From a poster on K-StateFans.com football forum:
This team's offense is abysmal. It relies too heavily upon Barnes, without any consistent play by the QBs or receivers. Thompson has not improved and looks to pass first. When rushed, his passes are off-the-mark. Delton handles pressure better than Thompson, but makes his own mental mistakes.
Both QB's look like first year QB's in any other system....to inconsistent to sustain drives and not making the correct decisions on the field, even when there is open space to run the ball! Likewise, Barnes misses his blocking assignments resulting in the QB being blindsided. (See Dimel below.) One explanation for this is that coaching staff spends an inordinate amount of time with the starting QB each year that when it is time for his replacement it is like starting over.
Without a consistent offense, all the pressure is on the defense, which has handled it fairly well... except in cases such as Oklahoma where it became a lost cause early in the game.
Special teams are terrible. Zuber has made at least three, if not more, mental mistakes in fielding the ball and/or returning the ball. He was probably yanked from the game due to the fumble of the punt. The kicking team is having its own problems replacing the starters from last year. Due to all of the errors, it cannot be said that the offense or special teams has improved at all during the season.
The cause: To many key players being replaced from last years team or who have left due to graduation or left early. Ertz, Pringle, Dimel, McCrane, DJamer Reed, etc., Pringle and Reed have been especially hard to replace. Along with new OC and DC it has been a work in process that has not shown any improvement. Thus, when players leave early, the investment that has been made in their development is totally lost.
Blame: One can either blame HCBS or just blame the circumstances. All good coaches have periods where the well seemingly runs dry, i.e., Gary Patterson, Gundy or any of the other Big XII coaches (with the exception of OU and Texas who have the pick of the recruits). They all have periods where they have to replace key players.
One of the causes: When HCBS started out in the Big 8, he scheduled three "cupcakes" to get us half way to a bowl. He only had to beat KU, ISU and Missouri to get to a bowl. Today, with the Big XII's tie-in to the SEC he does not have that luxury. Instead of playing three cupcakes, he is having to play more difficult teams earlier in the season, like Auburn, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, etc., (The Stanford loss last year was also a loss that would not have occurred earlier in HCBS's tenure.) His record has suffered as a result.
Unfortunately, HCBS is not a young coach. He will retire (either this year or in the next couple of years). Who becomes his replacement is unclear. It will not be Sean Snyder. KState can either follow HCBS coaching tree or hope to hire an up and comer (with the likelihood that he will not ever be able to replace what HCBS has done). (It seems to me that those who want to replace HCBS have simply lost faith in his ability to build another good team and feel that it is time for something "new.")
If that is so, my question to those who want an immediate change is this: Do you really believe a new coach will ever be able to provide Kansas State with any greater chance to win? How long will you wait before you are demanding another coach? Right now, if HCBS is replaced, the new coaching staff will be behind everyone except KU... which will be getting a new coach at the end of this season.
From my perspective, I'm willing to ride it out another year to see if HCBS can put together a better team. Unfortunately, this years team, due to Thompson and Delton's lack of experience (see above), and Zuber's miscues, have not given KState any room for mistakes. The offense and return teams have been the weakness.
Having said all of this and with all of the miscues and inexperience, KState still had the chance to beat Texas, Baylor and TCU.
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