K-Stated

Deante Burton had to feel weird playing in the Kansas Shrine Game on Saturday.

After working out with Kansas State football players all summer, he took a step back to the high school ranks where everyone is a little bit slower and the quarterbacks put a lot less zip on their passes.

“The quarterbacks we have at Kansas State have really mastered their craft,” Burton said. “Collin Klein, Daniel Sams, Tavarius Bender, those guys throw very well. It was a little different for me adjusting to a wider thrown ball, maybe an under-thrown ball, but it made me better.”

Though Burton was the most targeted receiver in the Kansas all-star game, the Wildcats freshman didn’t see a quality throw all night. He managed to catch three passes for 19 yards, but he spent most of the game leaping and diving all over the place for poorly thrown balls or watching them go way over his head.

But here’s the impressive thing about Burton: He still managed to show off his talent.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Manhattan product not only looked like the top receiver on the field, he looked like the most athletic receiver out there, too. He saw action as a kick returner, and amassed 127 all-purpose yards that gave his team’s offense good field position.

Fellow incoming freshman receiver Collin Sexton, a walk-on from Abilene and the younger brother of Curry Sexton, wasn’t surprised.

“He’s a good leader, he’s got great work ethic and he’s a great athlete,” Sexton said. “He’s so shifty and quick. I expect a lot of good things out of him.”
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When I saw his beard and mohawk, I figured West Virginia offensive lineman Joe Madsen had the potential to be a good quote.

Then I started talking to him and quickly learned he was much more than that. In my mind, he was the best quote at Big 12 Media Days this week.

When asked what Big 12 fans can expect during their first visits to Morgantown, here is how he replied: “Bigger mohawks and just more energy than ever.”

If Madsen is representative of all the West Virginians we will encounter during their stint in the Big 12, we are in for one entertaining ride. He is more fired up for the upcoming season than the Mountaineers’ mascot, who he hangs out with from time to time.

“He has let me shoot the musket a couple times,” Madsen said.

They look alike, too. Although he says everyone looks like he does in West Virginia.

“They maybe have bigger beards, though,” Madsen said. “I can’t grow a mustache. If I could, I would have a bigger beard, too. But I just can’t. It doesn’t look good, so I cut it off.”

He is thrilled about taking that look into Big 12 stadiums for the first time.

“Every game is going to be like a bowl game for me,” Madsen said. “It’s all brand new. It’s going to be filled with great experiences.”

He can’t wait for opposing fans to experience West Virginia home games, either.

“Our fans are ruthless and they are awesome all at the same time,” Madsen said. “They are ready for the big games to start.”

Sean Snyder is coming off his first season as Kansas State’s special teams coordinator, and he can’t wait for year No. 2 to start. The son of Wildcats football coach Bill Snyder has been associated with the program for years, and he likes the direction it is going.

He thinks highly of both kicker Anthony Cantele and punter Ryan Doerr. With both coming back as veterans, he thinks K-State’s special teams unit is capable of big things.

While participating in Big 12 Media Days alongside his father, he discussed those topics and more on Monday. Here is the conversation:

How did you enjoy your first year as special teams coordinator?

I enjoyed it a great deal. The transitional part was interesting, because I had to just get my hands on a lot of different things. That was probably the most difficult part. But being able to get on the field and coach the kids and watch them develop was great.

One of the things that made it a lot easier is all our coaches are instrumental in special teams. We didn’t really have a major hiccup in the transition, because all of our coaches are involved in special teams and they have been for years. We all worked together and made the transition smooth. The players handled it very well.

K-State special teams appear to be in good shape with Anthony Cantele returning at kicker and Ryan Doerr coming back as punter. How much of an advantage is it to have two experienced guys at those positions?

It helps a lot. The more returners you have back the more comfort you have. What I like about those guys is they have the drive to get better. They want to get better and know how to get better. I think they have gotten better and I expect a strong year for them. That part of it is good. There is some stability and continuity there. The new guys who are coming on the unit can learn it fast.
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While addressing reporters Monday morning at the start of Big 12 Media Days in Dallas, conference commissioner Bob Bowlsby emphasized that expansion isn’t high on the Big 12′s list of priorities at the moment.

“If we voted today we wouldn’t take any new members,” Bowlsby said.

Bowlsby also said that he will always keep an eye on expansion. He thinks it would be foolish for any conference not to at least monitor the national conference realignment landscape. But he said the league’s members are happy with the additions of TCU and West Virginia, prefer deciding a true champion via a round-robin schedule and like the conference’s current trajectory. For those reasons, he doesn’t think expansion would get more than two votes in a conference-wide poll.

Florida State, Clemson, Notre Dame and others were rumored as potential expansion targets earlier in the summer, but Bowlsby threw water on them Monday. The Big 12 is happy at 10, it seems.

Bowlsby discussed two other interesting topics before taking questions.

1. As good as the regular season is in college football, Bowlsby doesn’t think nonconference games in September are nearly as entertaining as they could be.

“The first month of the season is not always terrific,” Bowlsby said.

He will encourage Big 12 teams to schedule “high-level matchups” before conference play begins with the hope that a better strength of schedule rating will help teams in the new playoff arrangement. He doesn’t think an early loss should cripple any team’s championship hopes.

“It is not fair to lose a game in September and be taken out of national championship dialogue,” Bowlsby said. “We need to encourage those games. We need to relish those games. We need to make the month of September as good as October and November.”

2. The Big 12 is positioned for a terrific year of football.

“We are salty from top to bottom,” said Bowlsby, before adding that the Big 12 has three teams that won conference championships a year ago. Never thought about that before, but it’s true. TCU won the Mountain West, West Virginia won the Big East and Oklahoma (of course) won the Big 12.

One other note from Bowlsby’s address: The Big 12 has decided to honor Chuck Neinas, who led the conference in a transitional period last year, by attaching his name to the league’s Coach of the Year award.