MANHATTAN, Kan.-Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman in his weekly news conference on Tuesday said that he was uncertain whether star senior quarterback Adrian Martinez would be available in Saturday's showdown between the 22nd-ranked Wildcats and No. 9 Oklahoma State, adding that he hoped to learn more about the Wildcats' rash of injuries later this week.
K-State, 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12 Conference, is tied for second place in the league standings with Oklahoma State, 6-1 and 3-1, after a 38-28 loss at No. 8 TCU last Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.
Martinez went to the sideline after just a few snaps on the game's first possession and didn't return. Junior Will Howard stepped in and led the Wildcats to four touchdowns on four consecutive drives.
"Luckily, we had Will Howard, who could come in and play, who's played football for us," Klieman said. "I hope Adrian is available. I don't know if he'll be available. And there are other kids like that."
Howard even went to the sideline with an apparent shoulder injury in the third quarter. In all, between eight and 10 starters on both sides of the ball, including returning All-American running back Deuce Vaughn, were either limited or unable to finish the game due to injury.
"I don't think we lost anybody for the season, in fact, I'm positive we didn't lose anybody for the season," Klieman said, "but there's a handful of guys who left the game early enough that I don't know if they'll be ready for this game or not.
"There are other guys that we're hopeful, based on muscular, based on whatever, I'll talk to the trainers and the trainers will talk to the doctors — it's not just something where we'll rub a little dirt on it and be ready to go and let them play. They have to be effective when they're ready to play.
"Time is going to tell this week. We're not going to have some answers legitimately until Thursday on a few guys."
Vaughn appeared for interviews Tuesday and said, "Every single week is going to be a battle."
"Every single week is going to be a battle every time you step on the field, but taking care of your business during the week Monday through Friday, you get yourself into the best position possible to be fresh as possible on Saturdays, which is what I'm working on right now," Vaughn continued. "You're playing a violent sport that every single week you're getting contact from some of the biggest guys in the world, so it's on me to be able to make sure my body is ready to go every single Saturday. I'm trying to do that every single day."
Potentially short-handed K-State now prepares for its Homecoming game against an Oklahoma State squad that comes off a 41-34 win over No. 22 Texas. Oklahoma State has won 20 of its last 23 games and eight of its last 10 against AP Top 25 opponents.
Klieman seeks his first win over Oklahoma State; Mike Gundy is 9-5 against the Wildcats, and has won two of the last three times the Cowboys have visited Manhattan.
"A lot of things that are going to dictate this game are going to be with how we execute on the football field," Vaughn said. "We have to execute better than we did last week."
A K-State win would give the Wildcats bowl eligibility for a second-straight season. Meanwhile, K-State looks to avoid its first four-game losing streak to Oklahoma State since the Cowboys won six straight in the series between 1984 and 1989.
Preparation remains ongoing to try and get everybody healthy and in getting every player prepared for possible action.
"Kansas State is not the only team that's beat up, that I know for a fact," Klieman said. "Nobody is going to feel sorry for you. It's the next-man-up mentality, and whoever is out there, we have confidence as a staff and as a football team that they're going to allow us and give us an opportunity to be successful."
How passionate is Klieman about Howard? Klieman gave his longest answer all season in addressing Howard, what he means to the team, and his efforts as a quarterback.
Howard came off the sideline to complete 13 of 20 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns and one interception while leading the Wildcats on four touchdown drives against the Horned Frogs.
Klieman was blunt in lauding Howard's perseverance.
"A lot things went awry during the pandemic year, but he grew a ton from that year," Klieman said. "And then he was going to sit last year and then Skylar Thompson got hurt and we had to play him. He's a team guy. This year, we kind of made it a competition, but if he didn't win the competition, we were going to do everything we could to preserve this year for him hopefully at Kansas State. I think that's his plan and that's our plan that he stays at Kansas State. I don't go up to Will Howard and say, 'Hope you're not transferring today,' because Will Howard is not that guy. Will Howard loves K-State. I think everybody that had any doubts about Will Howard or doubted Will Howard, were like, 'Maybe I was wrong about that kid.'
