Author: D. ScottFritchen
Kansas State began preparing for the Army in the spring, and as the coach studied the film, the players carried out drills to feel the uniqueness of the Black Cavaliers’ triple-option-oriented offensive attack, giving them the most winning season in history in 2024.
Preparations continued into the summer, and after K-State beat North Dakota 38-35 on Monday’s review meeting, everyone was focused on a dangerous army, which could lead to appropriateness at any time.
The moment is here.
The Wildcats, overall 1-1, 0-1 in the 12th Conference, will seek to resolve the Army’s 0-1 and attack at the Fort Riley Day meeting at the Bill Snyder Family Stadium at 6:00 p.m. Saturday.
“We had a pleasant practice,” said K-State head coach Chris Klieman. “We watched the movie, and on Monday it was very critical and then lie in bed and moved into the military. I'm proud of our kids. We had real physical practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. The energy level is already on. The players are doing what I hope they will do, and it's responsible for the standards each other expects from us all.”
K-State is considered one of the most successful FBS programs in the past four years and he hopes to play its standard with its best performance early on Saturday. After entering the season's No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25 polls, K-State lost 22-1 at Iowa 22, after needing to win the drive and defensive dock to prevent North Dakota from winning its biggest win in history last weekend.
Now, K-State hosted a service academy in Manhattan in 1987 without three attempts, of course, using a good spirit show to end its family non-conference section and heading to Arizona for the competition next Friday.
“We are not in crisis mode, but the kids know that everything we are doing has to be more urgent.”
The Army, which defended the AAC champion, was 16-3 in the last 19 games in November 2023, ranking second (.889) in the percentage of championships (.889), trailing only Oregon.
But the Army, after wasting two-game two-game leads in the second half, wasted, and wasted its first trip to the road this year after a 30-27 loss to FCS member Tarleton State, winning 17 straight wins against FCS opponents. With 129-yard pass yards (with two touchdowns) and 100 rush yards (with one touchdown) by quarterback Dewayne Coleman, a total of 124 yards in the Slotback Noah Short, Black Knights have a total of 400 yards, including 280 yards on the ground.
“(Shortdown) is a great player and has been a very good player for a long time,” Kriman said. “I've talked to a few coaches who have played him and they say they have a lot of good options plans, but you'd better know where that kid is. Whether it's in a pass game, a jet strafing or in an option game, he'll let them go. We have to make sure we know where he is. He's a real talent.” He's a real person. ”
The Army has not played a fourth opponent since facing Missouri in the 2021 Armed Forces Bowl, and has not beaten the top 12 opponents since defeating Baylor in 27-24 overtime on September 23, 2006.
“I hope we can get better than we played last Saturday and give ourselves a better chance than we did last Saturday,” said Jeff Monken, head coach for 12 years. “We are excited to have the opportunity to play a great team like Kansas State. It's one of the things our guys really cherished about the pastry experience is that they have the ability to play in games like this with teams like this.
“They are a great team. To compete with them, we will do our best and the best we can assemble. Hopefully we can come up with that effort and stay competitive on Saturday night.”
The Black Knight attracted the full attention of the Wild Cat.
“It will be a very good football team and three quarters of the game,” Kriman said. “It's a property game because they want to hang on football with a long and continuous drive after leading the country in the game they have and after leading the country in the fourth switch last year. It will be a huge challenge. We have to win the game on both sides of the ball.
“It's going to be a big game. You don't usually have the chance to get the Service Academy here, and the military is the best.”
Kreman lamented that some of his defensive players were unable to maintain proper “ophthalmic discipline” nearly a week after he showed he would enter 11 defenders who showed proper eye discipline on Saturday, said Joe Klanderman, defensive coordinator at K-State: “This is a good time for the Wildcats to have the Wildcats with eye discipline recently.
“Nothing happened on Saturday, our guys couldn't do it,” Kellanman said. “The guys got the keys and wanted to do too much to get themselves out of work and try to do other people's work and you won't be able to deal with the military. That's how they make hay. They have to be dialed into their work.”
