Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Things You Should Know - 2010 Kansas State Football Season Opener Edition

When Kansas State's 2010 football season kicks off on Saturday, there will be plenty of boisterous excitement, booze-fueled craziness, water-fueled craziness, and unbridled optimism. There will also be a lot of utterances of "okay, who the heck is that guy" as can often be the case for a very casual fan when a season begins. If you are a very casual fan (or even if you're not... I'm not about to discriminate against readers) you're in luck (or out of it, depending of your opinion of the author), as my interest goes slightly beyond that point. With that in mind, The Writings present things you should know about the 2010 Wildcats just in time for the season opener. Here's hoping these details can keep you up to speed with the football talk you might hear leading into Saturday... If not, here's hoping these details are at least seen as more insightful than tales of Burger King employees.*

*Don't worry, BK fans. I'm sure the local eatery will provide some material again someday soon.

- Carson Coffman will start at quarterback for Kansas State. He's the son of Paul and brother of Chase, retired and current NFL players, respectively. Coffman began last season as the Wildcats' starter, but after failing to impress lost the job to Grant Gregory, who may or may not have been playing with a severe shoulder injury for the majority of the season. This year, Coffman beat out Colin Klein - who played wide receiver in 2009 - and Sammuel Lamur - who earned the team's 2009 Scout Team Player of the Year award, but whom never was a full-time starter in junior college - for the starting spot. Don't be surprised to see turnover at the spot if turnovers are an issue.

- At running back and wide receiver, the Wildcats may have as much collective talent as the team has seen since the first Snyder era. Alas, much of said talent is also unproven. The proven end of it comes from Daniel Thomas, the running back who led the Big 12 in rushing in 2009. Lead blocking for Thomas is Braden Wilson, a sophomore fullback who seems to seek contact whenever he can. At wide receiver, K-State will feature a slew of talent, even if there aren't staggering stat lines to back them up. Broderick Smith and Chris Harper - transfers from Minnesota and Oregon, respectively - bring sheer athleticism to the position. Harper graduated from a Wichita high school and was the first Oregon player to score passing, rushing, and receiving touchdowns in the same season. Meanwhile, Tramaine Thompson - at 5-foot-7 - will do nothing if he does not remind you of Brandon Banks. Aubrey Quarles returns at WR after missing last season due to injury... He's the only receiver mentioned that has actually caught a pass for the Wildcats in an actual game.

- Defensive tackle Prizell Brown came to K-State as a tight end weighing around 260-pounds. He now weighs 290 and will start at defensive tackle. How did he gain all that weight? Peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches, milkshakes, and weight training. I kid you not. I believe some young, talented* recently wrote a feature story on this very subject for a K-State specialty publication. You should probably go buy it. (It's been awhile since I've had a good, shameless plug. It feels so right.)

*The Writings: Where "talented" is used in place of "delusional" on a regular basis.

- The Wildcats lost last year's top cornerback, Josh Moore, to the NFL's Chicago Bears. They'll replace him this season with a young man named Terrance Sweeney, whom coaches call the fastest player on the team.

- K-State features a pair of true freshmen on the season-opening depth chart: linebacker Tre Walker and safety Ty Zimmerman - a Junction City graduate.

- The Wildcat with the best chance of a long NFL career might be the long-snapper, Corey Adams. That's no real knock against the rest of the team. He's just rather good at what he does, and it's an NFL position where specialized talent if really appreciated.

- There will be no Power Towels anywhere near most seats at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Thank goodness.

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