FULL RECAP: Kansas State 48, Oklahoma State 14

How fast is Tyreek Hill?

I know we've talked endlessly about this, but watching him with the ball reminds me of the heyday of the Sooner wishbone.

When the play was moving laterally, things seemed to be moving somewhat in slow motion. When the player turned upfield, however, it was as if they were being shot out of a cannon.

Had to throw that in there, as it was just about the only positive thing to pull out of that thing last night.

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Daxx Garman is an "ok" QB when he can go to his first read.

I'm not going to discuss his 2nd read.

The 2nd drive of the game, after Snyder declined an offensive holding penalty to make it 3rd and 10, David Glidden visibly and audibly clapped his hands several times. He had already recognized something and was trying to alert Garman. Daxx even glanced his way momentarily. Just before the snap, the defender lined up over Glidden moved in, showing blitz. Glidden again clapped his hands several times right before the snap.

Garman never got off a throw, and it wasn't entirely his fault, or the fault of the offensive line.

Pre-snap, of the four receivers, three of them didn't have a defender closer than 7 yards. With a DB up close on a slot receiver, Glidden recognized a blitz package.

After he claps his hands, his DB begins to slide in, showing the corner blitz. Glidden now has an ocean for his route, as the deep safety isn't even in the picture.

This should have been easy pickings. Plenty of time for a check/audible for a hot read. Four receivers with lots of cushion. Imagine if Garman had stood up and slinged it to Glidden five yards down field.

Instead, we got this...

Not a single receiver broke off a route. Nobody turned a head. Garman had no chance. This is poor recognition by everyone (mainly Garman), and poor play design. If Garman and the receivers aren't on the same page at this moment, then something is really amiss in the offensive playroom.

The minute Glidden's defender came off for the blitz, this should have been a quick dump to Glidden, who might have run for the first down. Instead, Glidden still ran his out pattern, which took too long. Garman was looking to that side of the field, but I can't tell if that was his first read.

The players were obviously not prepared for this moment, and that's on the coaches.

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Bill Snyder is likely one of the best coaches in the country. It's been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that when he's not the head coach, Kansas State sucks at football. Not "Kansas Jayhawks" type of "sucks at football," but they aren't very good.

Why?

Because you can't get many good players to come to Manhattan, KS to play college football. That being the case, you better be a master motivator, teacher, and game planner. Snyder has all that in spades. They do make mistakes (see loss to Auburn), but not very often. The players know their roles and execute them with great discipline, which indicates great leadership.

His presence as a coach helps raise the level in the Big 12. I will miss him when he decides to hang it up.

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The youngsters on defense have been improving, but man did Waters abuse them with the QB keepers all night. I know he only had 34 yards rushing, but it seemed like everyone single one of his 9 carries was back breaking.

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Speaking of improving, we have seen a few "new" plays get mixed in over the past two weeks. I did say "few," as we seem to be rationing them out. Draw plays to Hill...check. Quick pitch to Hill...check. Screen to Hill...check. Fake to Hill, reverse...check. Quick tunnel screen...check.

The problem is we only run a few of these each game.

The entire playbook should be made up of ALL of these every game. It's obviously the only chance our offense has to be successful. That, and Tyreek Hill.

Here are the stats for OSU's only two offensive TD's since playing Kansas:

-14 plays
-Hill was on the field for 12 of those plays
-4/5 passing for 86 yds (21.5 per completion)...4 completions to 4 different receivers
-9 rushing attempts for 117 yards and a TD (13 ypc)
-Hill's stats...8 carries for 66 yards (8.25 ypc), TD, and 1 catch for 34 yards

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Bowl eligibility hinges on the game in two weeks with Texas. Given that the Cowboys are forced to play four of the top five teams in the conference on the road, and so far those road games have resulted in a combined score of 90-23, I'm not holding out much hope for the trips to Waco and Norman.

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I will continue to beat the drum on criticizing the coaching. Yes, this group is young and inexperienced, but they have talent. I understand it can be difficult to mask that on defense, but you have a myriad of options offensively to take pressure off of the offensive line and QB. With the exception of a couple of drives and few new plays, the system has looked the same over the last three games. I don't care that the opponents have gotten better. I expect that to show up against the defense. The offense is mired in mediocrity (and that's being generous), and we aren't seeing very much that indicates that the coaches are trying to win games THIS SEASON.

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I tweeted this out yesterday, but it can be repeated here...

Mason Rudolph's redshirt is obviously made of kryptonite. Short of an injury, that thing ain't comin' off, and I'm not so sure an injury would do it. Here are the possibilities...

-Mason Rudolph is sooooooooooooo good that Gundy didn't want to waste one of his years behind this line;
-Mason Rudolph is not that good;

Otherwise, for me, I wouldn't mind getting him some game snaps now if I'm truly playing for next season. I've said this before and I'll say it again...

Next spring will start with a Senior QB with plenty of game experience, a Senior backup QB with plenty of game experience, a redshirt Freshman QB with no game experience, and a true Freshman QB with no game experience.

Unless Rudolph completely separates himself in the Spring, how many of you really believe that Gundy won't start Walsh in the opener next season?

Always remember...the greatest QB in the history of the program was an ACCIDENT.

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So what exactly can we chalk the offensive struggles up to? The farther we go, the more I begin to wonder just how much of this is on Yurcich. Gundy is most definitely involved with the game plan. If it was all Legos, then at some point I would expect Gundy to step in and we would see something change.

We really haven't seen much change, have we?

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Watching Garman makes you realize just how other-worldly Brandon Weeden was, because I'm not sure who wins a foot race between the two of them. His offensive line was much better, but he also got rid of the ball really quick, and his decision making and play recognition were usually fantastic. He was very accurate to boot.

If you're not going to have a Weeden-type arm at QB, you better have someone with legs, which we are seeing now exactly why Walsh was the starter.

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That's about it for me. Will be taking the next two weeks to convince myself that OSU can beat the Longhorns.

GO POKES!!!