The triple option mostly runs out of the Flexbone group, a running-centric system that has been a staple in the service academy for years. In a three-pointer game, the quarterback makes decisions in the game based on the defensive approach. The quarterback can hand the ball to the defender who jumps to the middle, or he can pretend to hand over and keep the ball and run out, or he can kick the ball to one of the balls running in the outside sports.
What is the key reason why triple choices confuses undisciplined defense? Because the offense is designed to confuse the defense, forcing the defenders to hesitate and consider multiple running threats in each game. It's about disciplinary executions.
Is it possible for K-State? Its defense has averaged 2.9 yards per rush in 79 attempts, with 16 tackles and seven sacks, ranking 24th in the FBS. Defender Austin Romaine leads with 18 tackles, including 10 tackles against North Dakota. Defensive end Tobi Osunsanmi lost 3.0 sacks and 3.5 tackles.
“It’s not only the style of offense, but they do have a good guide in the work they do,” Kellanman said. “They will be physical and you’ll get out of it, but that’s the truth, if you want to be what you are, it doesn’t matter if you see a triple option, a raid or anything else, you should be able to defend it.”
“It's the discipline of the eyes, there's discipline in the keys and in your work. Everything should be able to adapt. Now we have to execute. It's the biggest thing. I'm sure they'll have wrinkles and adjust and I hope we stay ahead.”
The Black Knight's early preparations were obviously helpful.
“It’s necessary,” Kellanman said. “It's a hard offense to prepare for in four days. I think we did a good job.”
Meanwhile, the Army will try to maintain a lead in the K-State offense, which has totaled 375 yards in at least 34 games since 2022, ranking fourth among the Power 4 teams.
Avery Johnson will earn his 17th career, with 157.7 efficiency this season, 49 passes in 73, lasting 591 yards and 5 touchdowns, with no interceptions. Johnson completed his 67.1% free throw in 2025 after his passes accounted for 58.3% a year ago.
“I'm most proud of zero turnovers,” said offensive coordinator Matt Wells. “We did get the ball into about four injuries, and we were living on Saturday night. If you keep playing with fire, you'll burn the butt. He knows that. He knows that. The throw percentage should be higher. We missed eight inaccurate balls, and we already have a few drops of drops to drop. When you're going to drop a ball, you sell a few times. You pay for a few times.
“He showed leadership and maturity and he's throwing a small number of deep balls so far in the offseason, which is a big deal and has improved for him. I've seen him grow.”
11 different players have recorded catches this season, while Jayce Brown of junior high school made the best performance in a touchdown with 12-point, 109-yard effort, while Jaron Tibbs and Jerand Bradley made an impact. Tibbs played a touchdown against North Dakota, while Bradley scored 65 yards of catch and run against Iowa.
While the close end of K-State seems to be as productive as ever, sophomore Joe Jackson and redshirt freshman Devon Rice continue to work hard to try to endure slack without junior starter Dylan Edwards, whose last full game led to a 196-yard rush for the 2024 Fee Bowl.
Klieman said he was not sure about Edwards' place in Saturday's game. Edwards tried to pan early on Iowa State, but did not return.
“Dylan is getting better and better,” Kriman said. “He was running around there. I can't tell you what he was in this week, but we've made a good progress.”
Obviously, the real freshman Lincoln treatment continues to make progress. The highest high school season and the highest rated signator in K-State history have not yet participated in the season after a summer injury in the 2025 class.
“Lincoln has been in the fall camp for a long time,” Kriman said. “I wouldn't say he's 100%, but he's probably 80%, and he's practicing and doing well. He just needs to let some rust knock him down and get into the process. He's helping our Scout team because he's not ready for body, but he's ready for it in time and he's going to help us.”
Monken believes the Army will go all out on Saturday.
He believes that in the next few weeks, the 12 big opponents will also go all out.
“Their quarterbacks are really fast, throwing well, their guards, really talented and productive receivers, and the offensive line isn't giving up on sacks,” Monken said. “They do a great job of controlling the football game. That's the offense you want to do. The level of confidence in your talent and game and how much they direct. It's a team that's hard to beat.
“Ask the Big 12. There aren't many teams that can beat Kansas.”