K-Stated

It’s finally gameday here in the Valley of the Sun – here’s my article from yesterday about Kansas State’s amazing turnout to Wednesday’s pep rally at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix. Wildcat fans turned out 25,000 strong at the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Hopefully you’ve already gone here to take a look at the coverage of today’s game from Bob Lutz, Kellis Robinett, Travis Heying and myself, and if you’re Wichita you’ve probably grabbed a copy of our Fiesta Bowl special edition.

I’ve been heavy on the Oregon stuff this week – here’s 5 things to watch for the Ducks tonight:

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“It’s like a video game in real life, it’s happening right in front of you … it’s crazy.” 

-Oregon center Hroniss Grasu

There’s a drill the Oregon offense does that sums up what they’re trying to do on the field pretty well.

Starting at one end of the field, the Ducks run six plays in a row – no break, just like an ideal situation – to the other end of the field. Then they sprint back to where the drill started as the No. 2 offense does the same thing.

Then they do it again.

There are few things in college football as exciting as watching Oregon’s offense when it’s clicking – the Ducks average over 50 points and over 500 yards of offense per game.

The Ducks offensive line isn’t typical of a college football powerhouse, either. The Ducks front five starters against Kansas State are l292, 311, 294, 305 and 294 pounds.

Maybe that’s because of all that running.

“We’re not typical lineman for our level, weight-wise,” Grasu said. “We’re a little lighter but we’re a little more athletic.”

Offensive lineman are trained at a very early age to never, no matter what, get caught watching one of their teammates breaking off a long run or making a big play. The rule is, to paraphrase Glengarry Glen Ross, Always Be Blocking.

In the Oregon offense, where things happen pretty quickly, that rule needs to be ignored sometimes.

“If I see De’Anthony (Thomas) or Kenjon (Barner) making a big run, I let go of whoever I’m blocking pretty fast,” Oregon guard Ryan Clanton said. “You don’t want to be caught holding, you want to chase them into the end zone.”

From All-Pac 12 quarterback Marcus Mariota’s perspective, that can be kind of a funny thing.

“You see our tackles, Jake (Fisher) and Tyler (Johnstone) and they’re down there like that … Jake even had a touchdown this year running behind De’Anthony, because De’Anthony fumbled and he picked it up in the end zone,” Mariota said. “But the guys in the middle, they’ll usually just turn around and give me some love, too. It’s just fun all around, for everybody.”

 -TA

We’re about three hours from kickoff here at Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, where North Texas visits No. 15 Kansas State – the game is on FSN, Ch. 34 in Wichita.

It’s been a blast filling in for Kellis this week – here’s a link to my Twitter account, where I’ll be doing live updates tonight.

Here’s a collection of links from the week to give you a little primer for today’s game against the Mean Green:

-K-State’s priority is North Texas, not next Saturday’s game against No. 5 Oklahoma.

-K-State’s Bill Snyder, North Texas’ Dan McCarney cross paths once again.

-North Texas knows it needs to hit on all cylinders against the Wildcats.  

-K-State defensive ends rely on big-time effort to make big-time plays.

-Kellis Robinett’s game story from last Saturday’s 52-13 win over Miami in Manhattan.

-TA