How two unsung players became unlikely MVPs at Kansas State spring football practice
If the Kansas State football team handed out awards at the conclusion of spring practice, there’s a good chance that Nelson Pipes and Trevor Stange would share MVP.
Wait. Who?
Don’t feel bad if you are unfamiliar with those names. Stange is a junior offensive lineman from Coppell, Texas who hasn’t played in a single game for the Wildcats. Pipes is a sophomore long snapper from Hallsville, Missouri who is also waiting to see his first action. Even some of the most passionate K-State fans may not know of them.
But they are both playing a vital role for Chris Klieman’s team this spring ... as defensive linemen.
“I appreciate those guys,” K-State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman said. “We wouldn’t be able to practice without them. The unselfishness that those guys have, to do what we have asked them to do is what this program is all about, because, quite literally, we would not be able to practice if those guys wouldn’t have made the sacrifice they did.”
Pipes and Stange have been playing out of position this spring while the vast majority of K-State’s top defensive tackles and edge rushers have been sidelined with injuries.
Normally, the Wildcats would ask Felix Anudike-Uzomah and Nate Matlack to put pressure on the quarterback. Meanwhile, they would also ask Eli Huggins, Jaylen Pickle and Robert Hentz to stuff the run inside. But these aren’t normal times. All of those defensive linemen, plus a few more, are currently spending spring practices working out with strength and conditioning coach Trumain Carroll in an area of the field that coaches lovingly call “The Pit.”
K-State will have a formidable defense when all those players return to full strength in time for summer workouts. But someone has to line up on the defensive line until then.
That job fell to Pipes and Stange, who have been making plays alongside full-time defenders Brendan Mott, Cody Stufflebean and Titus Tuiasosopo at the line of scrimmage.
It hasn’t been the easiest of transitions for them. Pipes is used to playing on special teams. Stange grew up blocking defenders. They have learned how to tackle a running back on an inside handoff over the past month.
Things haven’t always looked pretty up front. Klanderman says he has had to avert his eyes a few times during scrimmages. Still, it beats the alternative.
“It take a lot to play the nose (tackle) position,” defensive tackles coach Mike Tuiasosopo said. “It’s a different animal. There’s a lot you have to deal with. A lot of time it involves two people blocking you and you have got to know how to play all those different combinations. It is just a different deal in there. They are coming along, and it’s been a plus to have them helping our team.”
But there are times when the stand-ins make plays. Neither one of them is expected to remain on defense beyond the spring, but the experience they gained could help Pipes make the occasional tackle when he transitions back to punt coverage and it could benefit Stange understand blocking angles when he moves back to offense.
“Even though it isn’t in their best interest, I think they’re having a lot of fun,” Klanderman said. “I think there is a little less accountability those guys and a little more leeway to make mistakes.”
You could say they are making the best of a bad situation.
“We appreciate some of the efforts that some of those guys are putting forth,” linebackers coach Steve Stanard said. “There’s only like four of them (defensive linemen) and they’re going every single snap. We’ve got a long snapper playing up there. Pipes is a champ. He gets MVP in my book.”
For Pipes and Stange, the sun is beginning to set on their time as defensive players. K-State will close out its spring practice schedule next weekend.
The next time K-State assembles its full roster for a practice, players with all-conference potential will return to the defensive line and things will feel like normal once again.
But none of them can say they were the MVPS of spring practice.
“I couldn’t tell you how much I appreciate those guys,” Klanderman said. “That’s what Wildcat football is all about.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 11:47 AM with the headline "How two unsung players became unlikely MVPs at Kansas State spring football practice."