Monthly Archives: September 2012

A few minutes with … Ryan Doerr

Sept. 28, 20123:53 p.m.

After pinning Oklahoma inside the 20-yard line on all five of his punts last weekend, Kansas State senior Ryan Doerr was the obvious choice for Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week.

Field position was a key part of the Wildcats’ victory over the Sooners, and Doerr delivered every time he stepped onto the field.

He was happy to help his team in any way he could, and was naturally excited on the plane ride home. Hearing that he earned an honor from the Big 12 on Monday pumped him up even more. It wasn’t until later that day that he spoke with his mother on the phone that he tried to calm himself down.

“I talked to my mom for probably 10 minutes and she was so happy,” Doerr said. “I was like, ‘Mom, it’s OK. It’s not like I’m up for the Heisman like Collin (Klein).’ She was just excited and told me to take it in. I said, ‘I’ll try.’

Doerr is having a good final year with the Wildcats. He started the season with a slight injury, and only saw time as the holder on kicks against Missouri State. But he has looked strong punting the ball ever since. This week he was nice enough to talk about all that and more.

Your special teams coach, Sean Snyder, is one of the best punters in K-State history. Do you admire that?

I knew exactly how good he was. His name is on the stadium. He was a consensus all-american and on the ring of honor. I look up to that and would love to be there one day. He’s my coach, but I want to beat him and be better than him. But that’s a lofty goal, because he was such a great punter.

So you don’t mind pursuing high goals?

I want to be the best, I do. I work really hard at what I do and try to be the best. My expectations for myself are very high. What I want to achieve is very high. It just takes a lot of working hard every day, even when it gets a little repetitive. You still have to do it.

How well did you play against Oklahoma?

I think it was a good step. I still think I could have done better in my performance, especially in my first couple punts. I think it is definitely a step, and it’s a good one.

Do you get anything for winning Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week?

I don’t know. I got my name in the paper. That’s good enough.
Read More »

By Kellis Robinett | Filed under A few minutes with ..., Football | Comments Off

The Royal Sampler: Predictions, links and a reminder not to burn couches

Sept. 28, 20122:53 p.m.

PREDICTIONS
Baylor at West Virginia: Nothing great about Baylor’s resume so far. The Bears have a better-than-advertised victory over Louisiana-Monroe and a worse-than-advertised victory over Sam Houston State. But Nick Florence is looking good at quarterback, and the offense is moving. They should be able to compete with the Mountaineers and maybe cover the 11-point spread. But this is West Virginia’s first Big 12 game. Morgantown is going to be rocking, even though the school is trying to discourage couch burning. West Virginia will win.

Texas at Oklahoma State: Texas is probably ranked (12th) higher than it should be, even though the Longhorns have looked great so far against suspect competition. Oklahoma is probably ranked a little lower (receiving votes) than it should be, even though the Cowboys looked awful losing to Arizona, which looked awful losing to Oregon. So this could be a good game. But I’m going with the Longhorns. There’s no telling who Oklahoma State will play at quarterback, and Texas is ready to make a statement.

TCU at SMU: The Mustangs are the last team that managed to beat the Horned Frogs, upsetting TCU on the road last year. But TCU has won 11 straight games since and SMU is worse this year. I don’t see this game being close. TCU should win easily.

Texas Tech at Iowa State: What a surprisingly good game this could be. A battle of unbeatens. A battle of statistically strong defenses. A battle for a spot in the top 25. The Red Raiders vs. the Cyclones is all that, and possibly more. It should be a close one. Texas Tech looks like the better team, but it has played three cupcakes. Iowa State gets the benefit of playing at home, and the benefit of destroying Texas Tech the last two times they met. But I think the Red Raiders fight back and beat the Cyclones tomorrow. They have more offensive firepower than Iowa State, and that could be the difference.
Read More »

By Kellis Robinett | Filed under Football, The Royal Sampler | Comments Off

Film Room: The empty backfield

Sept. 26, 20122:59 p.m.


One of the last things you expect to see from a run-oriented offense is five receivers lining up on the field at the same time, but Kansas State effectively used that formation several times during its 24-19 victory at Oklahoma.

The Wildcats took John Hubert and Braden Wilson out of the game at times during all four quarters and went with an empty backfield on plenty of occasions. With quarterback Collin Klein’s ability to scramble for first downs, the formation offers plenty of possibilities. The Sooners twice used timeouts to plan for them when K-State marched five receivers onto the field.

“Just something different,” is how Klein described it earlier this week. “I know it’s a very good complement to a lot of our physical run game stuff. It’s neat stuff. I like it. It’s a good package.”

He also likes being in complete control of the plays.

“Yeah, definitely,” Klein said. “It’s fun. It is very versatile and we have a lot of good playmakers in all the spots.”

