Is There Trouble at KSUcks

H

husker rob

All-American
from the Kansas City Star

Prince displeased with Kansas State’s final open practice

By HOWARD RICHMAN

The Kansas City Star

MANHATTAN, Kan. | Maybe it was a motivation ploy. Or perhaps it was downright honesty. Either way, Kansas State football coach Ron Prince sent a specific message to his team through the media Saturday.

“I’m not real happy with the way things are right now,” Prince said.

Part of K-State’s struggles included sophomore quarterback Josh Freeman, who wasn’t exactly sharp throwing passes during 11-on-11 drills. But the troubles go much deeper.

Special teams were an emphasis during the Wildcats’ final open practice in front of about 300 fans Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. That includes the kicking game, which remains a key area of concern less than two weeks until the opener Sept. 1 at Auburn.

K-State junior kicker Jared Parker thinks junior Brooks Rossman has the lead at placekicker. Prince, though, may not agree. In fact, that is one area that makes him unhappy.

“I would have said yes going into the last couple of days,” Prince said when asked if somebody had emerged as placekicker, “but right now I’m very undecided.”

And don’t even get Prince started on one particular spot on the offensive line.

“I’ve seen a lot of improvement in the offensive line, but I’m trying to find a left guard. We don’t have one,” he said. “Right now, it’s open tournament to see who can be the left guard when we go play Auburn, and I’m not real pleased with any of the candidates right now.”

Sophomore Brock Unruh worked a lot Saturday at left guard. A week ago in the practice at Olathe, it was senior Logan Robinson.

Prince wants his team more mentally tough.

“We need to be a tough, hardened, calloused team to win the games we want to win. The mental part — I’m not real pleased with it,” he said.

•DT MORAN QUITS: Junior defensive tackle Alphonso Moran has left the program.

Moran made four starts last year, a highlight being three tackles for losses against Nebraska.

they just switch to a 3-4 defense and their starting DT quits......hmmmm

•ANOTHER SICK CAT: Junior linebacker Reggie Walker was absent because of illness. That has been a common theme during camp.

“I wouldn’t call it the flu bug; that’s not exactly what it is, but some sickness that’s gone through the team,” Prince said.

I think the sickness that is going through the team is called Princessitus

 
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here is one from the Wichita Eagle

Prince unhappy with K-State's progress

BY JEFFREY MARTIN

The Wichita Eagle

MANHATTAN - If not for the lightning, a sudden bolt of electricity that startled Kansas State president Jon Wefald, Ron Prince might have welcomed inclement weather Saturday.

Prince thinks his football team needs to develop toughness, especially with the season opener at Auburn 13 days away. Practicing in the rain would have provided another challenge, although the Wildcats proved Saturday that the normal routine of fall camp is rigorous enough.

There were some dropped passes, a few false starts.

Josh Freeman didn't complete any passes in 11-on-11 drills. :o

His backups weren't much better.

And that was just on offense. To repent for its sins, the entire offensive contingent, some coaches included, scampered up and down the stadium's south steps -- the combination of cleats and metal bleachers be damned.

Prince wasn't happy.

"Obviously, they didn't look very sharp today," he said. "It concerns me a little bit, the concentration and focus. We're going to need to be better than that to win two weeks from now."

He has pushed the Wildcats for two weeks, and they are tired. Prince said the tackling was better this week than last week, but it didn't translate Saturday. Players are dinged up a bit, but that's the nature of the sport. He expects physical fatigue, but he won't tolerate mental weariness.

"We have to get fresh, get focused," Prince said. "We've worked them real hard. We needed to. That's where our team is right now. I'm not real happy with the way things are right now. I don't like our focus."

If there was a bright spot during an outing Prince later described as "stormy," it had to be the defense. Senior defensive end Rob Jackson insisted the offense had caught up last week, but that wasn't evident Saturday.

Freeman had little time to operate in 11-on-11s, and the secondary was equally disruptive.