"I know this, I smiled ear-to-ear for him because he's dealt with a lot of ridicule for a couple years and he just goes to work. On Friday, a great example, he has no idea if he's going to play a snap at all, and on Friday, we're doing our meetings, and he's out on our game field with the net throwing and throwing and throwing, and working his own craft — not because he figured Adrian was going to play three plays, but just because he wants to continue to improve and to push it, so when his opportunity comes, whether it's last week, this week, or whenever it is, he'd be ready. That's the sign of a winner and a competitor and a sign of the culture we want here, that you have a kid that says, 'If I'm not the guy, I'm going to prepare like I am, and when that opportunity comes, I'm not missing it.' To watch him play last week, I was so excited for him, and every one of the guys on the team were excited for him.
"Adrian is not out for the year. We still feel like we have three left with Will. It's why we didn't play him against South Dakota and Missouri, so we could be strategic about when he would play. He may not play this week. Adrian may be fine to play. I don't have any idea. But if he's not, Will is going to play, and then we still have two more games (to retain his redshirt season)."
K-State has had an up-and-down season on field goals. Klieman indicates that "we're going to have some competition out there this week" to handle field-goal duties. Chris Tennant is 9 for 14 on field goals this season. He missed a pair of field-goal attempts at TCU.
"Chris is busting his tail," Klieman said. "He missed one probably that I thought he should've made and the other one was a 50-50 one that I could've probably bailed him out and gone for it on fourth-and-2, but I didn't, and he would've said, 'Coach, I can make that kick anyway.'
"We had a conversation with him and we're going to evaluate this week and Ty Zentner might kick a point-after attempt or a field goal to get us going. We might see a freshman out there in Leyton Simmering. He might kick one, not that we're truly opening the competition, but we're going to have some competition out here this week. I think that'll fuel Chris.
"I know Ty is excited because he loves to be out there and I think Leyton has a chance. We're going to kick another day this week when we typically wouldn't and see how it plays out. And Chris is fine with that. Chris knows he needs to perform. I have the utmost confidence in Chris, but we've got to make sure and continue to have competition."
K-State is having a sack party this season
A contributing factor to the Wildcats' defensive success this season has been their ability to get to the quarterback. K-State ranks 23rd in the FBS and first in the Big 12 in averaging 2.86 sacks per game — an improvement over its 2.41 average a year ago when it finished fifth in sacks in the league.
K-State got to Texas Tech's Donovan Smith six times, as Felix Anudike-Uzomah and Khalid Duke each recorded three sacks apiece, marking the first time in school history two K-State player had three sacks in the same game. Most recently, the Wildcats sacked TCU quarterback Max Duggan four times last Saturday.
K-State currently has 20 sacks, needing 11 more to surpass its sack total in 2021. The Wildcats haven't totaled more than 30 sacks in a season since they had 38 in 2015.
"We have relentless rushes," said K-State defensive end Nate Matlack, who collected his first sack of the season against TCU. "Our coaches have given us awesome game plans to get different blitzes and to give us opportunities to get more sacks.
"I think we've left some on the table and could get even more."
Anudike-Uzomah is tied for 10th in the FBS with 6.5 sacks and 0.93 sacks per game. Linebacker Khalid Duke has three sacks. Defensive end Brendan Mott has two sacks. Linebacker Austin Moore and nose tackles Jaylen Pickle and Robert Hentz II each have 1.5 sacks. Linebacker Daniel Green, nose tackle Eli Huggins, defensive end Gavin Forsha and Matlack each have one sack apiece.
So much has been written about returning Consensus All-American running back Deuce Vaughn, who ranks second in the FBS among all active players with 130.63 all-purpose yards per game.
The 5-foot-6, 176-pound native of Round Rock, Texas, had a streak of nine-straight games with a touchdown, an eight-game streak of 100-yard rushing performances, a career-high 170 rushing yards against Texas Tech, and he ranks 13th nationally with 106.3 rushing yards per game.
He currently has 2,790 career rushing yards and needs just 29 more to pass Ell Roberson for No. 4 on the all-time rushing list at K-State.
