Nerves didn’t affect Kansas State quarterback Joe Hubener’s focus

Kansas State’s 30-3 triumph over Texas-San Antonio on Saturday was a trip to dullsville, baby, and that’s precisely where the Wildcats wanted to be. Channel surfers click away from a clock-controlling pace, but Bill Snyder prefers not to take walks on the wild side.

“Tempo on our side of the ball kind of puts you sleep,” Snyder said.

No flash, nothing brash and a pinch of dash from Joe Hubener, the junior who was good enough to start at quarterback for one of college football’s top programs without having opened a game there in college or high school.

Given that experience, or lack of it, the Wildcats needed no drama in Hubener’s first day of class Saturday, and there was none. He made some nice passes, engineered a handful of scoring drives, guided a decisive triumph, and it happened without him putting the ball on the ground or into a home orange jersey.

Playing before his parents, two brothers and a grandmother, Hubener of Cheney, Kan., admitted to some nerves — how human of him — even during the game. But his performance suggested nothing other than total focus. He passed for 243 yards and rushed for 58. He was better on long balls than short ones, especially in the flat.

The offense looked sharper as the game unfolded, and field position had something to do with this. The Wildcats’ five first-half drives started on the 18, 16, 12, 8 and 3 and produced one touchdown.

More advantageous field position in the second half produced scores on five straight possessions and the contest started looking more like what’s expected when a program that has won more Big 12 games than any other over the past four years meets a program that has existed for that long.

“I was just antsy, nervous all day,” Hubener said. “There were throws I just rushed. I need to focus on staying calm. I said I was going to treat it like any other day, and it still got me nervous. The more experience, the easier it’s going to be.”

Hubener is getting that experience because of the knee injury to Jesse Ertz suffered in last week’s opener. It occurred on the Wildcats’ first snap and he was out of the game after the second, so Hubener got his first extensive playing experience then.

But this was the first time he went into a game week as the man, and his development becomes the team’s critical element moving forward.

After a visit from Louisiana Tech next week, the Wildcats open their front-loaded Big 12 schedule at Oklahoma State. TCU and Oklahoma follow with visits to Manhattan. By mid-October, with six games remaining, Kansas State should have a good feel about where it stacks up in the conference.

Win a couple of early Big 12 matches, and look for Kansas State to play meaningful games throughout November.

The defense looks ready for that next level. After surrendering 65 yards and a field goal on a fast-paced Texas-San Antonio’s first possession, Kansas State said enough.

A second-quarter goal-line stand that ended with K-State linebacker Will Davis, superb throughout the game, batting down a pass served as the game’s biggest play.

The play kept K-State’s lead at 7-3 and blunted any good feeling UTSA had, especially after its terrific tight end, David Morgan gave K-State defensive back Nate Jackson a piggy-back ride for about 5 yards after a catch.

This was the same UTSA squad that a week earlier put up 32 points and 525 total yards on Top 25 Arizona, one of the best performances in its short history.

Saturday, the Roadrunners punted eight times and never had a chance against a team that broke in a new starting quarterback who kept things nice and dull, as his coach prefers.

This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Nerves didn’t affect Kansas State quarterback Joe Hubener’s focus."