 rushing yards a game, right?
09:22Lost a 51-49 game in Ames over the weekend.
09:25Maybe K-State wins it because they are number one in the league in ball control, in time of possession.
09:30Maybe that's the formula.
09:32Maybe being at home is part of that.
09:34Who knows?
09:35But right now, you've got to get better.
09:36And I think right now, the getting better is at too slow a pace for all of us.
09:42I think that's fair.
09:43And this is where I've always been worried.
09:49What is it like this time in college football when this season, it doesn't matter what happens from here on
09:56out, will feel like a disappointment, I think, to K-State fans.
09:59And they're going to have to be a lot of change, I would assume, to the roster in the offseason.
10:05All the momentum of Colin Kline returning home, you're around it all the time.
10:10Can we hang on to that?
10:13Is that honeymoon period going to be over next year?
10:16Or the pressure kind of feels like it's on to me to get a lot better real quick.
10:23Or we're going to be facing a really uncomfortable situation.
10:28I think it's a very fair question, you know, and I don't know how to answer it specifically because we're
10:36a little bit too early to be thinking about next year, if I'm being honest about it.
10:40But everybody has an opinion on this particular subject.
10:45And, again, I think it's a fair question.
10:48There will be some, and I think there already are, that are really frustrated, right, and that things have not
10:56gone well.
10:58And will they be back and geeked up when we get into July and August next year?
11:03I hope so.
11:05You know, I have mixed emotions about this because I'm in the front where I'm all for Colin and I'm
11:13a K-State guy.
11:15And I really do think the guy's going to be extraordinarily good in time.
11:19But this has been a stretch where it hasn't been great.
11:22And, you know, what it is, Tim Weiser always used to say, it's a results-based business, right?
11:29And he's not wrong.
11:31And I hope people give Colin a chance and hang with him because I do think he can be a
11:37guy and a difference-making guy.
11:39And he loves this place.
11:40And I think, you know, if you're going to get better, it all starts with that and recruiting and coaching
11:45him up.
11:46And I think he's certainly capable of that.
11:48Yeah, Wyatt, that kind of goes into what I've been thinking about more so the last couple games, the last
11:53couple weekends.
11:53I was just kind of thinking, like, man, what a tough spot that Colin Klein is in.
11:59Because, again, Bill Steiner only won one game his first year.
12:02But that was such a different era.
12:04And like Jacob mentioned, the expectations, there's no patience, you know, anymore.
12:09You know, if you have a bad year, you're expected to be in the playoff the next year, basically.
12:13I mean, the expectations are crazy year to year.
12:16And also this NIL era, I've been kind of thinking about that.
12:20Is K-State kind of still catching up to the era?
12:24Because you look at the, you know, you look at the top 25 in this new NIL era, where kind
12:30of the promise was everybody was supposed to get more of a chance, right?
12:33Whether you're a smaller school, medium market type of school, it's supposed to level the playing field a little bit.
12:38But then you look at the top 25, and it's kind of the standards.
12:41You got Miami number one, Georgia's there, Utah, Notre Dame, UCLA's back in the mix now.
12:47Now, Indiana, obviously not a traditional football school, but plenty of money and resources at Indiana over time.
12:55Is that kind of something you're maybe starting to see a little bit?
12:59Is K-State still kind of catching up to the NIL era and the transfer portal and trying to hit
13:04on those guys like we talked about a little bit with the defense?
13:07You know what?
13:09I'd have to say no, because I do feel like Gene Taylor, if he were on here with us, would
13:15tell you.
13:16And so would Colin Kline.
13:18K-State has been competitive in the NIL game, especially with football.
13:21They put some money into football this time, and I think they will again.
13:27But, you know, you have to look at all of the roads that lead to the stop sign, right?
13:32And I think the bottom line is, is they haven't played well, but they, especially on the road, and that
13:38drives Colin crazy because he, you know, that's a mark of toughness, right?
13:42You've got to be tough to win on the road.
13:44But they didn't win at Cincinnati, right?
13:47But the stinger is Colorado.
13:48They had not been good, right?
13:50I think people could probably live with losing to Houston at home because they're good or whatever, maybe even Cincinnati.
13:58But Arizona State, I'll put it another way.
14:02I can't tell you how many people in the last couple of days have said to me, we would be
14:066-2 with Avery.
14:07Yeah, probably so.
14:09But we don't have Avery, right?
14:12And I don't know if that changes this week or next week or not any week.
14:19You're dealing with some young players.
14:21But I don't think, this is just my opinion, I don't think that the NIL money is the deal.
14:28But I don't know that they're getting the production out of those NIL kids, for the most part, that they
14:36hoped they would get.