Vaughn reached a significant milestone this past Saturday against TCU: He became the eighth player in Big 12 history to reach 2,500 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in a career, becoming the quickest to do so. He reached the feat in 30 games. DeMarco Murray, who is second on the list, did so in 38.
"Unbelievably mind-blowing," Vaughn said. "I can't even put into words how I feel about it. It's something that, of course, I'm super proud of myself for understanding I don't get to this position without a lot of people that are doing a lot of things behind the scenes to get me to this point, (and I have) a lot of thanks to a lot of people who've put me into this position to go out and play the game that I love every single weekend at a Power 5 school — man, it didn't look like I was going to have the opportunity.
"To be etched in a record book for the conference is pretty cool."
OSU's Spencer Sanders comes off an impressive game and is currently the No. 1 quarterback in the Big 12
Oklahoma State's Spencer Sanders, whose 10,858 total yards ranks second among active FBS players in a career, is taking full advantage of his fifth year in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The 6-foot-1 native of Denton, Texas, who earned First Team All-Big 12 honors a year ago after leading the league in total offense (3,495) and total offense per game (268.8), is putting up even more impressive numbers in 2022.
Through seven games, he ranks 12th in the FBS and first in the Big 12 in total offense (2,952), and seventh in the nation and first in the Big 12 in total offense per game (340.3).
He has completed 58.8% of his passes for 2,030 yards and 15 touchdowns and four interceptions, and his 290.0 average passing yards ranks 16th nationally. He also has 80 carries for 352 yards and eight touchdowns. His 1,917 rushing yards are most among Oklahoma State quarterbacks in a career.
Sanders threw for 391 yards against No. 22 Texas, giving him seven 300-yard passing performances in his career, tied for third in school history.
He has thrown 19 touchdowns to just four interceptions over his last 330 passing attempts for an interception rate of just 1.2% — the best such stretch in his career.
Last season, Sanders completed 22 of 34 passes for 344 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-20 win over K-State.
"He's a competitor," Klieman said. "We're going in from the fire to the next one from Max Duggan to Spencer Sanders. Spencer Sanders has been really good against us the last three years. He can beat you with his arm and he can beat you with his legs."
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy opens up about game day atmosphere at Bill Snyder Family Stadium
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy, who played as OSU quarterback from 1986 to 1989, has visited Manhattan countless times through the years. Gundy in his weekly news conference revealed his thoughts on the game day atmosphere from a historical perspective.
"It's full, they do a good job with their students, and the atmosphere, and it's a great college environment," Gundy said. "Back then (in the 1980s), they had the old turf field and the painted Wildcat at the middle, which would rip your skin off, and it stayed that way all four of my years, and gosh, there was nobody at those games.
"They've made as big of a transition in college football as anybody in my opinion from where it was back in the mid-90s. Coach Snyder came in 1989, so I don't think they got going up there until at least 1993, 1994 or 1995 when anybody started showing up probably. But that transition has been big. It's been great for conference, I'll put it that way."
Although K-State averages 28.6 points and looks to average more than 30 points per game for the first time since 2017, the Wildcats continue to possess one of the best offenses in school history when it comes to total yardage.
K-State averages 401.4 total yards this season, which is tied with the 2012 team for 10th in school history. It's the most since the Wildcats averaged 421.6 total yards in 2014.
A look at the top 10 offenses in K-State history:
1. 1998 (478.4)
2. 2003 (441.0)
3. 2002 (423.0)
4. 2014 (421.6)
5. 2007 (418.2)
6. 2000 (410.0)
7. 2013 (402.7)
8. 2008 (402.1)
9. 1995 (401.7)
10. 2021 and 2012 (401.4)
Oklahoma State has its third best scoring offense in the past decade
Oklahoma State is tied with TCU for third in the FBS and first in the Big 12 in averaging 44.7 points per game, which is currently the Cowboys' best scoring offense since averaging 45.0 points per contest in 2017.
The Cowboys have scored 40 or more points in five of seven games this season, including each of the past three in wins against Texas Tech (41-31), No. 8 TCU (40-43) and Texas (41-34).
Oklahoma State has made a significant jump in scoring offense since 2019:
2019: 32.5
2020: 30.2
2021: 31.1
2022: 44.7