The Hangover Week 8: Bill Snyder, Kansas State Prove Everything Old Is New Again

October 20, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Collin Klein (7) runs past West Virginia Mountaineers linebacker Josh Francis (4) on his way to scoring a touchdown during the second quarter at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

Kansas State’s trip to West Virginia was a styles’ clash: the ground-and-pound, ball control scheme of the Wildcats vs. the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Mountaineer air raid; Bill Snyder vs. Dana Holgorsen; 2% milk vs. Four Loko; old school vs. new school.

Turns out the retro look is chic this fall season, as K-State both grounded West Virginia — the Mountaineers finished with just 155 yards passing, 143 of which were from erstwhile Heisman Trophy front runner Geno Smith. The Wildcats also pounded the Mountaineers — 52 of their 55 points came in 43 minutes and before West Virginia broke single digits.

Ironically though, K-State wasn’t especially reliant on the rush, accruing a modest 146 yards on the ground. Quarterback and new Heisman pace-setter Collin Klein scored four of his seven touchdowns on the ground, sure. But Klein added a new spin on the retro look with 323 yards passing on a staggering 19-21.

Klein’s number of throws is noteworthy, because he didn’t need many opportunities to rack up big yardage. Head coach Bill Snyder didn’t abandon his run-first philosophy — the Wildcats still rushed 16 more times than it passed. But the rush did set up the pass, drawing a poorly matched Mountaineer front seven up and leaving its hapless secondary exposed to long plays.

That’s where Saturday’s game was decided. The old way of setting up the pass via the rush yielded the big gains associated with the new mindset of setting up the big-play pass with dink-and-dunk passing. The dink passes were there for Smith, who completed as many throws as Klein attempted. The problem was those were unsuccessful in opening the field for a home run ball, evidenced in Smith’s paltry 4.5-yard per completion average.

This has been a problem for the Mountaineers throughout the season, not just since losing twice. Both leading wide receivers, Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey, are undersized turf-burners, suited to play in the slot. In deluging the defenses of Baylor, Marshall, and to a lesser extent Texas, West Virginia exploited slow linebacker corps and safeties to accelerate into the second level and further.

Both K-State and Texas Tech have linebackers and safeties prepared to limit those gains on the edges, and West Virginia lacks the big, possession target necessary to draw the coverage inward.

Since dropping a combined 118 points on Baylor and Texas, the Mountaineers have scored a grand total of 28. While the issues with the West Virginia defense are numerous and glaring, don’t be surprised to see the narrative focus on the inconsistencies of the offense. However, some of the recent offense impotence does indeed stem from the defensive inefficiencies.

Digging holes early in each of its losses has forced Smith and the Mountaineer offense to press the issue. An offense simply cannot be put in positions to play a match game, and expect success.

With the success K-State is experiencing, Alabama’s recent dominance employing a tried-and-true philosophy, and Florida’s devoid-of-offense but unbeaten start, are we seeing the beginning of a new evolution in football?

The air raid spread offense became the en vogue system it is largely from necessity. Take Holgorsen’s installation of it at Oklahoma State. Holgorsen learned the system under Mike Leach at Texas Tech, where the Red Raiders were competitive using it against the burly defenses of opponents like Oklahoma and Texas.

October 20, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; Kansas State Wildcats head coach Bill Snyder looks on from the sidelines against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the fourth quarter at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Kansas State Wildcats won 55-14. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE
Before Oklahoma State introduced the spread, the Cowboys were a regular Big 12 cellar dweller. Outrunning the opposition’s defense became OSU’s salvation. And as others around the conference installed similar variations of the offense, defenses are trying to counter speed with speed. The same is true elsewhere the spread is prevalent. This tipping of the scales favors teams like K-State and Alabama, which can effectively pound the football forward.

Kansas State riding Snyder’s philosophy to a Big 12, and potentially BCS championship might leave coaches in the conference most reliant on the aerial assault rethinking their strategies. Old man football could very well become the hip philosophy.

Now, squads like LSU, Alabama and Florida are somewhat anomalous in that their defenses are both big and speedy. Such is the defining characteristic that has given the SEC the BCS championship every season since 2006. SEC universities have been able to build in this fashion via recruiting, and the conference has certainly been fortunate that such talent exists in its regional pipelines.

Perhaps gleaning from the SEC’s success, Oregon is trying to emulate this philosophy. The Ducks are known for their quick strike offense, but should UO bring the crystal ball out West, it will be because the Ducks went South. Oregon’s defense is bigger than ever before, while maintaining the necessary speed and athleticism to complement its offense. Oregon has the necessary counter to the Pac-12’s movement toward spread offenses.

YOU CAN FEEL IT ALL OVER: DUKE IS BOWLING

After Duke blew a three-score lead over Virginia Tech to fall to 5-2, a smattering of hemming-and-hawing about the Blue Devils’ bowl hopes arose. Duke faced a stretch of opponents it was 0-25 against since the ACC expanded to two divisions. Memories of the Blue Devils’ last flirtation with bowl eligibility were also still fresh. Just three years ago, David Cutcliffe led the Blue Devils to five wins when they defeated Virginia on Halloween, but Duke lost its final four.

In that stretch were games against North Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Miami: three of the same teams left on the docket heading into Week 8.

But Cutcliffe and quarterback pupil Sean Renfree were not about to let history repeat itself. Renfree threw his first and only touchdown on the decisive final drive to seal win No. 6 and a bowl bid. And how appropriate is Duke getting its landmark win over North Carolina?

Cutcliffe deserves national Coach of the Year consideration. The Blue Devils control their own destiny in the ACC championship hunt. Let that sink in for a moment. He’s truly earned the moniker Sir Duke.