Following in the footsteps of Missouri beat writer Terez Paylor, who came up with the Film Room idea last week, here is a look at how K-State used the empty backfield, and how Oklahoma responded to it, on Saturday:
Read More »

By Kellis Robinett | Filed under Film Room, Football | Comments Off

The Royal Sampler: Former K-State LB to be next ‘Bachelor,’ Collin Klein gets Heisman love and Tech N9ne raps about Iowa State

Sept. 26, 201211:48 a.m.

LINKS
Kansas State football fans finally have a reason to watch “The Bachelor.”

Sean Lowe, a former Wildcats linebacker/tight end, is set to be the next star of the reality TV show. Lowe played at K-State from 2003-05 and

Lowe currently lives in Dallas and has apparently been on TV before.

From the ABC release: “On the eighth edition of “The Bachelorette,” Lowe confessed his love for Emily Maynard but was eliminated just before the finale.

ABC says Lowe is ready to look for love again and confident he will find his soul mate. The 6-foot-3 Texan was a linebacker for Kansas State and worked in finance and insurance before starting a custom furniture business.”

– The Sporting News showers Bill Snyder with kisses for K-State’s continued success.

– The Wildcats are hoping to get a lot out of their bye week.

– CBSSports.com takes a look at how impressive K-State’s success has been given that its recent recruiting classes have ranked near the bottom of the Big 12.

– Those lame T-shirts K-State made to commemorate winning at Oklahoma aren’t going over so well with everyone.
Read More »

By Kellis Robinett | Filed under The Royal Sampler | Comments Off

The Royal Sampler: Two ways to relive Kansas State’s win over OU and links

Sept. 25, 201211:00 a.m.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Want to relive Kansas State’s 24-19 victory over Oklahoma? Well, you’re in luck. The game has been archived right here.

You can go buy this shirt, too, if you want. Though it’s kind of a lame one.

LINKS
– Collin Klein remains at No. 5 in the Heisman Trophy race, according to Heisman Pundit’s weekly rankings.

Right now, the website doesn’t consider Klein much more than a threat to reach New York as finalist for the award. But …

He’s on pace to have 2,280 passing yards, 867 rushing yards and 30 total touchdowns when the Heisman votes are due. If Klein leads Kansas State on an unlikely march to the Big 12 title while knocking off teams like West Virginia, Texas and TCU, those numbers may be good enough to merit serious Heisman consideration.

– Bob Lutz thinks Klein deserves an award. Maybe not the Heisman, but definitely an award.

– After some statistical analysis from ESPN.com, K-State’s 4-0 start doesn’t look like a fluke.

– K-State is the new team on top of my weekly Big 12 power rankings. You can find a few other notes around the conference in there, too.

– Pat Forde, of Yahoo! Sports, says Bill Snyder earned his yearly salary more than any other coach over the weekend.

– And here’s a link to another video on the way K-State is winning with old-school tactics.

By Kellis Robinett | Filed under Football, The Royal Sampler | Comments Off

Sunday Rewind: K-State 24, Oklahoma 19

Sept. 23, 201211:36 a.m.


Kansas State turned Oklahoma’s Memorial Stadium, aka The Bob Stoops Fortress, into the site of a fun party Saturday night by defeating the Sooners 24-19.

It was a signature victory for both Bill Snyder, who beat his former assistant for the first time in the regular season, and his players, who didn’t belong on the same field as Oklahoma last year in a 58-17 blowout. The Wildcats handed the Sooners their fourth home loss since 1999 and their first home loss to a ranked opponent since Stoops came to Norman.

And they did it in impressive fashion. They played strong defense, effective offense and had Oklahoma players, particularly quarterback Landry Jones rattled for long parts of the game. K-State was the better team and proved it by coming away with a memorable win.

How did it happen? Here’s a look at all that and more in this week’s Sunday Rewind:
Read More »

By Kellis Robinett | Filed under Football, Sunday Rewind | Comments Off

The Royal Sampler: Weekend predictions, 2003 Big 12 title highlights and links

Sept. 21, 20124:27 p.m.


The Kansas State football team is on its way to Oklahoma for Saturday’s game. It is the Wildcats’ first road game of the season. Curry Sexton is probably taking the approach most fans want him to.

PREDICTIONS
Baylor at UL-Monroe: The Warhawks have been on quite a run so far, winning at Arkansas and taking Auburn to overtime. But I like the Bears here, even on the road. They have too much offense and win in a close one.

Kansas at Northern Illinois: The Jayhawks are double-digit underdogs to Northern Illinois, and most seem to be picking NIU. But remember, this is the same team that lost to Turner Gill a year ago. I’m going with Kansas by the slimmest of margins. I say it wins by a single point.

Virginia at TCU: TCU coach Gary Patterson put out a video this week telling “breakfast is on me” for every student who shows up to this morning kickoff. That doesn’t have anything to do with what happens on the field, but it’s pretty neat. Frogs win easily.

