Ground game helps Wildcats regroup
Faster rushers exist in the Big 12 than Alex Barnes. Other backs are also more shifty.
Barnes, however, seems to have found his stride after gaining 181 yards on 34 carries, with four touchdowns, in a 31-12 victory over Oklahoma State. His ability to crash through holes helped the Wildcats maintain possession for almost 38 minutes as they wore down the Cowboys.
“We’re starting to figure out what we’re good at and are starting to establish our mojo up front and we’re starting to jell together and really play of one another,” said quarterback Skylar Thompson, who added 80 yards rushing. “Alex is seeing things great and I’m seeing our pressure checks and what all I have to get us into in certain situations.”
The performance pushed Barnes into the Big 12 lead among rushers with a 112.6-yard average per game and he even got a two-week period to recover from any pounding before Kansas State (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) plays at No. 8 Oklahoma (6-1, 3-1) on Saturday.
Obviously, one win does not remove concerns whether the Wildcats can qualify for a ninth straight bowl game. They did, however, look like a different team while exercising control over a league rival for the first time this season and generating all their touchdowns on second-half carries by Barnes.
Bill Snyder, a veteran coach who has seen just about everything, looked at the need to build off the dominant performance the run game was able to record behind a dominant blocking performance.
“We’re not going to be an excellent running team until everyone’s invested in it,” Snyder said. “What we do have to do is, we have to throw the ball better.
“That creates balance in our offense, which you hear me talk about all the time. We’ll have our hands full coming out of this ballgame as it relates to the running game, because whoever we play is going to line up and play the run.”
Obviously, that balancing act is something Thompson must engineer as the Wildcats’ quarterback. Breakdowns in protection still occurred against Oklahoma State, though the nation’s leader in sacks as a team managed just two against the Wildcats. A receiving corps that is not abundantly talented was missing one of its regulars, wide receiver Dalton Schoen.
Still, it’s far better to build off a win, especially since Kansas State has established a workhorse back in Barnes, who is adept at patiently waiting for holes to open and can also shed tacklers.
“We are finally able to do the things we need to be doing in practice and meetings,” Barnes said. “It’s all the little things in football that end up being big things on Saturdays, and we are finally getting everything under control.”
Consistency, however, can also be an issue, especially for a defense that got shredded for a late game-winning drive a week earlier at Baylor. The unit stiffened against Oklahoma State, which came in averaging 44 points, and looked more inspired before a homecoming crowd.
“We have to get off the field on third down,” said linebacker Justin Hughes.
Going into the Oklahoma State game, the Wildcats ranked among the nation’s worst teams stopping opponents on third down but limited the Cowboys to a 5-for-15 rate.
Nice effort, though a road test against Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray and the Sooners presents a rugged challenge.
