Miami, Kansas State Position Breakdown

We’re pleased to have Jonathan Clubb of Jug of Snyder, a Kansas State blog, offer a position-by-position breakdown of the Wildcats along with our breakdown of the ‘Canes heading into the Saturday afternoon showdown in Miami.

Quarterback

Miami: Jacory Harris remains atop the depth chart for the ‘Canes despite two picks against Ohio State. We shouldn’t blame the quarterback for every interception or bad pass, of course, but with the picks mounting throughout his career, Harris’ status as the starter concerns some. Stephen Morris is listed as the backup again after getting the start against Maryland in the opener. –Danny Hobrock

Kansas State: Collin Klein is the man of choice running the K-State offense. Last season he showed some flashes of great play in a few late season games which gave hope for this season but that still hasn’t shown up quite yet. Klein is a big quarterback standing 6’5″ and weighing in at 225 lbs and can run really well. So far this season that’s been about all defenses need to worry about anyway. The K-State opposition has been less than stellar which hasn’t forced Klein’s arm into action hardly at all. The best pass came in the final 30 seconds of the season opener which was a beautiful 34 yard ball to win a game that shouldn’t have been that close. The question still remains as to whether that could be the norm or the enigma. Klein’s ability to run isn’t in question as evidenced by his 217 yards in 2 games. He’s not an elusive runner by any stretch of the imagination but he’ll win a game with his legs if left unchecked. –Jonathan Clubb

Running back

Miami: Lamar Miller is off to a helluva start this year. Smash (Miller) and Dash (Mike James) gives Miami a powerful one-two punch that rivals that of any team in America. Meanwhile, Maurice Hagens has emerged as a key figure in the backfield, paving the way for the running backs and even adding some nice receptions and carries so far. -DH

Kansas State: The Wildcat backfield has been a little hard to figure out up to this point. The opening day depth chart had Bryce Brown, John Hubert, and Angelo Pease all in a tie for the starting position and not much has happened to really change that. Bryce Brown was expected to be a huge positive at RB coming in after transferring from Tennessee but a nagging injury and constantly finding himself in the coach’s doghouse has limited his touches. John Hubbert has taken the biggest load of the carries and the rest has been split by Pease and Rose but there hasn’t been a huge amount of evidence that this is as productive a group that K-State is accustomed to having. Most K-State fans hope that can be attributed to a pretty heavy dose of vanilla play calling through the first two games but that may be wishful thinking. A game against an opponent like the hurricanes is going to go a long ways in determining what the rest of the season could bring. -JC

Wide Receiver

Miami: Allen Hurns is the leading receiver after the first two games (10 receptions, 123 yards) and caught two touchdown passes against the Buckeyes. He and Travis Benjamin are listed as the starters with Tommy Streeter and Phillip Dorsett the second teamers. LaRon Byrd and Kendall Thompkins are listed on the third team. Eleven Hurricanes have caught a pass this year, and the offense should continue to spread the ball around against the Wildcats. -DH

Kansas State: The wide receiver position is filled with guys who seem to have plenty of play making ability if the ball could ever get to them. As mentioned before, the QB play so far this season hasn’t helped anyone evaluate the talent level of this group. Chris Harper (former Oregon QB) and Brodrick Smith lead the charge and are the biggest threats to break something big. Tagging along is true freshman Tyler Lockett who has had some good early production and Tremaine Thompson who was a good target last season. -JC

Tight End

Miami: The ‘Canes have had some injuries at the tight end position with Blake Ayles and Cory White out for the year with injuries, and Dyron Dye continues to serve his four-game suspension. John Calhoun, Asante Cleveland, Chase Ford and Clive Walford give Miami plenty of talent at the position, but they haven’t been much of a factor in the passing game yet. Calhoun is listed as the starter. -DH

Kansas State:  Andre MacDonald and Travis Tannahill are little more than added lineman in the K-State offense. Both of these men are huge and do a good job of controlling the ends of the line of scrimmage but any team that focuses on this position as a viable pass threat is most likely wasting time. Again, the Wildcat play calling has been anything but exciting but even if things are opened up for Saturday I’m not expecting too much from this position. -JC

