Big 12 Preview: Kansas State seeks return to glory

story by Chris Rushing, College Sports Matchups (CSM is a content partner with The City Wire)

Bill Snyder, the old veteran who built the Kansas State program from the bottom up during a wildly successful 17-year reign in Manhattan, returned to the sidelines in 2009 after a three-year hiatus to bring the Wildcats back to the top of the Big 12 North and just a game away from playing Texas for the league championship.

This despite a shortened recruiting season that spring and having to run off most of the 19 junior college players his predecessor, Ron Prince, signed in his final recruiting haul.

The Wildcats weren’t stellar at times (they lost to Louisiana-Lafayette for crying out loud), but they were not an easy W for anyone on the schedule either. The running game returned to prominence amongst the Big 12 leader boards led by Daniel Thomas. The same formula that brought KSU a 6-6 record a season ago will be put to work this fall with the hopes of a couple more wins and a postseason berth.

Can they reach a bowl for the first time since 2004? Better yet, what will it take to reach the league championship game for the first time since 2003 – the last year the Wildcats were crowned champs?

OFFENSE
Fourteen starters return from a season ago, including both specialists, but none are more integral to KSU’s success than Thomas. Thomas was the Big 12 leader last year with 1,315 yards gained on the ground with 11 scores. There wasn’t much more to write about Snyder’s offense, so Thomas is really the biggest storyline in the Little Apple this summer. As he goes, so will KSU.

The quarterback race is up in the air, although all signs in the spring pointed to Oregon transfer Chris Harper winning the job early in fall camp. Harper offers a running dynamic that is unmatched from his fellow signal callers on the depth chart. Last year’s backup Carson Coffman has a year in the system already and junior college transfer Sammuel Lamur will round out the competition for the season’s first snap under center.

For what it’s worth, Coffman had a huge spring game as he led the Purple Team to a 79-0 victory over the White Team, racking up 440 yards passing and seven touchdowns in the process. Considering last year’s starter, Grant Gregory, passed for 1,096 yards on the season, those numbers are even more impressive as year two of Snyder’s second rebuilding process nears.

When your passing game puts up dismal numbers, very little is expected from a wide receiver group. Thomas is the team’s leading returning receiver – a fact that proves there’s only one direction for the Wildcat offense to travel: up. Aubrey Quarles was missing from the roster in 2009, and his return should give any of the quarterbacks a tested target assuming he can shake the rust off early.

Despite the anemic numbers posted, it’s amazing that KSU won six games and were in the hunt for the Big 12 North title until the season’s final week.

DEFENSE
On defense, things could be reversed from a year ago when the run defense was stellar (ranked 16th nationally) and the pass defense was porous (ranked 89th nationally). Five of the front seven must be replaced, including four of the 2009 team’s leading tacklers. Meanwhile, the defensive backfield returns three starters in Troy Butler, Emmanuel Lamur and Tysyn Hartman.

Emmanuel Lamur led the team in total stops last season (68), and Hartman earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors. Hartman will be one of the team’s three player reps at Big 12 media days later this month. Butler showed signs of growth and maturity during the spring game, picking off a pair of passes as well as being more of a vocal leader on and off the field.

During Snyder’s first term as KSU head coach, the Wildcats often came under scrutiny for scheduling easy non-conference opponents to inflate the win totals year-in and year-out. Prince tried his best to rid the program of that mantra and faced at least one Bowl Championship Series opponent in non-conference tilts every season.

This year, the Wildcats receive a return trip from UCLA to open the 2010 campaign on national television Sept. 4. It’s safe to say Snyder wouldn’t have scheduled a game like this so early in his initial rebuilding project. This is a very important game in order to gauge how far KSU has come since last November. The Bruins aren’t world beaters, but they are a true test and helped keep the Wildcats at home during the postseason with a win in Los Angeles.

ESPN has picked up the team’s home game against Nebraska on Oct. 7 and will televise the tilt during its Thursday night primetime slot. The exposure and atmosphere should be eclectic at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. In all, the Wildcats host six contests including Texas and Oklahoma State to the aforementioned pair above.

The toughest road environments for Snyder and Co. reside in the Kansas game (Oct. 14) and Missouri (Nov. 13). If KSU can win five of six at home and split these two, a bowl bid will be a sure bet as well as a high placing in the final league standings.
If anyone can lead a team to accomplishing such goals, it’s Snyder.

• QUICK LOOK: Kansas State 2010
Starters Returning: Offense — 5, Defense — 7
Key to the Team: Daniel Thomas, RB
Most likely to breakout: Troy Butler, S
Most important game: vs. UCLA, Sept. 4