How a special meeting could help Kansas State’s offense get back on track at Baylor
Kansas State’s offensive coaches decided to try something different on Monday when the Wildcats gathered to begin preparing for their upcoming game against Baylor.
They wanted to break away from their normal routine after gaining just 149 yards during an ugly 45-0 loss to Iowa State.
“You would like to move on and get as far away from it as you possibly can, but you can’t,” K-State tight end Briley Moore said on Tuesday. “We reviewed it as a full offense together, which I think is really good.”
K-State players normally break into position groups when it’s time to review video from their previous game. Quarterbacks are in one room, receivers are in another, offensive linemen are down the hall and running backs are somewhere else. But that changed on Monday. Every single member of K-State’s offense went over the Iowa State loss together in the team’s theater room.
It felt as if they were viewing things from a different perspective, which was needed coming off the unit’s worst performance of the season.
“It was really productive, which I think led to one of our best Monday practices that we’ve had in the past few weeks, energy wise with how locked in we were,” Moore said. “You never want that to happen. But I think we took it and learned from it.”
Perhaps a new approach will provide a spark to K-State’s offense. It could certainly use one. Not only did the Wildcats hit rock bottom against the Cyclones, they have struggled to put points on the board every since quarterback Skylar Thompson was lost for the season with an injury against Texas Tech.
Take away a 55-14 drubbing of hapless Kansas, and K-State hasn’t eclipsed more than 21 points in a game since early October.
There is also uncertainty at quarterback, as K-State football coach Chris Klieman continues to say he hasn’t picked a starter for the Baylor game. Both Will Howard and Nick Ast will practice with the starting offense this week, and a decision will be made closer to game time.
With sophomore receiver Malik Knowles expected to return to the starting lineup this week, there is hope K-State will be much more versatile than it was over the weekend against Baylor. But it’s going to take everyone working together to start moving the chains again.
Did they take their first step with that big meeting?
“That is not normal,” offensive lineman Christian Duffie said. “We usually do that as just a position group. I know, personally, that helped me, because when you are just with your position group you look at is more as I am letting my group down on an assignment bust or a technique bust. But with the whole team, I felt a little more weight on my shoulders, because I was letting this entire position group down. You get to hear from everybody else, all the other position groups, and how we have to work on the smaller details moving forward. I did enjoy it. It really opened my eyes to some stuff.”
K-State coaches have a few other surprised in store for players this week.
Because of Thanksgiving, the Wildcats plan to practice early on both Wednesday and Thursday before eating a socially distant meal as a group on Turkey Day.
Klieman also said the Wildcats also held a team meeting on Monday in which they “talked about a lot of things” and “bounced back” from a loss that humbled everyone on the roster.
“These kids have great resolve and great pride in their craft,” Klieman said. “I know we have unbelievable leaders with high integrity ... I thought they adhered to the message pretty well.”
This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 1:47 PM with the headline "How a special meeting could help Kansas State’s offense get back on track at Baylor."