But even players on the defensive side had to admit Saturday was a disappointment, especially with a Sept. 1 visit to Auburn looming.

"It was a sloppy practice," sophomore defensive back Josh Moore said. "Even though we've been practicing every day, we should come out every day and work hard, get it over with.... But it was a sloppy practice."

It was just one workout. Or was it something more?

There was this from Jackson:

"We've had two straight weeks of camp and it's just hard to stay focused. A lot of the players' minds seem to wander, but I don't think it's that big of a deal, like we're going to lose focus in the game. When the game rolls around, we know what we're going to have to do."

And there was this from junior linebacker Ian Campbell:

"I think that your expectations of how you practice always have to be high. But everyone has a bad day -- either your dog died or your girlfriend broke up with you. But when you have a collective bad day, it's just something that seeps down into everybody. I don't think we had a collective bad day.

"... But we didn't have the practice we wanted to have."

On the whole, the players didn't seem too concerned.

As always, though, the final word belonged to Prince.

"We need to be that type of team -- a tough, hard, callused team to go through what we're going to go through this year," he said."... The mental part of it I'm not pleased with."

Notes -- Alphonso "Junior" Moran is no longer with the team. Prince said the junior defensive tackle quit recently for personal reasons. He started four games in 2006, playing in all 12. He finished the season with 18 tackles, including four for losses, and one sack.

• The battle between Jordan Bedore and Trevor Viers continues at the center position, but it's not nearly as promising at left guard. In fact, don't be shocked if Prince takes out a help-wanted ad in the student newspaper. "We don't have one," said Prince, when asked who the leader was. "We're trying anybody not in the starting lineup over there to see if anyone wants to be the starting left guard at Kansas State."

• Campbell didn't participate in all of the drills Saturday, but he insisted following practice he was fine. But what about the elastic strap around his right knee? "I don't like the feel of my knee on the turf," he said.

• Junior linebacker Reggie Walker didn't practice Saturday. Prince said he was under the weather, an ailment that has apparently swept through the team. Senior defensive tackle Steven Cline didn't work, either.

• Prince hasn't decided on a kicker.

• Junior college transfer Deon Murphy and sophomore running back Leon Patton are the leaders for the punt and kickoff return roles, but Prince cautioned against ruling out senior Justin McKinney or freshman Dee Bell.

 
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Either that team is going to implode, or it's going to come together big-time. No middle ground.

This kind of thing used to happen years ago - I'm not sure it'll work in this day and age.

 
AR Husker Fan said:
Either that team is going to implode, or it's going to come together big-time. No middle ground.

This kind of thing used to happen years ago - I'm not sure it'll work in this day and age.
Click to expand...
after reading this article about all of the change over that is going on, i would say they are in the beginnings of a meltdown like 3 Mile Island and soon to be like Chernoble

Big 12 Football Preview: KSU hopes changes are for better

BY LEE BARFKNECHT

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Kansas State needs a new title for its football loyalty award.

Quarterback Allan Evridge left Kansas State for Wisconsin after dropping on the Wildcats depth chart.Coach Ron Prince fired the guy it was named for — Jim "Shorty" Kleinau, the equipment manager for 28 years who would bleed purple out his eye sockets if asked to.

Kleinau didn't go out the door alone after Prince's first season.

Four assistant coaches left. Three took other assistant's jobs — defensive coordinator Raheem Morris with the Tampa Bay Bucs, running backs coach Tim Horton with Air Force and wide receivers coach Pat Washington with Mississippi. The contract of tight ends coach James Jones wasn't renewed.

Prince hired a new assistant, Wesley McGriff from Baylor, last winter. He left one month later to go to Miami (Fla.).

