Wells notebook: What Kansas State OC said before home opener

What Wells learned from game one

Saturday was Matt Wells‘ first time calling plays at Kansas State. He learned a lot in his first time as the full time offensive coordinator. The main thing he learned was K-State is explosive in the passing game. The Wildcats have been explosive in the passing game in training camp, but seeing it in a game was a major bright spot for the offensive coordinator.

He also thinks they can be an explosive team in the running game. Wells singled out blocking on the perimeter as something that has to get better to get more explosives in the running game.

Three drives

Wells singled out three drives which cost Kansas State in Ireland. The first was turning the ball over on downs on a 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 without a conversion in the first half. Wells wore that sequence and said the play calling and execution on those to plays were on him.

The second drive was the Joe Jackson fumble going into the red zone in the second quarter. It was one of the only real explosives Kansas State rattled off in the running game and to fumble on it while in scoring territory was a killer.

The third was the drive just before the end of the first half where Wells wishes he put Avery Johnson in a better spot on first down instead of it leading to an intentional grounding and then Kansas State did not even get a chance to kick a field goal before the end of the half. In a close game, three drives can be the difference.

What he wants to see

Perhaps the most interesting part of Wells’ press conference was what he wants to see against North Dakota. He wants to see maturity from his unit. There are guys who have had good weeks of practice and he wants to see them continue that growth and show it in game.

He pointed out all the talk about jet lag win or less in Ireland has been a hot button topic and wants to see his players respond and have a great next 72 hours. Wells said Kansas State’s staff prides itself on how they handle the 48-72 hours leading up to a game and wants to see how well his players prepare and go out and execute Saturday.