Offensive Line

Miami: The offensive line has been tough so far this year. Miller is the nation’s fourth-leading rusher after the third week despite having played only two games thanks in large part to the offensive line’s ability to make room. Brandon Washington will stick to left tackle opposite Jon Feliciano, while Harland Gunn and Brandon Linder get the start at guard. Tyler Horn is the man in the middle. Tackles Seantrel Henderson and Malcolm Bunche are listed as doubtful on the injury report. -DH

Kansas State: The offensive line looked horrible in the season opener but also improved greatly with a bye week built in before the next game. The right 5 guys is still kind of up for debate as some injuries have made some men step up so expect to see more substitutions taking place than normal. Surprisingly that hasn’t had a negative effect which either speaks to the interchangeability of these guys or the lack of anyone stepping up and taking the position for themselves. -JC

Defensive Line

Miami: The Miami defensive line struggled at times on Saturday. Marcus Forston and Adewale Ojomo returned from suspension last weekend, while the ‘Canes are still without defensive end Olivier Vernon.  Neither Forston nor Ojomo really stood out in their first game of the season against a tough Ohio State front five. They’ll need to be on their game and play much better in this one to keep the Wildcats from running the football, which they do quite well. Keep an eye on true freshman Anthony Chickillo, who’s earned his playing time so far this year. -DH

Kansas State: K-State’s defense has been a huge surprise this season. After finishing dead last in some categories last season there wasn’t a lot of hope. Instead, the defense has been stellar against the competition so far (which may explain most) and is currently leading the NCAA in overall defense. The front includes Ray Kibble, Adam Davis, Raphael Guidry, Meshak Williams, and Jordan Voelker with a few other interchangeable pieces. With this unit there’s no doubt that the interchangeability is because they all bring talent in different situations. They’ve done a great job controlling the rushing game of opponents, getting to the QB, and forcing bad decisions and it hopefully continues this weekend. -JC

Linebackers

Miami: Sean Spence made a big difference in his return from a one-game suspension. He came up with some big stops against the Buckeyes, broke up a pass, and was in position on a would-be screen that allowed Chickillo to come away with a sack. Middle linebacker Jimmy Gaines has played well thus far, and Ramon Buchanan will round out the starting lineup at the second level. -DH

Kansas State:  In a made for TV moment, Arthur Brown leads the charge back to where he started. I was skeptical of Brown being everything that was said about him over the summer but in the first two games he has proved that the hype is true. He is the leader of the defense and will be all over the field Saturday. I don’t know the story behind him transferring out of the Hurricanes program or how ‘Canes fans feel bout him, but I’m sure glad Mr. Brown came home! Helping him out will be Tre Walker and Alex Hrebec who were solid last season and have continued their play into this one. -JC

Defensive backs

Miami: The Buckeyes only managed 35 yards passing against the Hurricanes, and most of those yards came on the final drive. Safety Ray Ray Armstrong is still out as he serves his four-game suspension, but the position hasn’t lagged much with Vaughn Telemaque playing very well. Cornerback JoJo Nicholas will stay at safety for a couple more games until Armstrong returns; he came up with a pick against Ohio State. Brandon McGee and Wake Forest transfer Mike Williams will start at the cornerback spots with converted-running back Lee Chambers and Thomas Finnie listed as the backups. -DH

Kansas State: The Defensive backs were the one spot of the defense that played great last year. SS Ty Zimmerman and CB David Garrett both received major honors last season and returned at the same high level. Added to the unit are Nigel Malone, Tysyn Hartman, and Allen Chapman who round out what is probably K-State’s best unit overall. They have the ability to shut down a passing game, force turnovers, and change a game. Last week the first score came from a pick 6 and the Wildcats never looked back. -JC

Special Teams

Miami: Superstar kicker/punter Matt Bosher is playing for the Atlanta Falcons, leaving kicker Jake Wieclaw and punter Dalton Botts to handle the kicking duties. Botts averages 44.7 yards per punt so far this year, while Wieclaw has made both of his field goal attempts and all three of his extra point attempts. Miller and Benjamin are the kick returners; both can house it. -DH

Kansas State: Kicker Anthony Cantele went 3/3 last week with some big yardage kicks which was nice after having a rough first game. The field goal unit isn’t a liability but I don’t know that I’m sure enough of it to put them out there with the game on the line. Punter Ryan Doerr does a great job and is on par with any other college program. The return game is where things could go great. Zimmerman, Garrett, and Harper are all threats to do big things. -JC