Big 12 Countdown

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• World-Herald staff writer Lee Barfknecht's Big 12 picks:

• No. 12: Iowa State

• No. 11: Baylor

• No. 10: Colorado

• No. 9: Kansas

• No. 8: Kansas State

• No. 7: Texas Tech

• No. 6: Coming tomorrowOther departures: 14-year strength and conditioning coach Rod Cole to Texas A&M; graduate assistant and de facto secondary coach Scott Frost to Northern Iowa; and director of football administration Abby Boustead to Florida for graduate school.

Before and during last season, some players left, too.

Among the most notable was potential starting quarterback Allan Evridge from Papillion-La Vista, who transferred to Wisconsin after being dropped to No. 3 on the KSU depth chart without explanation.

Does that much change signal turmoil, or is it the normal course of business for a first-year operation?

Prince calls it part of the process of a team being "reborn" every season.

"One of the biggest things we've talked to the team about is that every year will stand on its own merits," he said. "Every year, there will be players who graduate from their part of the roster, and there will be coaches who will have the opportunities to advance their careers.

"There will be new players coming in and new coaches coming in. From that standpoint, we're really excited about where we are."

Excited because Kansas State, after two straight seasons of finishing last in the Big 12 North, went 7-6. The Wildcats tied for second in the division, earned a bowl bid and produced a signature win — 45-42 over No. 4 Texas — in Prince's first season.

But the excitement doesn't translate into satisfaction.

"By a long stretch, we didn't feel like we accomplished all of our goals a year ago," he said. "We had a nice season. But we have a lot of things we need to improve on to take that next step."

A buzzword among the Purple People for this season is "versatility."

"That is one of our biggest objectives," Prince said. "We need to become a more versatile team."

With that in mind, Prince switched defenses from a 4-3 to a 3-4, and moved his top defensive player — Ian Campbell — from end to outside linebacker.

"Defensively," Prince said, "we'll take our most veteran players and find a variety of things they can do so we can always have our best players on the field."

Campbell said he's ready.

"I'll go play left tackle if they want," he said. "This will make me more versatile. People won't know if I'm going inside or outside. It's a really attacking defense, and it's a lot of fun to watch."

Because of some missed opportunities last season, Campbell said, the Wildcats are on board with whatever changes Prince installs.

"We could easily have been 9-4 last season," Campbell said. "It's frustrating we couldn't have done better for him. I still feel like he put together a great first year — one of many more to come."

Kansas State at a glance

• Coach: Ron Prince, second year, 7-6.

• Best player: Linebacker Ian Campbell. Not only is Campbell the best player, he might be the best story. He walked on from Cimarron, Kan., (pop. 1,994) three years ago and now is touted as a preseason All-American.

• Best newcomer: Offensive tackle Alesana Alesana. This former rugby player from Western Samoa likely will start at left tackle. In junior college, he blocked for Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee at City College of San Francisco.

• Good news: The offense has playmakers (QB Josh Freeman, TB Leon Patton, WR Jordy Nelson). The special teams, among the nation's best last season, should be good again. And there is some momentum after going to a bowl game in Prince's first season.

• Bad news: The offensive line. The Wildcats played musical chairs with this group a year ago. Now, even more mixing and matching is being done, with three juco recruits involved. Part of the reason Freeman threw 15 interceptions to six touchdowns was he had to run for his life.

• Key game: Nov. 10 at Nebraska. It's not far-fetched to think that K-State could come to Lincoln 4-2 in the league. An upset here could scramble the North title race.

• Camp chatter: Among the newcomers making a splash in fall drills are freshman receiver Lamark Brown, juco linebacker Chris Patterson and juco safety Gary Chandler. . . . The place-kicking job has been thrown open, which gives Josh Cherry from McCook, Neb., a chance. . . . Other Nebraskans on the fall roster: junior running back John McCardle from Millard North; sophomore wide receiver Tony Purvis from McCook; junior guard Brad Rooker from Millard North; and sophomore offensive tackle Derek Meyer from Campbell.

 
3................2.......................1.................................meltdown. You are a no-go at this station Coach Prince.

 
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