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football Edit

Kansas State Post-Mortem

Whenyouplayoneofthetopteamsinthecountryandyougiveup24pointsoff
threeturnoversandashankedpunt,you'vedoneaboutasgoodajobofbeating
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yourselfasyoucan.I'mdisappointedwiththeloss,butI'mnotdownonthis
teambeingcapableoffinishingstrongandhavingagreatseason.
OFFENSE
Ican'tcomplainabouttheoffense.TheonlytimeKansasStatestoppedTexas
Techwaswhentheteamwearingwhitemadeerrorsoftheself-destructivenature.
Otherthanthat,theRedRaidersmovedtheballefficientlyandputupaseason
highinpointsandyardsagainstagooddefense.IthoughtNealBrown
calledareallygoodgame.IfTechcanmovetheballontheWildcats,they'llbe
abletomoveitonanyteamremainingontheschedule.
Quarterback
Forthemostpart,IfeltSethDoegeplayedprettywellexceptforthe
twocostlyturnovers,whichwereentirelyonhim.
RunningBack
Idon'treallythink
KennyWilliamsresemblesmuchofaCadillac.More
likeaMack.KennimackWilliams,that'shisnewnickname.Kennimackranwith
authoritytoleadtheteaminrushingwith81yardson15carries.
SaDaleFosterhadareallynicetouchdownruntocuttheleadto10inthethird
quarter.EricStephenslookedasclosetobacktoformona14-yardrun
inthe2ndquarter.Overall,theydidagoodjobwiththeirvisionandpatience
rackingup22carriesfor113yards.
WideReceiver
YoureallyfeltthewindgetsuckedoutoftheRedRaiders'sailsonthefumble
byEricWard,whichcloudedwhatwasotherwise,anoutstandingeffort.
DarrinMoore,
AustinZouzalikand
AlexTorresdid
theirparttokeepthechainsmoving.
OffensiveLine
Theseguysactuallyplayedmuch,muchbetterthisweekcomparedtolastdespite
thescoreboard.Theirtechniquewaslargelysoundacrosstheboardandtheygot
agoodpushintherun.
Le'RavenClarkand
BeauCarpenter
hammeredArthurBrownintherungameandmadehimlookhuman.Well
doneoverall,andthenegativeplaysweren'tnecessarilytheirfault.Despite
theoverallnumbers,Texasstillhasthemosttalenteddefensivelineinthe
conference,sotheRedRaiderswillneedagreateffortthisweek.
DEFENSE
TheKansasStateoffenseisn'treallyanimpose-your-willstyleunit.Iwould
describethemmoreofatestyourdisciplineoneveryplayforfourquarters.
Thefirstquartercouldn'thavebeenscriptedanybetterfortheTechdefense
andforcedKSUtogoairborne,whichtheydidwithproficiency.Asamatterof
fact,itwasasimilartypeproficiencythattheRedRaidersuseinourpassing
game.Findafastslotreceivermatchedupwithasafetyplayinginsideleverage
andrunanoutroutebeatinghimtothespot.Throwtoabig-bodiedwide
receiverfacingasmallcornerbackandlethimusehisbodyforaslantroute.
Nothingrealfancyorthingsthatyoucanalteryourgameplantostop.Just
executingcleanlyinthepassinggame.
Asthegameworeon,andconstantlyfacedwithbadfieldposition,thewheels
begantocomeoff.KerryHyderandDelvonSimmonsdominated
early,buttheWildcatsadjustedtogameplanaroundthemandstartedattacking
theRedRaiders'rungameweaknessesatlinebackeranddefensiveend.Thiswas
somewhatofaconcernofmineinthePre-Mortem.
DefensiveLine
OtherthanHydergettingfooledonaballfakeandlosinggapintegrityonone
ofCollinKlein'stouchdowns,hewashissamemagnificentself.Simmons
isprobablythemostunder-appreciatedplayeronthedefenserightnow.Simmons
madeseveralniceplaysthatwon'tshowonthestatsheetincludingthetwo
reallyamazingplaysthatdid.
DennellWesleyand
LeonMackey
didagoodjobatholdingtheirgroundinrelief.
DartwanBushhadabigsackearlythatnearlycausedafumble.However,
BushandJacksonRichardseachhadacoupleofplayswheretheygot
movedthreeyardsoffthelineagainstdoubleteamsandtheWildcatssprangbig
runningplays.PeteRobertsonbringsalevelofathleteattheend
position,whoiscapableofmakingplaystheteam'sotherguyscan't.Ithink
hisplaythisweekcertainlywarrantsmoresnapsagainstTexas.Robertsonheld
hisgroundandgotoffblockerswelltocrossgapsandchasedownplays.
BrandenJacksonwassolidforthemostpart,butlostleverageonone
outsiderunningplay.
Overall,I'mnotdownonthisgroupasaunitandtheywillcontinuetoimprove
overtheircareers.Theyarethestrengthoftheteam'sdefenseandit'snot
alwaysaneasypositiontofindanswers.Techhasseveralofthem.
Linebackers
Ifyouwanttofindagroupthathadareallyroughday,thisistheplaceto
look.SamEguavoenbeganthegamelikehewantedtowinDefensiveMVP,
butwaslaterexploitedby
JohnHubert.Eguavoenwascertainlythe
brightestspotintheunitandwasn'tbadoverall.WillSmithstruggled
witheyedisciplineonzonereadplaysandvacatedthefieldtooearly.Smith
wasalsoslowreactingtoplaysinwhichhehadoutsidecontain.
TerranceBullittwasawfullyquiet,andforthemostpart,theyservedasblocking
surfaces.BlakeDeesdidn'tplaymuchthisweek.Iassumeit'slargely
duetotheincreaseincompetitionastowhythisgroup'splayhaserodedfrom
earlyintheseasonandtheyseemtostrugglewithtwodimensionalteams.
Secondary
The19of26for233yardsandtwotouchdownsdoesn'treallyindicatehowbadof
adaythisgrouphad.TheRedRaiderswantedtostoptherungameearly,which
theydid,andplaycoverage.Kleinthenproceededtoslicethemupwith
accurate,timelypassing.CodyDavisandD.J.Johnsonhad
toughassignmentsandwerelargelybeatentoaspotonthefield.Johnsongot
beatonadoublemoveforatouchdownaswell.Thiswasthefirstgamean
opponenthasreallybeenabletoexploitTech'slackofrangeatsafety.
EugeneNebohgotbeatonadeepballand,whileBruceJones
hadgoodcoverage,hejustcouldn'tquitedislodgeaballfrom
ChrisHarper.Overall,theyjustnevermadeanybigplaysinthepassinggameto
getoffthefieldorsetupafavorabledownanddistance.Maybe
DavidAshwillbethecureforthat.
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