14:37And I think that's some reality setting in there.
14:40I mean, you guys are closer to it than I am, as Case said.
14:44It feels like they're getting the best players that they've ever gotten before, but it's not working.
14:49You know, some of the recruits they've won on big-time recruiting battles.
14:53The fact that they had the resources to get and keep Avery for this long.
14:58Like, I would say that's probably a positive sign.
15:01It's just the results haven't been very good.
15:02Let's talk real quick, Wyatt, about some basketball.
15:05The season starts on tomorrow night, election night, 7 o'clock tip.
15:10South Dakota State.
15:11Now, we were just talking to Wichita State head coach Paul Mills about how unpredictable and how much we don't
15:17know.
15:17South Dakota State on Ken Palm.
15:19They're not predicted to be very good at all, which is unusual, right?
15:25Because we're used to them kind of being squirrely.
15:27But that's kind of nice, I think, for K-State out of the gates.
15:31Normally, I don't like to see games like that.
15:33But for a team we don't know anything about, and we don't know anything about K-State, it is kind
15:37of nice to see it.
15:38Yeah, I don't disagree with that, to be blunt.
15:42The Jackrabbits were 14 and 18 a year ago.
15:45That's pretty off standard of what they have been recently.
15:49I think on the upside, they have a really nice group of combination guards.
15:57Their one guard, Joe Seiler, has been predicted to be the Summit League Player of the Year.
16:02They have a couple of other kids, one a returner and one a new kid.
16:05An NAIA All-American who led the country in scoring last year.
16:09We're second team preseason All-Summit.
16:12But I think they'll be a little bit like K-State in that they think they're going to be better.
16:17They hope they can have a representative team.
16:21We'll see how it plays.
16:22But to me, I am anxious to see now that we've gone through a couple of those exhibition games
16:30and have a better feel for, I believe we have a better feel of who they could potentially be.
16:36And they're not anywhere close to where I think they can be.
16:40Let's see how this next, say, two to three weeks goes.
16:44Because once we get back from Vegas Thanksgiving week, you've got to play Gonzaga there.
16:52That's a pretty good test of knowing kind of what you are and possibly Alabama or Baylor.
16:58And I don't know if you've followed Baylor at all, but they're going to be pretty darn good too.
17:03We've got Creighton coming up next week.
17:06It won't be long we've got a pretty good idea how much growth is potentially in these guys
17:11and what they're going to look like.
17:13I don't know about you, Wyatt.
17:14I assume you follow along the Chiefs.
17:17Yep.
17:17I'm a Cowboys fan and, of course, follow the Chiefs more than anybody.
17:21You had a hard weekend.
17:22I had a hard weekend.
17:23And Saturday wasn't much better.
17:25No.
17:26And I am so excited to cleanse the palate with some college basketball this week.
17:31I just – that was as collectively brutal a football weekend as I can remember.
17:36All four.
17:37KU had the same kind of disappointing end.
17:40Like, it's just like, goodness gracious.
17:42Yeah.
17:43Really, I mean, if you're a Kansas fan, person, I don't mean KU, I mean Kansas.
17:49Kansas, right.
17:49You know, with what the Chiefs did and how they lost, the way KU lost, the way K-State lost,
17:55you are miserable today.
17:57And you have to be looking to tonight and tomorrow night for basketball, don't you?
18:01Yes.
18:02That's a given, I think.
18:02Yes.
18:03And Wichita State's probably going to be good this year, too.
18:05They play Wednesday.
18:06For sure.
18:07We can just think about basketball now.
18:10At least until –
18:11We've always had a lot of success in basketball in this state, and hopefully we will again
18:15because I think you've got three good coaches at three good schools.
18:18So, let's see what they can do.
18:20You know, KU's probably a little bit ahead of most with the recent additions to their team.
18:24They're going to be dynamite, I think.
18:26But I'm like you, Wichita State.
18:28We're going to see them in Kansas City at T-Mobile.
18:30I'm excited about that.
18:31You'll see Cal State Northridge.
18:32That's who the Shockers play Wednesday.
18:33Yeah, yeah.
18:34Yeah.
18:35So, we'll see.
18:37I'm excited for them, though.
18:38I truly am.
18:39And I know KC's pumped and ready to go.
18:42Dwight Thompson, you're the best, man.
18:44Let's have it all on KFH, K-State Sports Network.
18:48You'll hear the basketball.
18:49You'll hear the football.
18:50We'll talk again next week.
18:51You got it.
18:52Thanks, fellas.
18:53Appreciate you.
18:54Let's take a quick break.
18:54We'll come back.