View From The Press Box: #18 Kansas State Pulls Away For 41-6 Win Over UT Martin

The eighteenth-ranked Kansas State Wildcats took care of business in their 2024 season opener, defeating the University of Tennessee at Martin Skyhawks 41- in Manhattan on Saturday night.

580 Sports Talk’s Dan Lucero was in attendance at Bill Snyder Family Stadium and has his observations from the contest:

1. It wasn’t a flawless offensive performance, by any means. Avery Johnson looked the part of a sophomore making just his second career start at times, throwing an interception and missing on a couple of reads, and the Wildcats mustered just one offensive touchdown in the first half. Wildcats coach Chris Klieman described the offense as being out of sync, and without ‘energy’ and ‘juice’, in the first 30 minutes. But things got much better in the second half, and on balance, it’s hard to complain much about an offensive effort that generated 8.5 yards per play with the starters on the field. DJ Giddens and Dylan Edwards made big plays in the rushing game and Edwards scored touchdowns as a rusher and a receiver. K-State ran just one designed run for Johnson all night, suggesting that they kept some things in their hip pocket schematically, but the raw speed of this offense showed itself in some impressive ways.
2. Speaking of speed… the defense played fast. With Hayden alum Desmond Purnell leading the way from his linebacker spot, the Wildcats got up the field and limited the Skyhawk running game. Jordan Riley looked as advertised from his safety spot in his Wildcat debut as well. The Wildcats held the Skyhawks to 2.5 yards per play before the second team took over midway through the fourth quarter. It was a very encouraging performance from all three levels.
3. Tobi Osunsamni looked unblockable. Whenever the former Wichita East Blue Ace has gotten to play in the past, you’ve seen the speed he possesses and the havoc he could create in a pass rushing role. That’s exactly what he did tonight, recording a sack and a half. You want to see guys pop against lower levels of competition, and Osunsamni did tonight. There were lots of good things from the K-State D-line tonight, in fact, as they led the charge in recording 11 tackles for a loss and four sacks on the night.
4. A mixed bag for Special Teams U. After a 2023 that was an uncharacteristic down year for Wildcat special teams, they came out of the gate this season with a splash play – Ty Bowman’s blocked punt leading to Colby McCalister’s scoop-and-score in the first quarter. But the return game had some issues. Dylan Edwards let a punt bounce by him that turned into a field-flipping 65-yarder, and Jace Brown fumbled at the end of a good return to open the third quarter. Chris Tennant made field goals of 43 and 45 yards, but also had a kickoff go out of bounds.
5. We started with Avery Johnson, let’s finish with Avery Johnson. Clearly the plan tonight was to restrict his running and limit the number of hits he took, and he ended up with just three rushing attempts on the night (for 37 yards). He didn’t hit on every rhythm throw, but the final numbers – 14-of-21 for 153 and two TDs with one interceptions – show that he played a fine game. The standards couldn’t be higher for the youngster from Maize, and tonight he showed some positives as a passer while keeping his prodigious talents as a runner largely holstered for bigger games ahead.

Watch Dan’s instant reaction video from Bill Snyder Family Stadium: