Klieman Notebook: Bye week bounceback
What Kansas State did over the bye week
Kansas State is coming off its first of three bye weeks this season. After starting 1-3, the bye week may have come at a good time for K-State to reset. The Wildcats had three intense practices with a lot of energy this week and are hoping the momentum carries over to the games.
It was also a busy week schematically for the Kansas State coaches. While a lot of K-State coaches were on the road recruiting later on in the week, both offensive coordinator Matt Wells and defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman stayed in Manhattan with Chris Klieman and Kansas State’s quality control coaches to discuss everything, including personnel on the field.
Physicality and energy
The two words echoed the most by Klieman were energy and physicality. It is the thing he is looking for the most on Saturday versus UCF. K-State came out with their hair on fire against Iowa State, but have not in the three games since and have earned the one-score losses.
After starting 1-3 it can be easy to feel sorry for yourself, but nobody feels sorry for the Wildcats. Kansas State has lacked energy at times from getting punched in the mouth and not recovering from it from players to the coaching staff and Klieman is wanting more energy from start to finish Saturday morning.
Top 10
- 1New
Ty Simpson
Signs high-profile NIL deal
- 2
Urban Meyer
Predicts Billy Napier's future
- 3Hot
Ole Miss scheduling
Lane Kiffin rips SEC
- 4
Horatio Fields injury
Hugh Freeze announces surgery
- 5Trending
SEC rankings updated
Massive shakeup ahead of Week 5
Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
Run game
The run game has been a problem for Kansas State both on offense and defense. The biggest fix, according to Klieman is coming off the ball faster. On offense they are trying to be too perfect and guessing when they see a stunt instead of attacking it at full speed.
Defensively, K-State is struggling to stop the run because they aren’t getting in the backfield enough. It is an area Klieman has stressed about over the bye week is the Wildcats not creating enough havoc plays. Kansas State has just eight tackles for a loss in the last 161 snaps combining the Army and Arizona contests.
