Kansas State Football: Several lingering issues in loss to West Virginia
By John McCarty
Kansas State football’s mishandling of the quarterback position highlights the many issues that lead to lack of competitiveness against West Virginia. It starts with Bill Snyder.
Don’t blame Skylar Thompson for Kansas State‘s blowout loss to West Virginia. Was Thompson great on Saturday? No, but for Bill Snyder and the fanbase to think the sophomore was the reason the Cats lost is foolish. Games like the soul crushing defeat on Saturday highlight greater issues with the Wildcats that have been visible during the early portions of the 2018 season.
The Collin Klein era at quarterback was fun, as it brought a bunch of wins and excitement to Manhattan. A power run game highlighted by a running quarterback was something to see, and while it was slow moving, by the end of the game, the Cats generally always came out on top. Klein graduated and with him, so should the offense.
Klein was a 6-5, 230 pound blast of power able to run over unsuspecting defenders. What is often left out is how good the Wildcats offensive line was during that time.
Starting center BJ Finney is now with the Steelers and Cody Whitehair is a Chicago Bear. Cornelus Lucas appeared in 36 games with seven starts and Tavon Rooks was a late round draft pick. Wide receiver Chris Harper was a mid-round draft pick of the Seahawks and Tyler Lockett was emerging as a threat for the Cats.
The point being, the 2012 Kansas State team lead by Klein was a really talented group that ran a unique offensive approach to a conference championship. Gone was the option offense led by Ell Roberson and Darren Sproles a decade earlier, or the wide open passing attack a decade before that.
Since then however, the Cats have tried and not really succeeded in their efforts in replacing Klein. No, the quarterbacks are fine and are talented. The issue stems from the coaching staff’s inability to either recruit a quarterback with a similar skill set to Klein or to adapt their scheme and offensive approach to the skill set of the quarterbacks on the roster.