K-State Q&A: Big 12 surprises, Mizzou game analysis and the evolution of Will Howard
Will Howard has played so well during Kansas State’s first two games that he has put himself in the conversation for All-Big 12 honors at quarterback, right along with Quinn Ewers, Dillon Gabriel, Tyler Shough and Jalon Daniels.
There isn’t much to complain about with him at the moment. Howard has already thrown for 547 yards and five touchdowns. But he has also been a scoring machine as a rusher and even a receiver. Did you know he leads the entire Big 12 with 24 points scored this season? He’s putting up more points than kickers!
But things haven’t gone perfectly for Howard. Despite all his eye-popping stats, he has also thrown an interception in both of his games on nearly identical deep passes.
I recently asked him if he was the type of QB who focuses more on the positives or the negatives. His answer was telling.
Howard: “What do you think?”
Me: “I’m guessing the negatives.”
Howard: “Yes, definitely. I am my own biggest critic. The touchdowns are great, but that is what we should be doing. I look at that as us executing. The thing that really bothers me is when we don’t execute, when I make an ill-advised pass or make a bad read. That is the stuff that really bites me and I look at.”
That is the kind of answer you want out of your quarterback.
Howard has been through some difficult times at K-State. It wasn’t all that long ago that fans were ready to give up on him. But now that he has risen above that and established himself as the team’s unquestioned starter, he isn’t getting caught up with his success.
Howard is still pushing for more, just like when he was trying to prove himself in previous years.
The interception that he threw against Southeast Missouri State (a deep ball into triple coverage) was a terrible decision on his part, but I tried to let him off the hook for his pick against Troy (another deep ball, this time into double coverage).
On the second interception, it looked like the Trojans simply confused him with a disguised coverage. Reddy Stewart, the defensive back who picked off the pass, was originally lined up near the line of scrimmage and covered a tremendous amount of ground to get behind the play and intercept Howard’s pass in the end zone.
It even looked like the defender might have been covering a different K-State receiver and decided to break away from his assignment as he read the play. You don’t usually expect that as a quarterback, right?
“He was not in man, that was absolutely zone coverage,” Howard said later. “He wasn’t guarding the No. 1 guy, he was guarding the third (zone). He was a little deeper than I thought he was and he played what’s called a divider corner in Cover 3. So he was kind of playing in between those two guys who were running double posts.
“Looking back at it, I thought I had a window there and just hesitated a little bit and made a bad throw that I really shouldn’t have made. I didn’t really feel how far back that corner was dividing ... He got a lot of depth and he made a good play. Hats off to that kid, but I can’t put the ball in harm’s way like that.”
Howard went into even greater detail with me on Troy’s coverage scheme, but the terminology he used was filled with so many nerdy football words that I’m not sure I totally understand them. Let’s just say the guy knows what he is talking about.
Bottom line: He is trying to learn from his mistakes heading into this week’s game at Missouri. He still has plenty more to prove, starting with his first turnover-free game of the season.
“The biggest thing I took away from it is not getting too aggressive,” Howard said. “I feel like a lot of times last year I found success because I was aggressive and pushing the ball down field and trying to throw into tight windows. I need to find that balance of knowing when to be aggressive and take shots and when to keep us on schedule.”
Now, it’s time for another K-State Q&A. Let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
The answer to this question probably comes down to who gets the start at right tackle.
If Christian Duffie is healthy enough to play (it sounds like he isn’t) and block at a high level, then the Wildcats will likely find success running the ball against the Tigers.
If he’s not ready to go and the Wildcats have to stick with Carver Willis then it could be an adventure.
K-State has struggled as an offensive line without Duffie in the front five. Opposing defenses have generated way too much pressure on the right side in his absence. So much so, that the Wildcats have asked Cooper Beebe (the best player on the entire team) to move from left guard to right tackle to keep edge rushers away from Howard.
Now, he has done a fine job at right tackle. But he is an All-American left guard. It’s much easier for the Wildcats to run behind him when he plays his natural position than it is when they kick him to the outside.
K-State only rushed for 147 yards against Troy, and the Wildcats needed Howard to run for 33 of them.
Casual fans don’t notice this kind of thing, but the Wildcats are never going to reach their full potential on offense if Beebe has to play out of position.
It’s possible John Pastore could help at right tackle in the interim. We’ll see. But running between the tackles isn’t going to be easy until the offensive line is back at full strength.
Missouri can cram 60,000 fans into its football stadium, which means K-State is going to have to bring a ton of fans to reach your Holy Cow threshold.
I am expecting something like 5%. That might not sound like much, but it’s still 3,000 K-State fans making the trek “across state lines” as Bill Snyder used to say for a game. That’s a big number. Even that might be overly optimistic.
There will be some purple in the crowd, no doubt. I’m just not sure the Wildcats will take over the place.
K-State fans love to travel to destination spots like Nashville and the Bay Area for regular-season games. The Cats legitimately had more fans in attendance than Vanderbilt and Stanford for those road games.
They also cram into Memorial Stadium in Lawrence.
But you don’t see as much purple in places like Iowa State or Oklahoma State. I’m guessing it will be about the same for Mizzou.
As far as Whataburger is concerned, I’m sure I can figure out a way to eat there at least once.
My go-to order is the bacon and cheese Whataburger with grilled jalapenos. But sometimes I prefer the chicken strip basket. Don’t sleep on their breakfast, either. There is never a bad time to go.
K-State has to score 50 points at some point with Collin Klein calling the plays.
Right?
The offense tries to drop half a hundred on the scoreboard every time it steps foot on the field. And the Wildcats have come close several times, with Howard leading them to 40-plus points five times since he took over for Adrian Martinez last season.
But I doubt it will be this week, even if Eli Drinkwitz is only willing to refer to Klein by his initials. It’s hard scoring 50 on the road against a SEC team, even Missouri.
My guess it happens later this season at home against TCU or Houston. Both of those teams try to win track meets, which means K-State will have plenty of scoring opportunities.
K-State surprises:
1. I never dreamed that the K-State defense would have 20 tackles for loss through two games without Felix-Anudike Uzomah. It’s worth pointing out that the Wildcats have only played SEMO and Troy. But Khalid Duke and the defensive line have been impressive.
2. The offensive line hasn’t been as good as advertised. That should change once Duffie returns to the lineup, but I didn’t expect his absence to cause this many problems for the front five.
Big 12 surprises:
1. Cincinnati looks way better than I thought it would be through two games. Routing Eastern Kentucky and then going on the road to beat Pittsburgh has got me intrigued about what they can do this season.
2. Baylor looks downright bad. The Bears should beat the Long Island University Sharks this weekend. That’s are a real college football team, by the way. Look it up. After that, I don’t see many wins on their schedule. Prayers to anyone who bet the over on their preseason win total.
If Chris Klieman simply mentioning that K-State “can start having some conversations” about new football uniforms with Nike is enough of a distraction to sink the Wildcats this week then all hope is lost.
My suggestion remains that K-State should wait and break out alternate uniforms for the next FCS game on its schedule and end all talk about this silly curse.
K-State hosts Tennessee-Martin on August 31 next season. I look forward to seeing the Wildcats in all purple or chrome when they take the field.
This story was originally published September 15, 2023 at 10:08 AM with the headline "K-State Q&A: Big 12 surprises, Mizzou game analysis and the evolution of Will Howard."