Three Things Chris Klieman Said Ahead of Kansas State’s game against OSU

Chris Klieman has more college football national championships than the rest of the Big 12’s coaches put together.

Sure, all of those rings came at the FCS level with North Dakota State, but Klieman’s K-State squad has looked good in its first three games. The Wildcats are 3-0 with their most recent victory being an impressive one on the road against Mississippi State.

K-State is coming off a bye week, but here are three things Klieman said about his first meeting with OSU.

On Defending OSU’s High-Octane Attack

OSU is quite a bit different from the offenses Nicholls, Bowling Green and Mississippi State showed against the Wildcats.

Klieman was quick to praise the Cowboys’ three-headed monster of Spencer Sanders, Chuba Hubbard and Tylan Wallace. Klieman said it’s an offense that can beat teams in all phases.

“They’re gonna beat you just running the football with a dynamic running back and an exceptional offensive line, and they’re going to throw the ball,” Klieman said. “I know Wallace is a tremendous, tremendous player, and they have other pieces around him that are really exceptional as well. And then you throw in the quarterback that is so explosive and can hit a home run on every play. So, in all three phases of offensive football with the ability for the quarterback to run and throw, wide receivers who can beat you and a running back, it’s a formidable offense.”

Although the offenses are different, K-State has seen another star running back this year in Mississippi State’s Kylin Hill. Hill is third in the country with 551 rushing yards, not too far behind Hubbard.

“In my opinion, (Hubbard is) faster without question,” Klieman said. “It’s a different offensive scheme. He’s exceptional as far as once he gets north and south, he’s tough to catch and he hits the hole so well. If you give him the edge, and he had the edge a few times against Texas, he can out-run everybody. He’s a physical back too. He runs through arm tackles. Very, very impressed with him, but Hill is obviously a great player as well.”

Klieman said it’s important to know where Wallace is before every play.

On Sanders, Klieman said OSU’s quarterback doesn’t look like a freshman.

“Tremendous speed, really tough, he got hit a number of times last week and he kept bouncing up, bouncing back,” Klieman said. “He didn’t get rattled when he threw an interception, competitive. I just love the way the guy competes and plays so hard all the time. He’s a fun guy to watch on television, I’ll let you know how fun he is when it’s live.”

On Playing in BPS

K-State played in front of 54,522 Mississippi State fans who were clanging cowbells a few weeks ago, but Klieman said his squad could be walking into a tougher environment Saturday in Stillwater.

“They’re right on top of you,” Klieman said. “I’ve been down there once, but the guys have told me as well how tight it is. The sidelines, obviously, are really tight. It’ll be exceptionally loud just because it is their Big 12 home opener as well. We worked the noise last week, we worked it yesterday, we’ll work it again today and hope that we have enough different variety of snap counts and stuff that we’re able to execute.”

K-State Defense to Return Two Starters

The Wildcats were without starting defensive end Wyatt Hubert and cornerback Walter Neil against Mississippi State, but the two are expected to play Saturday in Stillwater.

Hubert had four total tackles in the Wildcats first two games. Neil had two tackles and a pass breakup.