Kansas State Wildcats: Report Card Vs Vanderbilt Commodores

Kansas State Wildcats Report Card

The first “F” for the Kansas State Wildcats and it is well earned. I wrote that I thought the Vanderbilt defense wasn’t as good as their stats said and nothing I saw tonight changes that. K-State still managed to get 201 yards rushing on only 35 carries, good for 5.7 yards per rush. It took a brutal performance in the passing game and many mental mistakes from the Wildcats to hold themselves to seven points.

K-State wide receivers had at least seven dropped passes. I haven’t rewatched the game yet and frankly, I don’t want to, but I stopped counting at seven. The first Ertz interception was also dropped by Byron Pringle. In fact, despite my harsh grade on Jesse Ertz, there were ample opportunities for the wide receiver group to pick up their QB and help him out. They failed, over and over again.

The offensive coaching staff isn’t immune either. The point of coaching is to put your players in the best position to win. Offensive coordinator Dana Dimel constantly failed to do that. Vanderbilt came into the game wanting to take away “options” and to try and muck up the slow-developing plays K-State is known for. How did K-State respond? They kept calling slow developing plays.

Once you add in the penalties, including a killer by Dalton Risner, you realize just how hard it is to literally run over a team, for over 200 yards, and only manage seven points.