K- State QB making more passing plays
COLLIN KLEIN
| WILDCATS SIGNAL CALLER WORKED ON HIS GAME IN OFFSEASON shotgun snap and turned to hand off the ball.
“Run!” Washington thought as he watched. “Oh, wait.” Oh, wait is right. Klein faked the handoff and faked out pretty much every Miami defender. They bit on the run and left a tight end running open down the middle of the field. Klein hit him perfectly in stride for a big gain and a cautionary tale for Washing-
NORMAN — The Little Apple mindset regarding injuries hasn’t fallen too far from Bill Snyder’s coaching tree.
The Kansas State coach and Bob Stoops, his apprentice-turned-adversary, each saw their best defensive player — Arthur Brown and Tony Jefferson, respectively — exit their most recent game in the first quarter with a right ankle injury.
Stoops briefly popped into the post-practice interview room Monday to tell reporters that Jefferson, his junior free safety and premier defensive player, took every practice snap and is expected to play Saturday, when the No. 6-ranked Sooners host the No. 15 Wildcats for both teams’ Big 12 opener on Owen Field.
“No more questions about Tony, OK?” Stoops added before turning around and leaving.
Snyder, who had Stoops on his staff from 1989-95, rarely discusses injuries, and Monday wasn’t an exception.
No update was given on Brown, KSU’s senior middle linebacker who left Saturday’s win over North Texas, but returned and recorded a career-high 13 tackles.
After the game, Snyder said: “We’ll have to wait and see. It’s going to be a couple of days before we know for sure.”
Jefferson left OU’s 69-13 rout of Florida A&M two weeks ago with the bum ankle. He returned for one
ton and the Oklahoma defense heading into Saturday night’s showdown.
“They’ll run, run, run, and then hit a play action with somebody running wide open down the middle of the field,” the Sooner defensive end said. “They have such a successful running game that it’s hard not to be good off play action.”
But now, Klein looks more capable than ever at making teams pay with his arm.
When these teams played a year ago, the Sooners bottled him up and throttled the Wildcats. But beware, Sooners. This run-first, big-brute quarterback has a new weapon in his arsenal that could spell trouble — an accurate arm.
Last season, he completed only 57.3 percent of his pass attempts. That ranked dead last among starting quarterbacks in the pass-happy Big 12.
His completion percentage this season: 72.9 percent.
No doubt some of that is due to K-State only having played not-sogreat opponents — Missouri State, Miami and North Texas — but against three similar nonconference foes a year ago, Klein had a completion percentage of only 59.6 percent.
The Wildcats aren’t throwing it more this season, but Klein is throwing it better. Much, much better. That was what he hoped for when he spent the offseason working religiously on his passing skills. The truth is, the quarterback position is still somewhat new to him. He didn’t start playing football until ninth grade, and after a redshirt year at K-State, he actually switched to wide receiver for a year.
His father, Doug, is a former quarterback coach — his first full-time job was at Kent State where he worked alongside a defensive ends coach named Bob Stoops — but Klein had never broken down his passing skills like he did this year. No aspect escaped scrutiny. Reads. Arm angle. Footwork. Release point.
His throwing motion still isn’t the prettiest, but it’s proven effective.
Against Miami, he scorched the Hurricanes for 84 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries and 210 yards and one touchdown on 9-of-11 passing. That pass to the wide-open tight end went for 58 yards, Klein’s longest pass this season.
(The tight end, by the way, was Deer Creek High product Zach Trujillo.)
Granted, we’re not talking about the Miami of old. This isn’t the program that won championships in bunches and struck fear into opponents. But the Hurricanes still have plenty of capable players.
And Klein had his way with them.
Here’s how good a day he was having: Wildcat coach Bill Snyder allowed Klein to attempt a nolook, behind-the back pass. Didn’t work — Klein fumbled, and a receiver had to corral the ball for a big loss — but the fact that the straight-as-anarrow coach even let his quarterback try it was significant. It shows how much he believes in Klein.
“Collin is a young fella that works diligently every single day of his life to improve everything,” Snyder said. “When it’s relative to football, it’s not just trying to improve his passing game. He tries to improve his management of the game, tries to improve his understanding of the offensive and defensive schemes as well as his execution in the running game and passing game. “He tries to do it all.” As talk swirls about Klein becoming a Heisman Trophy contender and these Wildcats being the best team under Bill Snyder, it’s obvious that their quarterback drives them.
This past Saturday, K-State found itself in a closer-than-expected game against North Texas. After the Mean Green scored a touchdown to start the second half and pulled to within a point, the Wildcats could’ve panicked.
Or at the very least, they could’ve gone to their strength and run the ball.
Instead, Klein threw the ball on the first three plays of the next drive. All told, he completed 4 of 5 passes for 68 yards on the drive, including a 21-yard touchdown.
“He’s throwing it well,” Bob Stoops said, “which isn’t surprising as he progresses and gets older.”
Washington said, “With experience, you’re going to get better. With added confidence, you’re going to make throws that you might not have made. “It’s a big test.” One of the last times OU faced a bruising running quarterback who had enough skill in his passing game to hurt defenses was the national championship game against Florida. Gators quarterback Tim Tebow rushed for 109 yards that night but threw for the gamewinning touchdown.
Tebow is now in the Big Apple, but as the video and the statistics warn, the Sooners best be ready on Saturday.
The Tebow of the Little Apple is coming to town.