OVERTIME FORTITUDE
Oct 20, 2012; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders wide receiver Eric Ward (18) makes a touchdown catch in overtime against the TCU Horned Frogs at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-US PRESSWIRE
Three late games went into overtime Saturday, and all were won with some chutzpah.

UL-Monroe occupied the driver’s seat of Sun Belt poll position, going for two in the first frame of overtime against league co-leader Western Kentucky. Warhawk head coach Todd Berry took over a program that has never gone bowling, so perhaps sensing the only way to break bad luck is to create some good luck of his own, Berry rolled the dice.

ULM went for a two-point conversion after Kolton Browning had rushed for his second touchdown on the ground (sixth overall), and Browning’s encore was finding Rashon Ceasar in the end zone.

The Warhawks-Hilltoppers thriller might have gone unnoticed, but it’s understandable. While they were locked in overtime, so were Big 12 and in-state foes TCU and Texas Tech. You may remember the two had dueling billboards over the summer; well, in Fort Worth they had dueling clutch touchdowns that produced three extra frames.

Tommy Tuberville compensated for some head-scratching calls for the Wildcat formation earlier in the game, when in the second overtime it led to the sixth of Seth Doege’s seven touchdown passes.

The Red Raiders are a surprise contender for the Big 12 championship, and Doege is starting to creep into Heisman conversations. Yesterday’s effort helped him bypass Geno Smith as the most prolific touchdown passer in the nation.

Though Tuberville employed odd use of the Wildcat, he made the right calls at the right moments for a Tech win; such was the case for San Diego State’s Rocky Long. Long had a pair of timeout gaffes in the final two minutes against Nevada, costing his offense nearly 40 seconds of possession time once the defense forced a punt. The Aztec offense had to march 80 yards in 50 seconds as a result, which it did (and more on that in a moment).

Then in the red zone, and with SDSU having no timeouts, Long called for quarterback Ryan Dingwell to take a knee in between the hash marks. I’ll turn it over to Chris Griffin to handle the apropos reaction.

Dingwell had to immediate regroup and spike the football, just in time to get the field goal unit out for the tying kick. Karma was kind, and the field goal extended the affair into overtime. Long made up for the regulation gaffes, when seeing the success his offense was having against a tired Nevada defense, he called for a two-point conversion attempt and the win. It worked, and the Aztecs pulled off a one-point win. SDSU had previously dropped single digit decisions to Washington and San Jose State, so this was some much needed relief.

MACTION GAINING TRACTION
Oct 20, 2012; Toledo, OH, USA; Toledo Rockets players celebrate in the locker room after defeating the Cincinnati Bearcats 29-23 at Glass Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-US PRESSWIRE
The Mid-American Conference long existed as a novelty. Aside from fulfilling September cupcake dates for the Big Ten, the conference’s exposure was limited to weekday broadcasts notable for ridiculous offensive output.

So is it somehow fitting in a very odd way that the MAC scored a marquee win with some defense on Saturday? Toledo locked up Cincinnati, handing the in-state opponent its first loss and holding the Bearcats to just 23 points. UT has now won seven straight since falling in overtime to Arizona — a team ranked near the top of the nation in points per game, that had its second lowest point total against the Rockets.

In fact, the MAC is starting to make its bones with defense throughout the league. Ohio won its increasingly impressive marquee victory with a stingy second half defensive effort at Penn State. Bowling Green is holding opponents to 16.8 points per game. Northern Illinois isn’t far behind with an 18.1 point per game yield.

Scanning the FBS rankings, one would have to scroll all the way to No. 26 Northern Illinois before seeing a MAC team. It’s a major deviation from years past, when the MAC populated the the upper quarter of the scoring offense rankings, and consequently the lower portion of the defensive rankings. While it’s not necessarily the same MACtion that’s produced basketball-like scores on November Tuesday and Wednesday nights, it’s an overall improved brand of football.

This is the best the MAC has been since three members — Bowling Green, Northern Illinois and Miami — cracked the top 25 in 2003.

GAME BALLS

Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville

The Cardinals’ Big East championship and BCS aspirations hung in the balance Saturday against USF. The talented but underachieving Bulls met their potential against the unbeaten Cardinals, pulling ahead 25-21 in the fourth quarter. But that’s when super sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater led the Birds down the field with veteran savvy, culminating with his threading of the needle to Eli Rogers for the decisive score.

Eastern Michigan

Eastern Michigan was a team I had my eye on before the season. Ron English performed a minor coaching miracle a season ago, leading the benchmark for FBS futility EMU to a 6-6 record. I believed the Eagles could sneak their way into bowl contention, but headed into Saturday the 2012 season was a return to the status quo.

The Eagles finally got off the schneid though, topping Army, 48-38. Quarterback Tyler Benz had an outstanding day with 369 yards passing and five touchdowns.

Greg Hardin, North Dakota

Big Sky Conference newcomer and relatively fresh-to-Div. I North Dakota scored a milestone win Saturday when the Fighting Sioux topped FCS stalwart Montana, 40-34. The Griz are on a down year, but there’s still symbolic meaning for UND. There was nothing symbolic about wide receiver Greg Hardin’s performance, though. He caught for 333 yards and three touchdowns, including the game winner in the fourth quarter.

Adam Dingwell, San Diego State

San Diego State starting quarterback Ryan Katz came off the field early at Nevada with an injury, but sophomore Adam Dingwell came on to engineer crucial, late drives — on his birthday, no less. Dingwell passed for just 177 yards on 14 completions, but three of those were good for touchdowns. Not a bad birthday celebration.