West Virginia at Maryland: I ranked this as the worst Big 12 game of the week in my conference report on Monday. That might seem strange considering Maryland is from a major conference, but the Terps are not very good and enter the game as a huge underdog. Geno Smith will do whatever he wants.

Missouri at South Carolina: The Tigers lost their first game of the SEC era. They will lose their first road game, too.

Clemson at Florida State: This could end up being the game of the week. I’m going with Florida State, because of the home field, but it could go either way.

Kansas State at Oklahoma: The Sooners haven’t looked unbeatable so far, and it wouldn’t be that big of an upset for the Wildcats to beat Oklahoma. But their margin for error is slim. They will need to jump out to an early lead, play strong defense and score 30-plus points. It could happen. The home team pummeled K-State 58-17 a year ago, though, and the quarterback who threw for 505 yards and five touchdowns in that game (Landry Jones) is back. So are three K-State defensive backs who couldn’t do much to slow him down. And there’s also Blake Bell and Damien Williams to worry about on the ground. K-State’s defense will need to play better than it did a year ago and last week to beat Oklahoma. My prediction: Oklahoma 41, Kansas State 24
Read More »

By Kellis Robinett | Filed under Football, The Royal Sampler | Comments Off

Comparing box scores: Oklahoma’s last home loss, Oklahoma’s last win over K-State

Sept. 21, 20123:39 p.m.


Beating the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman isn’t easy. Under Bob Stoops, they are 78-3 at home.

So any time a team accomplishes the feat, it’s worth a second, third and fourth look.

The last time someone knocked off the Sooners on their home field came last October, when Texas Tech shockingly defeated previously undefeated Oklahoma 41-38.

How did the Red Raiders do it? Allow coach Tommy Tuberville to explain:

“Defense is a priority when you are playing on somebody’s home turf. We didn’t play too many good defensive games last year, and we still gave up 38 points, but that was our best defensive game of the year. We were able to win on third-down conversations more than we had all year long and were able to get our offense back on the field.”

Texas Tech’s defense was a big reason why the Red Raiders won a year ago, but it wasn’t the only reason. Let’s go to the box score for a deeper look.
Read More »

By Kellis Robinett | Filed under Football | Comments Off

The Royal Sampler: Former OU players still hurting over 2003 loss to K-State and links

Sept. 20, 201211:05 a.m.

For Kansas State, a 35-7 victory over Oklahoma in the 2003 Big 12 championship game is remembered as one of the biggest wins in program history.

For Oklahoma, the game is remembered as one of the most disappointing defeats of the Bob Stoops era.

According to Jason Kersey of the Oklahoman, there are plenty of OU players who still curse whenever the loss is mentioned.

“We didn’t go out there and play hard enough,” said Teddy Lehman, then a senior linebacker who won the Bednarik and Butkus awards.

“We didn’t block, didn’t tackle. Didn’t do the things we’d done that whole season. They weren’t even close to the team we were; it’s not even debatable.”

Many who watched the 28-point rout that day would probably take that debate.

During Bob Stoops’ 13 years in Norman, the 2003 Big 12 title game is his only loss in seven meetings with Snyder, who had both Stoops brothers on his Kansas State staff in the early 1990s.

The Oklahoma defense has generally done pretty well against Snyder’s offenses, with this one giant exception.

Oklahoma took a 7-0 lead on its first drive but watched Kansas State quarterback Ell Roberson and Sproles, the small, lightning-fast running back, light up the scoreboard for five unanswered touchdowns to win the game and Snyder’s only conference championship.

Read More »

By Kellis Robinett | Filed under Football, The Royal Sampler | Comments Off

Hoops Recruiting Update: Matt Atewe lists K-State as a favorite, Jeff Carroll down to 5

Sept. 19, 20124:27 p.m.

Kansas State basketball coach Bruce Weber is almost finished with his 2013 recruiting class. The Wildcats had four scholarships to offer, and three of them are already spoken for.

Indiana small forward Alex Etherington was the first high school player to commit earlier this summer, then came Wichita Falls, Texas shooting guard Marcus Foster and Houston small forward Wesley Iwundu.

That leaves one spot, which K-State would ideally like to fill with a power forward or center. But the Wildcats could always go after another perimeter player, too, if they think he is too good to pass on.

If they go the big-man route, Atewe is clearly their top option. The 6-foot-9 Canadian power forward has offers from 20 Division I programs, but took his first official visit to K-State last week. He told Hoop Dreams Magazine yesterday that the visit went well and that the Wildcats are currently at the top of his list. But his recruitment remains ongoing.

On what he thought of K-State:

“Their very personable and can relate to what you’re going through,” he added. “I also loved that the team was like a family and all the fans are crazy about the team as well.’

“They also showed me how they play and I liked that as well, Just a great visit overall.”

Read More »

By Kellis Robinett | Filed under Basketball, Recruiting | Comments Off