‘Our best football is in front of us’: Chris Klieman still bullish on K-State outlook
Forget for a moment that Kansas State is off to a slow start in Big 12 play.
That’s what football coach Chris Klieman did last week while the Wildcats enjoyed a rare Saturday without a football game on their schedule. And he returned to work on Monday with several reasons to feel confident about what K-State can accomplish during its final seven games of the season.
“I believe our best football is in front of us,” Klieman said during his weekly news conference. “As Skylar (Thompson) gets healthier and as we continue to learn more about ourselves as a defense, I’m excited about the next seven weeks.”
Some are understandably down on the Wildcats (3-2, 0-2 Big 12) after they opened the conference season with losses against No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 12 Oklahoma State. But neither of those defeats appear unforgivable in hindsight, especially when you consider Thompson didn’t play against OSU.
The Sooners and Cowboys are both undefeated and are starting to look like the class of the conference. It’s clear the Wildcats have played a difficult schedule. Stanford (3-3, 2-2 Pac-12), Southern llinois (4-2, 3-0 Missouri Valley) and Nevada (4-1, 1-0 Mountain West) have all played well since losing to K-State during nonconference play.
With Thompson back in command of the offense and fresh off a 320-yard passing effort against Oklahoma, there is legitimate hope building in Manhattan that K-State can reel off some victories with five straight games against unranked opponents coming up next.
The stretch starts against Iowa State at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Beating the Cyclones could help the Wildcats get their once promising season back on track.
“We’ve had two tough games two close, tough games,” K-State linebacker Wayne Jones said. “We fought until the end. Both were fourth quarter battles. If we keep working and keep pushing and doing the little things, I do believe that our best days are in front of us.”
Questions remain on defense, where the Wildcats have surrendered an average of 34 points and 436.5 yards per game since versatile defensive end Khalid Duke was lost for the season with a knee injury. They were unable to force a single punt last time out against Oklahoma.
But Klieman doesn’t think K-State needs any major changes on that side of the ball, especially now that Thompson is back.
Thompson, a senior quarterback, played one of his best games against the Sooners. If he continues to throw the ball effectively and keeps opposing defenses off balance with his arm, the Wildcats won’t have to try winning exclusively low-scoring games.
“We believe we are a good football team and we have played good football,” Thompson said. “There are three or four plays in a ballgame that determine if you win or not. We just have to make those plays.”
K-State players feel like they beat themselves against Oklahoma State and were closer than some might expect to pulling of an upset against Oklahoma.
Watching the Sooners rally from 21 points down to beat Texas over the weekend also helped the Wildcats build confidence.
“That’s a really good Oklahoma team and it makes you feel good about yourself that we can compete with a team like that,” K-State receiver Landry Weber said. “We feel like we can compete with any team in the Big 12.”
This story was originally published October 12, 2021 at 2:49 PM with the headline "‘Our best football is in front of us’: Chris Klieman still bullish on K-State outlook."