I hate bye weeks. Are we getting better from here on????????????

[KITNooga]

we have a new coach. we have a new system.

I'm probably not alone, but feel that way, in that I want to see/watch the season unfold. how this team, these players, these coaches respond to adversity.

win or lose, am really interested in the conference season. especially how we finish. might have to dust off my old EMAW moniker. EMAW meant a lot to me back 'when'. means a lot to me now. I know just how hard our team is working to find a way to win.

I will allow them to do so.

at the beginning, my hope was that this team could find a way to 6 wins and bowl eligibility. that's a big step in the right direction.
and I don't really give 2-cents 'which' bowl it is.

we won't and don't get Snyder 3.0 to bail us out this time. might be time for us to grow some patience and toss our support behind the coach, the team. publicly and privately.

effective or not; that's my plan. carry on.

[Tbonespop]

Why is our O-Line sucking? They are a seasoned and well schooled group. What’s the difference this year?

They actually haven’t totally sucked. The zone blocking seems to be better in the last few games, and the pull and power stuff works when the LBers aren’t lined up in the targeted gap or shooting the targeted gap. Where we’ve run into issues in the last two games is when we try the pull and power into a gap already occupied by the opposing LBer, we get stuffed for a TFL. If you go back and watch film, we were a lot better in the Baylor game than the OSU game. We just need to be consistent and “stay on schedule” (get positive yards on first and second down, so third down is manageable). It’s the penalties, TFL s, fumbles, and sacks that throw us off schedule. If you back and look, we actually moved the ball into Baylor territory on 80% of the possessions. We just didn’t turn things into points. The Baylor game, while not good, was far better than the OSU game. If we show continued progress from the Baylor game offensively, we will be fine.

[Hypeman]

I think there’s reasons not to completely pump the brakes. This staff and team had two weeks to prepare for OSU and the offense completely laid an egg. Completely.

I read that after the game HCCK told the players not to change. I think the offense especially took those comments literally as they had almost a mirror image performance against BU.

Both KSU and TCU have two weeks to prepare. I firmly believe Patterson will have his team prepared and ready. I can’t say I feel as confident about HCCK, but I most definitely hope he proves I should have been.

This will be an interesting test. Patterson doesn’t have the best team this year, but he’s a 2x National coach of the year and outwitting him would be quite a feat. This will be a fun game and perhaps a litmus test.

[ksustars754]

I’ve seen the stay on schedule thing from multiple people and while it sounds right, I’m not so sure it applies to our struggles so far. I’d have to do research but I feel like we’ve been horrible on 2nd/3rd and short where technically were on “schedule.” As we’ve talked about, the lack of QB running is a major factor for the failures offensively.

[Jax]

Why is our O-Line sucking? They are a seasoned and well schooled group. What’s the difference this year?

qb not running the ball.

Not needing to run necessarily, but he has to get rid of the ball. There was a great article at BOTC titled "Kansas State Football: Throw It Deep...I Dare You.". The author analyzed what OSU did on defense in the 3-3-5. As I commented here after that game, that could have been a template for how every defense plays against K-State moving forward. We are going to be forced to throw the ball deep.

The issue is just as much Skylar Thompson holding on to the ball too long as the O-Line not holding blocks. There's an old saying when playing games involving tactical maneuvering, "You think long, you think wrong."

Optimism going forward is relative. 6-6, 7-5 is still achievable, realistic, and would be a success considering.

[KITNooga]

There's an old saying when playing games involvng tactical maneuvering, "You think long, you think wrong."

don't get caught watching the paint dry...

agreed. game speed is about executing on an 'instinctual/coached' level. not a cerebral level.

in many cases it's the difference between a team looking and playing fast versus looking slow. many fans don't get this and want to lay it on recruiting/talent level. perhaps some might lie there, but not all. not most of it.

[hilltopwildcat]

It's not all on Skylar. He's had plenty of drops too. We should hope that the receivers improve their game. We have so much inexperience in key spots that it's hard to find a rhythm. O-line needs to do better but then they don't seem all that horrible in giving Skylar time to throw, it's just how long do they have to give him. Receiving is a two-sided coin. Right now people have figured out how to defend us. Can the coaches adapt?

For the kids we get, moving to D1 is an eye-opening experience. They have probably been one of the best players on the field night after night, rarely playing against someone as athletic as themselves. Now they're playing against an equal or maybe someone better.

[tmcats]

i've seen plenty of drops and plenty of missed shots.

[powercat5000]

I agree that it’s mostly not Sky’s fault- he’s got no time to throw and there have been plenty of dropped passes. But I think sometimes he doesn’t choose to make the easy play and he’s trying to throw the deep ball too often when there’s an open guy underneath. He’ll get better.

[Tbonespop]

Things I am sold on:

1.) Defensive Coordinator
2.) Recruiting abilities

Things I am not sold on:

1.) Offensive Coordinator/Playcalling
2.) Quarterback
3.) Any WR's beyond Knowles

I agree with this. Things I'll add to it. Things I am sold on: Klieman as a HC - he's a darn good on, just needs some time. Things I'm not sold on: current stable of RBs outside of the Freshmen.