Analysis and grades from Kansas State’s win over Arizona, plus a look ahead to BYU

Kansas State football fans bring it for every home game, but they apparently take things to a different level when the Wildcats play on Friday night.

Bill Snyder Family Stadium experienced one of the added perks about playing in prime time on a weekday when K-State beat Arizona 31-7 and a juiced crowd of 51,290 roared with every big play.

“The crowd, the crowd, the crowd,” K-State football coach Chris Klieman said afterward. “That was as loud as I’ve ever heard The Bill, and I knew they were going to be cranked up when I came in the parking lot. They were electric tonight, and they helped us win that football game. I cannot thank our fans and our fan base enough. They were loud, and it affected their offense.”

K-State doesn’t play many Friday games. There are obvious reasons why the Wildcats, and many other college football teams, try to avoid them. But there are advantages to it.

That much was obvious when the K-State student section was packed a full hour before kickoff and a national TV audience watched the game on FOX.

K-State football fans were ready to go on Friday, and the Wildcats gave them plenty to cheer about in their best performance of the young season.

A day later, it is now time to look back on the action and hand out a few awards and grades. We also look ahead to next week’s game against BYU, which could be an even more difficult test for K-State.

Play of the game

Let’s go with two this week.

Usually, it’s easy to point out the best or most influential play in a game. But that wasn’t the case on Friday.

Keenan Garber came up with an interception in the end zone that prevented Arizona from scoring early in the second quarter and allowed K-State to possess a lead for the remainder of the game. That was an enormous play, and the K-State cornerback made an amazing play to get in front of a pass that was intended for Malachi Riley after he originally lined up across from a different receiver.

But Dylan Edwards also had the football stadium on tilt when he returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown. He was so much faster than the Arizona defense that it was almost comical to watch other players try to catch up to him.

Player of the game

Avery Johnson is the obvious choice.

The K-State quarterback had his best game as the team’s starter on his way to 266 total yards and a pair of touchdowns. He completed 14 of 23 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 110 yards as a runner.

He has mostly been held in check on the ground this season, but that changed against Arizona. He showed off his dual-threat talents in a big way.

Stat of the game

Arizona only put together one scoring drive against K-State. And that happened on the opening series of the game. Chris Klieman’s defense made adjustments and shut down Arizona as the game went on.

Quote to note

“We can be a complete team. We’re getting there. We’re getting better. I see have seen marked improvement from a practice standpoint We’ve got more in us. We can play fast on defense. We have some playmakers on offense. We’re not one dimensional, like a lot of people think we are. I thought we responded really well today. I don’t know what we’re trying to prove to everybody else. We need to prove to ourselves that we can sustain this and keep playing at a high level.” — Chris Klieman

K-State football grades

Offense: A. There isn’t much to gripe about here, aside from a clock-management mistake at the end of the first half. Avery Johnson had a stellar game. So did DJ Giddens and Dylan Edwards. Jayce Brown had a 48-yard catch. Tight ends Brayden Loftin and Will Swanson both caught touchdowns. The Wildcats averaged 6.1 yards per play and 3.5 points per drive.

Defense: A. The Wildcats got all kinds of pressure on Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita, ending the game with eight hurries and one sack, and that made it difficult for the visitors to move the ball. Brendan Mott led the way with three hurries and one sack. Austin Romaine, Desmond Purnell and Tobi Osunsanmi also had tackles for loss. Tetairoa McMillan still put up impressive numbers (11 catches for 138 yards), but K-State slowed him down. Throw in Keenan Garber’s interception and this was a great effort from the K-State defense.

Special Teams: B+. Anytime you score on special teams it’s a good day for this unit. Dylan Edwards made that happen with a 71-yard return that sent the decibel levels inside the stadium soaring. But it wasn’t a perfect day. Chris Tennant missed a field goal for the second straight week.

Coaching: B+. Klieman made two questionable game-management decisions, which prevents this grade from climbing higher. But he still did an excellent job getting the Wildcats ready for this game. K-State looked shaky in both of its first two games and then put it all together against Arizona.

Next up: BYU

The Cougars will be an interesting (and new) challenge for the Wildcats.

K-State hasn’t played BYU since 1997 and it hasn’t traveled to Provo, Utah for a game since 1977.

Why is that important? Because the Cougars play their games at elevation, which can be difficult for visiting opponents from the Midwest to adjust to when they arrive at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Last week, K-State had to prepare for the humidity of New Orleans. Now it will try to get ready for the elevation of Provo.

BYU is off to a 2-0 start this season with wins over Southern Illinois and SMU. The Cougars turned a lot of heads when they went on the road and beat the Mustangs 18-15 last Friday. They play at Wyoming on Saturday night. That means K-State will have the rest advantage when it plays next week, but not a travel advantage.