Sunday, October 14, 2012

Survive and Advance

Klein threw the ball Saturday to ... yes, you're reading this right ... 9 different recievers.
Not going to spend a ton of time reflecting back on ISU.  You all watched it.  And you can watch the highlights again here.
  • Lack of focus (check): Everyone plays ISU half asleep, remember? Impossible to get excited about playing them and it shows with every team they play because, well, no one cares about them.  And that's how teams with less resolve than the Cats find themselves with a loss.  Thankfully Klein cared enough to dominant the Cyclones pretty much by himself.
  • Stingy LB play (check):  Klein and Knott were dominant throughout. Playing much like what we've come to expect from the Predator, the two of them, Knott especially, were all over the field.  Klein finished the day with 11 total tackles (5 solo) but was disruptive on a number of plays, and Knott finished with 13 total tackles, (9 solo).  Between the two of them, 24 total tackles is a pretty efficient afternoon.  To put that in perspective, The Predator finished with only 6 (4 solo).
  • Crappy weather (check):  While the torrential downpour never hit Ames, the overcast skies and rain prior to kickoff made the field wetter than usual.  The impact was miminal.
  • Close, low scoring affair (check):  Everyone who knows these two team predicted a close, hard fought game.  We got that in spades.  With Klein basically killing the crowd softly with a crushing 8 min. drive in the fourth, the Cats were able to out gut, out manage, and out play the Cyclones to move to 6-0.  More on how well this strategy can, and will, serve us the rest of the year ... later.
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So the nation is chiming in on the Cats being #4 in the BCS.  As you can probably imagine, there has been quite a bit of weeping and gnashing of teeth seeing the Wildcats ranked so high.


Sure, most of it is SEC bias.  Some of it disbelief.  Most preaching our demise is coming in 6 days in Morgantown.

The Bleacher Report Twitter Reaction covers some of the more general comments out there, but there's one from the Kansas City Star I happen to really like:


And this one, is even better.  Thank you for recognizing greatness in the BigXII BigTime Sports Media!


Lastly, from stat machine and GoPowercat writer D. Scott Fritchen --

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Stewart Mandel of SI.com weighs in on flaws of the BCS, yet is surprisingly kind to KSU, saying:
As for Kansas State, the Wildcats currently sit alone in first place atop this year's toughest conference (according to Jeff Sagarin's ratings), and their Sept. 22 win at Oklahoma looks even more impressive following the Sooners' Red River beatdown of Texas. Next week's trip to Morgantown lost some luster after West Virginia's blowout loss at Texas Tech, but a victory would give the Wildcats two wins over current top-15 foes -- two more than either Alabama or Oregon can count.
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The Rant Sports puts out their Super 6 Heisman candidates this week, and of course Klein is listed.
It would be hard for me to not give Klein the Heisman, especially if the Wildcats continue to win. He's a really special player, a workhorse for his team, and truly outstanding. If he were the starting quarterback for a high profile program, he'd be on everyone's list
News flash Curt:  He's on everyone's list regardless.
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This is a very entertaining video from the Bleacher Report on the Week 8 Heisman race, and it's a great mix of analysis, shots of the candidates, and insight.  Very well done overall and well produced -- and says that the gap between Geno and Klein has shrunk considerably and of course, much of the race boils down to next Saturday @ West Virginia.

No, I didn't photoshop #Optimus in there.  
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Say hello to my newest follower on Twitter.

This was the icing on my KSU Weekend cake.
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We may not be #1 in the UPS Team Performance Index Poll anymore (damn penalties, but look at that Special Teams score!), but there is one poll out there that still has at #1, and that's Peter Wolfe.
Damn you Colley Matrix Top 50!
Oh, you're interested in how he calculates the rankings?  Well I've read this three times and my comprehension stops at "... maximum likelihood estimate ..."  I'm not sure we can trust a football formula that is using pi in its equations, but I'm not questioning anyone who has the Cats this high.

And neither should you.
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Friday, October 12, 2012

Farmageddon IV


I don't really like the fact this game has a name, now.

It implies that there's an actual rivalry here, and to be honest, there just isn't.  I think ISU would like to think there is, or because they somehow always play us close (and always lose), that this game should have it's own nickname.  ISU has only beaten Snyder four times, and two of those where in 2004 and 2005, when Snyder 1.0 had run out of gas.

But either way, it for sure does not need it's own Wikipedia page.  But it does.  Sadly.
Historically the game was not considered a major rivalry, but in light of changes in the Big 12 in the late 2000s the universities pushed to highlight to generate revenue and interest for their football programs. They scheduled two neutral-site games at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri in 2009 and 2010, which fans and the media dubbed "Farmageddon", a reference to the agricultural roots of these land-grant universities. Kansas State swept both matches, which drew average crowds, and the game was brought back to the university's campuses for the 2011 season.
This name is actually more closely associated with a terrifying documentary about the Unseen War on American Family Farms.
This could be a horror film for all I know.
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Yes, I know this Mask Iowa State pre-game video isn't that funny. They can't all be world class. It's hard to keep you people entertained, you know.


