MANHATTAN, Kan. | Fan Appreciation Day is Saturday, but Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder probably won’t consider fan voting for starting quarterback after the open practice at Snyder Family Stadium.With the opener approaching, Snyder’s evaluation Tuesday of junior Carson Coffman and senior Grant Gregory, a transfer from South Florida, was vaguely positive and non-committal. Snyder did say redshirt freshmen Joseph Kassanavoid and Collin Klein are not in the picture as starters.“Just about every time I seem to think somebody is starting to pull away, they find a way to come to the pack or the pack closes the gap,” he said. “I would say, on any given day, they’re probably pretty equal.”Snyder wants a starter at least a week before the Sept. 5 opener against Massachusetts. “The longer it goes, it makes it harder and harder and harder because it’s human nature, sometimes, to settle into routines and settle into performance levels,” he said. “Someone needs to rise above it all and continue to make that kind of improvement. It doesn’t mean there hasn’t been improvement. Not enough, and not consistently enough for one to firmly establish himself.”Coffman threw 46 passes and completed 10 in his first two seasons. Gregory played sparingly as a backup during three seasons at South Florida. Until Snyder sees Coffman and Gregory in a game, he isn’t sure about either.“They seem to make some of the same mistakes,” he said. “And they tend to do some of the same good things. They both have experience, but in different ways. Carson, having been here in the spring, has a little more experience. He’s got 15 days more experience in actual, on-the-field performance in this system. Grant probably has more playing time experience and has been around the game for a few more years.”Injury updatesSnyder didn’t specifically address defensive end Brandon Harold when asked about the player’s health. If Harold is injured, he apparently won’t miss the season.Guard Brock Unruh, out with an unspecified injury, is the only Wildcat in that category.“Brock Unruh will be out for the season. That’s the only one that we anticipate losing for that extended period of time,” he said. Position battlesSnyder smiles when he talks about senior Keithen Valentine’s response to the challenge from Daniel Thomas for playing time at running back.“It almost seems like he cherishes it — he’s never backed away from the challenge,” Snyder said. •Snyder said sophomore Alex Hrebec and senior John Houlik have stood out at linebacker.•Snyder likes his depth at receiver better than he did after spring practice. Junior Lamark Brown, moved from running back, catches his eye.“I haven’t regretted making the move,” Snyder said. “He is a very, very physical wide receiver.”<hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> @ Go to KansasCity.com for Campus Corner, the new college sports blog.</div>

Posted on Tue, Aug. 18, 2009 11:06 PM

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Snyder still pondering his starting quarterback situation

By PAUL SUELLENTROP

Special to The Star

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With the opener approaching, Snyder’s evaluation Tuesday of junior Carson Coffman and senior Grant Gregory, a transfer from South Florida, was vaguely positive and non-committal. Snyder did say redshirt freshmen Joseph Kassanavoid and Collin Klein are not in the picture as starters.

“Just about every time I seem to think somebody is starting to pull away, they find a way to come to the pack or the pack closes the gap,” he said. “I would say, on any given day, they’re probably pretty equal.”

Snyder wants a starter at least a week before the Sept. 5 opener against Massachusetts.

“The longer it goes, it makes it harder and harder and harder because it’s human nature, sometimes, to settle into routines and settle into performance levels,” he said. “Someone needs to rise above it all and continue to make that kind of improvement. It doesn’t mean there hasn’t been improvement. Not enough, and not consistently enough for one to firmly establish himself.”

Coffman threw 46 passes and completed 10 in his first two seasons. Gregory played sparingly as a backup during three seasons at South Florida. Until Snyder sees Coffman and Gregory in a game, he isn’t sure about either.

“They seem to make some of the same mistakes,” he said. “And they tend to do some of the same good things. They both have experience, but in different ways. Carson, having been here in the spring, has a little more experience. He’s got 15 days more experience in actual, on-the-field performance in this system. Grant probably has more playing time experience and has been around the game for a few more years.”

Injury updates

Snyder didn’t specifically address defensive end Brandon Harold when asked about the player’s health. If Harold is injured, he apparently won’t miss the season.

Guard Brock Unruh, out with an unspecified injury, is the only Wildcat in that category.

“Brock Unruh will be out for the season. That’s the only one that we anticipate losing for that extended period of time,” he said.

Position battles

Snyder smiles when he talks about senior Keithen Valentine’s response to the challenge from Daniel Thomas for playing time at running back.

“It almost seems like he cherishes it — he’s never backed away from the challenge,” Snyder said.

•Snyder said sophomore Alex Hrebec and senior John Houlik have stood out at linebacker.

•Snyder likes his depth at receiver better than he did after spring practice. Junior Lamark Brown, moved from running back, catches his eye.

“I haven’t regretted making the move,” Snyder said. “He is a very, very physical wide receiver.”

@ Go to KansasCity.com for Campus Corner, the new college sports blog.

Posted on Tue, Aug. 18, 2009 11:06 PM

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