Kansas State’s offensive stars in the first week

Lessons from the first week

Last Saturday, Kansas State Offensive Coordinator Conor Riley‘s second game calling plays. He learned a lot in the first game of the 2024 season. K-State needs to start faster and play with more urgency. The offense sputtered in the first half due to a lack of urgency and played pretty tight. In the second half, the Wildcat offense responded well to adversity, scoring 24 points in the final half.

One area Riley was really pleased with was Kansas State’s offense from an operational standpoint. There was only one mistake, with a player not knowing where to line up the entire game. Another bonus was that K-State didn’t get a single penalty in an offense that featured a lot of new faces working together.

Kansas State’s offensive stars

Three players particularly caught Riley’s eye when rewatching the UT-Martin competition. The first was DJ Giddens who ran for 124 yards on 13 carries, which equates to 9.5 yards per carry. Apart from a fumble on the special teams, the Kansas State offensive coordinator was also satisfied with Jayce BrownThe second-year wide receiver recorded five catches for 71 yards, leading the Wildcats. Carver Willis was also mentioned as an outstanding player. Willis helped the Kansas State offense average nine yards per carry and did not allow a single sack against the Skyhawks.

A look at Tulane’s defense

Riley had high praise for Tulane’s defense. In particular, he praised the Green Wave’s defensive line. He believes Tulane’s defensive line is a microcosm of everything the Green Wave wants to do on defense. They were fast, big, physical and good at tackling.

Tulane is still getting used to the new head coach Jon Sumrall‘s scheme, but they have come together well in a short period of time. The defense plays fast, hard and is very good at tackling. They are also a group that communicates well and doesn’t make many mistakes.