Kansas State avoids the bye week blues as they captured a victory in Boulder. The Wildcats have a long history of losing to Colorado. The Buffs have 45 victories to the Wildcats mere 21. In their last tilt, KSU lost 36-44 in Boulder before Colorado bolted for the PAC 12 in 2010. Kansas State welcomed them back to the Big 12 Saturday night by avenging their 2010 loss.
The Wildcats keys to victory were simple. First, they dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Second, they controlled the clock. Third they were resilient when it mattered.
Kansas State’s domination of the offensive line of scrimmage was a thing of beauty. The Wildcats played old school football with modern day alignments. Most of the Wildcat’s rushes occurred from the gun and a few were from the pistol. Yet, despite the modern alignments, the plays themselves were reminiscent of the throwback Big 8 days where power football dominated the conference.
In Kansas State’s system, everyone blocks. The Wildcats usually zone block. However, they will wham block and bring pullers. They will even put tight ends and receivers in motion to set up a lead block. Kansas State’s line play against the Buffaloes allowed DJ Giddens to have a career day rushing the football.
DJ Giddens had a special night in boulder. The story isn’t just in the numbers. 25 rushes for 182 yards is a great night. The offensive line played so well they were good for at least a four yard gain every time Giddens touched the ball. Giddens had a 7.3-yard rush average per touch. So where did the other 3.3 yards come from?
DJ Giddens used and abused the Buffaloes linebackers and safeties. He victimized Shilo Sanders the most. Some will attempt to excuse Sanders seemingly poor play as he just returned from injury. Watching the game will tell you otherwise. Giddens was shaking everyone out of their shoes on Saturday night.
The Wildcats defensive line built an HOA in the Colorado Buffaloes backfield. Early in the game they would send five or six defenders on a blitz, confident in their man-to-man coverage. As the Colorado Buffalo offensive line started to wear down, the Wildcats started getting to Shedeur Sanders with just four defenders. The Wildcats collected six sacks and forced an interception.
Kansas State’s six sacks by itself doesn’t tell the whole story. While some of those sacks occurred on critical third downs, most were on second down. Early in a possession Kansas State would snag a sack. Then, a third down pressure would force Sanders to throw the ball away. Overall, Sanders lost 74 yards due to Kansas State’s sacks.
The Kansas State defense also dominated the Buffaloes rush attack. Colorado only managed 21 positive yards rushing. However, with Sanders losing 50 yards on his nine carries, the Colorado rushing totals were a net negative 29 yards.
While the Wildcats dominated in the trenches, Sanders managed to put on an airshow, throwing for 388 yards and three touchdowns. Early in the game he lost Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr. Yet, he didn’t miss a beat. Though he was hustled and harried by the Kansas State defense, he was still able to sling it, connecting with nine different receivers.
Kansas States domination of Colorado’s run game forced Sanders to throw 40 attempts, and he efficiently connected on 34 of those plays.
Sanders first touchdown was on a third and eight. He took advantage of a busted coverage and connected with LaJohntay Wester for a 25-yard touchdown. Coach Klieman noted at the end of the first quarter that they didn’t communicate the play fast enough, allowing the Buffaloes an easy score.
Second Half Drama
Shedeur Sanders gamely led his Buffaloes on a seven play 75-yard touchdown drive after the Wildcats opened the third quarter with a touchdown of their own. The Buffaloes NFL staff made adjustments at half time, and they worked…initially.
After the Wildcats drove for another score, Sanders went back to work. The Buffaloes second half adjustments were short lived as the Wildcats opened the drive with sack. Two plays later, after suffering another debilitating sack, Sanders connects with Omari Miller for a 51-yard gain. The play was amazing has he threw the ball while he was being wrapped up for another would-be sack.
On Sanders very next play, pressure was in his face again and he overthrew his wide receiver allowing Kansas State safety VJ Payne to pick him off. Unfortunately, the Wildcats could not capitalize on the sudden change and were forced to punt.
Colorado answered with another score. The Wildcats defensive backs were beginning to wear down. Four players went down with cramps, or injury in four consecutive plays during this defensive possession.
During Kansas State’s first score of the second half, Avery Johnson went down to a non-contact injury. It looked as if his oblique had been pulled. After a few plays he was able to come back in, however Johnson’s style of play dramatically changed.
Avery Johnson’s second half injury forced him to stay in the pocket and deliver the football when called upon. The Buffaloes defensive staff wisely recognized this fact and started dialing up various zone coverages while sending five man pressures on the young quarterback. This caused one punt, several early throws and a turnover where Colorado only had thirty yards to go for a go-ahead score.
The turnover came with 4 minutes left in the game. Avery Johnson had led the team to Colorado’s 31-yard line. On fourth down and six, the score was 24-21. A field goal doesn’t help in this situation, so the Wildcats opted to go for it. Colorado showed six rushing at the line of scrimmage but only brought five dropping a linebacker in a low hole zone. Johnson, with pressure in his face, launched the ball down the seam where a safety tipped the ball into another defender’s hands who ran it down to the Wildcats 30 yard line. Colorado scored a few plays later.
With the Wildcats down four points, and only 3:05 left in the game, Avery Johnson was called upon to lead his team to victory. His first throw was incomplete. On the next play, KSU aligned with two receivers to the right. They showed a fake jet sweep from right to left while the field receiver ran a seam route. As the field receiver ran up the field, DJ Giddens ran a wheel route to the field side and was wide open in the flat. He caught the ball two yards beyond the line of scrimmage and turned it up field for a 36-yard gain.
On the next play, Avery Johnson takes the snap, executes a play action fake. As he does so, Jayce Brown, the boundary receiver, executes an outside release and gets a step on his defender. Johnson stepped back and dropped a beautiful on time pass to Brown who runs it in for a go-ahead touchdown.
Kansas State’s defense stood tall, and forced Colorado to turn the ball over on downs.
Avery Johnson and the Wildcats showed outstanding resiliency when it mattered most. Johnson was injured. He didn’t have all his physical gifts available to him. Yet, he still threw accurately and on time in the most pressure packed moment in the game. Last night’s game is another pivotal moment in this young man’s career. The sky is the limit for Avery Johnson.