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Sophia Vergara in KSU gear is required posting.
It's in my contract.
In the fine print.  
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Absolutely love this video that opened up the KU game last week at BSFS.  

Not sure if they intentionally went with an Inception inspired soundtrack + production or not, but it scores big points with me. (And you would nod your head knowingly if you knew where Inception ranked in my top movies of all time. hint: it's way up there.)


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This is also an especially good KU-themed 'Proud of this House' prior to kick last Saturday. I'm sure I'm blinded by the especially strong purple passion punch tonight but I like this song and these highlights prior to the games.

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If you actually watched that purple passion video I commend you.  You are an elite PK reader.

This How-To video and web series on how to make alcoholic
drinks is 98% unwatchable.
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A pretty good read from the Bleacher Report about Snyder.
"There are no plays in football that work just exactly like we put them up on the board. It just doesn’t happen that way… We believe that the players on the field are in the best position, with the best vantage point to make critical decisions. The ideal situation is to have your team so well prepared that each time the defense presents itself we will know exactly what we need to do.” 
"Yelling, screaming and swearing is not the answer. You can be very demanding without that. Accepting mistakes and less than a player’s best performance is also not the answer. He must know that you will not tolerate less than his best, yet he must know that you love him like your own. This is the true art of coaching."  -- Bill Snyder
Note it says "Can."  Not necessarily "Will".
But I'll take it.
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Fine.  I'll talk some about Iowa State since that's why you've come all this way.

You want stats?  Well stats you will get.  And stats of course, are everything.  

I lifted this right off of lotthall's post on GoPowercat.com.  If that is against the rules I'm sure I'll be hearing about it.

I'd like to also point out that ISU does not have a statistical advantage OF ANY KIND heading into this game.  Not one offensive stat except Passing Offense. (And yet we have fewer INTs, higher yards per completion, and higher yards PER ATTEMPT.)  
Yards per Play
#4 KSU 7.28
#90 ISU 5.10 
Yards per Game
#41 KSU 441.2
#91 ISU 365.2 
3rd down conversion %
#7 KSU 55.10%
#68 ISU 40.00% 
4th down conversion %
#1 KSU 100% (1 attempt)
#1 ISU 100% (1 attempt) 
penalties per game/ penalty yards per game
#1/1 KSU 1.80 penalties/game for 14.20 yards per game
#16/30 ISU 4.40 penalties/game for 41.60 yards per game 
First downs/ game
#48 KSU 22.20
#72 ISU 20.40 
Passing offense
#107 KSU 67.02% completion; 2 INT; 9.44 yds/att; 14.06 yds/completion
#90 ISU 64.56% completion; 9 INT; 6.54 yds/att; 10.13 yds/completion 
Passing efficiency
#7 KSU 166.60 rating
#68 ISU 131.06 rating 
Red Zone offense
#47 KSU 85% 23 scores in 27 drives (78% touchdowns vs field goals)
#84 ISU 76% 13 scores in 17 drives (85% touchdowns vs field goals) 
Rushing
#9 KSU 263.8 yds/ game
#68 ISU 158.60 yds/ game
 
Scoring offense
#11 KSU 43.60 points/ game
#72 ISU 26.80 points/ game 
Turnover Margin
#5 KSU +2.00/ game 13 TO gained 3 TO lost
#80 ISU -0.20/ game 12 TO gained 13 TO lost 
Turnovers lost
#2 KSU 3
#101 ISU 13
The teams are closer in terms of defense so I won't post those to avoid undermining my point about how dominant we will be tomorrow.
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I'll end with this pretty solid analysis from the CycloneReport.com.  

While Paul Clark gives the Cats an edge in 3 of the 5 categories and ultimately picks KSU by a score, I think it's worth noting that everyone seems to forget ISU has already lost to Tech (at home), and barely squeaked by Iowa 9-6.  Those are two unimpressive games on the ol' ISU resume this season, and I'm just not buying the TCU purple koolaid for this year as ultlimately it's clearly a rebuilding year for Gary.
The Wildcats play a very disciplined and clean brand of football, ranking #1 in the country in fewest penalty yards and being +10 in turnover margin coming in. Iowa State is -1 on turnovers and a very good 30th in fewest penalty yards. 
Both teams will be challenged to play clean football if the weather is as bad as some of the forecasts. If lightning and severe thunderstorms do materialize, the game will be delayed as necessary, providing an extra mental challenge for both teams to overcome. Just rain itself is not a huge issue as Iowa State's state-of-the-art natural grass surface will handle whatever comes in that regard.
It's going to rain.  A lot.  And in the end, KSU will stand victorious and move to 6-0 with a dominant rushing attack and just enough passing to keep ISU's defense from doing much against another solid performance from Heisman candidate, Collin Klein.

Thanks for playing Iowa State  -- you unfortunately played your upset card too early this year.
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