After losing to Mississippi State 31-10 last Saturday, the Kansas State football team is looking to find an identity after a somewhat inconsistent start.
At Tuesday’s press conference, head coach Bill Snyder was asked how K-State could establish an identity as the season goes on.
“I think we have an identity, it’s not one I like right now,” Snyder said. “We’re not playing as well as we’re capable of. That’s me, not them.”
Snyder went on to say that the team’s identity varies day-to-day, but added what a coach looks for in his team.
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“You want guys that will play hard, that are competitive snap after snap and have the discipline and persistence to play one snap at a time and be their best every single snap,” Snyder said.
This lack of identity that Snyder is talking about comes from letting Mississippi State earn 384 rushing yards and 154 passing yards compared to K-State’s 113 rushing and 100 passing yards.
“Guys were not executing their assignments and were not staying in the gaps that they were supposed to be in, Snyder said. “Some of it was mental mistakes and some were execution mistakes to a far greater degree of what we have seen previously in camp and the first ballgame.”
For the Wildcats to remain competitive against UTSA in this week’s upcoming matchup, they will need to watch the passing game that the Roadrunners present.
So far this season, the Roadrunners have had 375 passing yards compared to K-State’s 252 passing yards. Snyder believes that UTSA quarterback Cordale Grundy “has a lot of skill” and that “he is very quick and talented.”
For the team to change their current identity they will need to act on their feelings of “disappointment and embarrassment” that Snyder talked about during the press conference and turn them into “self-anger and not at anybody else.”
But it won’t be a totally defensive game. The Wildcats will need to find a way to get some more points on the board after only scoring two touchdowns in the last two games.
Snyder’s announcement of sophomore Skylar Thompson as the starting quarterback should help provide more certainty for K-State as it prepares for this week’s upcoming matchup.
Senior linebacker Sam Sizelove believes that K-State can still be confident.
“We all trust each other and we all know where we messed up,” Sizelove said. “It’s things that we can fix. Our confidence isn’t altered at all really on things like that.
A win on Saturday against 0-2 UTSA could go a long way in building some momentum for K-State going into Big 12 play next week.
The Wildcats will face off against UTSA on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The game can be seen on FSN and listened to on the radio through the K-State Sports Network.
