Offense sputters in Kansas State’s spring football game at Sporting Park

The first score of the afternoon was an interception return by Jesse Mack. The second was a fumble recovery by Taylor Hilgers that followed a mishandled punt. The third was a field goal by Matthew McCrane.

It was that kind of day at Kansas State’s spring football game, which was played in front of 17,080 at Sporting Park while Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan., undergoes renovations.

The Wildcats appeared sharp on defense and satisfactory on special teams, but unlike most scrimmages in which one team is made up of starters and the other features backups, they had room to grow on offense.

Football in a soccer stadium yielded unusual results. Go figure.

“When the fans leave early that tells you we are not very good,” coach Bill Snyder said, before adding he wanted to leave early with them. “Real early.”

What displeased him the most?

“A little bit of everything,” he said. “We turned the ball over, got penalized and didn’t run it well, obviously with the interceptions we had, we didn’t throw it well.”

The biggest issue on offense was quarterback. Jesse Ertz started for the Purple Team, made up of starters, and completed nine of 15 passes for 159 yards and one touchdown. He threw a first-quarter interception that resulted in a touchdown for the White Team, compiled of backups.

Ertz, a sophomore, had inched ahead of junior Joe Hubener and freshman Alex Delton during spring practices, and he showed good mobility and kept plays alive with his feet on Saturday. But he did little with his arm.

Throwing a pick-six on his first attempt will haunt him for a while.

“It was definitely not the plan,” Ertz said. “But at the same time there is nothing I could do about it. I just tried to put it behind me and thought let’s make some big plays and forget about it.”

Hubener split snaps with Ertz and completed seven of 19 passes for 67 yards and an interception. Throughout the spring, Hubener has said the starting job was his to lose after serving as Jake Waters’ main backup last season. But the competition appears much closer than that.

Delton is also in the mix, following a solid debut in which he showed good speed on running plays and led the Purple Team on a touchdown drive. Snyder singled out Delton as a bright spot. This race won’t end anytime soon.

“Things are way muddier now, for sure,” Hubener said of the quarterback competition. “Jesse had a very good spring, and he is a tough competitor. I have just got to keep playing my game and let that speak for itself.”

Things weren’t all bad for Kansas State’s offense, which found a rhythm as the day went on and received solid contributions from Deante Burton, who had four catches for 107 yards. Charles Jones and Winston Dimel each ran for two touchdowns. Justin Silmon also made some nice plays at running back.

After some early struggles, the Purple Team went on to win 55-24. The score was flipped at halftime with the Purple on top 24-13, meaning it truly outscored the White Team 66-13.

One player stood out for both sides, Dominique Heath, a redshirt freshman receiver. He served as K-State’s primary return man and was arguably the Wildcats’ top performer. Heath piled up 350 return yards and had a touchdown on a 75-yard sprint.

In previous spring games, Snyder has chosen not to allow returns, but he switched formats to evaluate possible replacements for former returner Tyler Lockett.

Heath said he’s shooting for being the main punt and kick returner.

“I want the No. 1 spot, and I want to contribute on offense too, wherever I can get the ball in my hands and make big plays,” he said.

K-State’s defense also played well behind sophomore linebacker Elijah Lee, who had 10 tackles, a sack and an interception return for a touchdown.

The Wildcats will spend the next few months trying to catch up on offense.

“We will somehow, someway become as good as we can,” Snyder said. “We just didn’t play well today.”

Captains announced

K-State announced its five captains for the 2015 season. The group features Cody Whitehair, Dante Barnett, Travis Britz, Morgan Burns and Stanton Weber.

Absent players

A handful of notable players were withheld from the spring game for precautionary reasons. They were fullback Glenn Gronkowski, receiver Judah Jones, cornerback Danzel McDaniel, defensive tackle Britz and offensive linemen Boston Stiverson and Matt Kleinsorge. Each of them suited up but watched from the sideline.

Purple 66, White 13

First quarter

WHITE: Jesse Mack 35 interception return (Matt McCrane kick), 12:42.

PURPLE: Taylor Hilgers fumble recovery in end zone (Jack Cantele kick), 10:45.

PURPLE: FG McCrane 21, 6:14.

PURPLE: Charles Jones 4 run (Cantele kick), 2:57.

Second quarter

WHITE: FG Cantele 28, 10:56.

WHITE: FG McCrane 37, 6:00.

PURPLE: Winston Dimel 3 run (McCrane kick), 1:45.

Third quarter

PURPLE: Jones 2 run (McCrane kick), 7:18.

PURPLE: Dalvin Warmack 1 run (McCrane kick), 3:34.

Fourth quarter

PURPLE: Dimel 5 run (Cantele kick), 14:08.

PURPLE: Elijah Lee 18 interception return (McCrane kick), 13:11.

PURPLE: Dominique Heath 75 punt return (Cantele kick), 9:35.

PURPLE: Andre Davis 22 pass from Jesse Ertz (McCrane kick), 4:00.

Attendance: 17,080.

RUSHING: White: Delton 10-73; Barnes 10-48; Hubener 4-19; Davidson 3-14; Leverett Jr. 6-10; Root 4-10; Silmon 1-1; Warmack 1-0: Purple: Silmon 9-65; Dimel 6-46-2; Jones 11-38-2; Ertz 4-33; Delton 2-17; Warmack 5-13-1.

PASSING: White: Delton 3-12-22-0; Hubener 1-8-11-1; Davidson 5-6-34-1; Root 2-3-19-0; Purple: Ertz 9-15-159-1; Hubener 6-11-56-0; Delton 1-1-4-0.

RECEIVING: White: Heiman 3-26; Langvardt 2-17; West 2-16; Davis 1-11; Leverett Jr. 1-8; Barnes 1-5; Harris Jr. 1-3; Purple: Klein 5-56; Burton 4-107; Davis 2-29-1; Valentine 2-13; Jones 1-13; Weber 1-4; Cook 1-(-3).

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.

This story was originally published April 25, 2015 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Offense sputters in Kansas State’s spring football game at Sporting Park."