The Wildcats are a very talented, undisciplined and poorly coached team this year. The worst thing to happen to Kansas State football is the hiring of Offensive Coordinator Matt Wells. He has not developed Avery Johnson. He fails to establish a rhythm on offense. Finally, he lacks attention to detail. As long as he is calling plays, I will have no faith in this year’s Wildcat team.
Late in the game, when Kansas State has the ball and the clock is ticking down, Coach Wells failed to control the clock by running the ball. After achieving a first down, he called a pass play that turned into an interception. Johnson should not have thrown the ball. However, Coach Wells should have never put his quarterback in that position.
On what should have been a classic clock draining drive, Coach Wells called four pass plays against two running plays. The first pass play should have been a touchdown. Brown caught the ball, but had his helmet ripped off as he turned it up field for a go-ahead touchdown. He was called down by rule due to his helmet coming off. Instead of maximizing on their good fortune by pounding the rock, Coach Wells continued to put the ball up in the air, eventually leading to a turnover and plenty of time for Baylor to win the game.
Coach Wells falls in love with passing the ball as opposed to being balanced in his choices, possession to possession. He also fails to utilize his running backs correctly on a consistent basis. Throwing Dylan Edwards into the teeth of a defense when that is not his game is ludicrous. Edwards is a scat back. Joe Jackson is an every down back. Yet, Coach Wells seems to think he can use them interchangeably. He can’t.
The team lacks discipline. The defense snagged back-to-back turnovers and the offense failed to capitalize. Anytime there is a turnover it is a critical point in the game where the offense must capitalize. Kansas State failed to do so.
The Wildcats have also failed to fix their special teams. Their punt team is terrible, routinely allowing Baylor to enjoy excellent field position throughout the game. On the last play of the game, they allowed the field goal to be blocked.
Finally, Avery Johnson has not done his part to develop this year. He remains consistently inconsistent. Late in the fourth quarter he overthrew two wide open receivers who likely would have ran it in for a touchdown. Instead of enjoying his NIL money, Johnson should have spent some time in the off season perfecting his craft. He is immensely talented, yet he is letting it go to waste by not refining his throwing and learning how to properly read defenses.
This year has been the hardest year for me to watch Kansas State football in a long time. The Wildcats have NEVER played poorly with a highly talented quarterback under center. That fact alone is an indictment against this coaching staff. Johnson puts up a lot of yards. Yet, his Coach fails to protect him or the team by making the right calls when he needs to. Until this undisciplined poorly coached team is honest with themselves and figures their issues out, I would not be surprised if they lose the rest of their games this season.
