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When Kansas State's schedule was first announced, Bill Snyder wasn't exactly pleased to see that the Wildcats would have a week off after just one game.
Turns out it couldn't have come at a better time.
The Wildcats needed an 86-yard drive capped by a 33-yard touchdown pass from Collin Klein to Chris Harper in the closing minutes Saturday night just to slip by Eastern Kentucky. There was nothing sexy about the 10-7 final score, which was lowlighted by five fumbles, seven penalties and enough other mistakes to keep the Kansas State coaching staff busy during the early bye.
The Wildcats don't return until Sept. 17 against Kent State. That will begin a stretch of nine games in nine weeks that includes a visit to Miami and the start of Big 12 play.
When Kansas State's schedule was first announced, Bill Snyder wasn't exactly pleased to see that the Wildcats would have a week off after just one game.
Turns out it couldn't have come at a better time.
The Wildcats needed an 86-yard drive capped by a 33-yard touchdown pass from Collin Klein to Chris Harper in the closing minutes Saturday night just to slip by Eastern Kentucky. There was nothing sexy about the 10-7 final score, which was lowlighted by five fumbles, seven penalties and enough other mistakes to keep the Kansas State coaching staff busy during the early bye.
''We have two weeks if we invest ourselves to try to correct our problems,'' said Snyder, who got his 150th win as the Wildcats' head coach Saturday night. ''I hate to have an open date at this point in the season, but maybe it will work on our behalf.''
It sure couldn't hurt, especially for the offense.
Klein threw an interception and could have had three more errant passes picked off, and that was just when he had time to throw. The rest of the night he was running for dear life - about a third of the quarterback's game-high 25 carries came during broken plays.
The Wildcats averaged just shy of 200 yards rushing per game last season, when Daniel Thomas carried the load, but they struggled mightily against an undersized defense from the Football Championship Subdivision. John Hubert got the start and ran for 91 yards. Angelo Pease carried five times for just 11 yards, and highly touted transfer Bryce Brown ran just three times for 16 yards.
Brown, a former top-ranked recruit who spent a season at Tennessee, also was responsible for a fumble that gave Eastern Kentucky the ball at the Kansas State goal line in the third quarter.
The Colonels punched it in moments later and found themselves with a 7-0 lead.
''Way too many penalties, turnovers, busted assignments across the board,'' said Klein, who went the entire way after spending time as a change-of-pace quarterback last season.
''It's not obviously where we hoped we were, but give credit to Eastern Kentucky for having their game plan,'' Klein said, ''and also hats off to our defense for being solid when we needed it.''
Yes, there was one bright spot on an otherwise bleak night for Kansas State.
A defense that was among the worst in college football against the run last season - allowing more than 230 yards per game - kept turning Eastern Kentucky away every time the Wildcats' offense floundered. That included Nigel Malone's interception in the end zone to foil a good scoring chance by Eastern Kentucky, and another by Malone to seal the game after Kansas State finally pulled ahead.
The Colonels managed just 10 yards net rushing, the lowest total by a Kansas State opponent since Texas A&M had minus-13 in 2009. The Wildcats' four sacks, including two by senior defensive end Jordan Voelker, were their most since the same game against the Aggies two years ago.
''We wanted the game to come down to be on our shoulders,'' said Voelker, who came into the night with eight tackles and no sacks in his entire college career. ''The offense carried us last year and we just wanted to be there for them this year.''
Voelker acknowledged that the game didn't play out the way anybody in purple had planned, and he said that everyone in the locker room afterward was aware that life in the Big 12 figures to be much more difficult than playing against smaller schools from the Ohio Valley Conference.
But he also pointed out that the week off should allow the Wildcats to sort out any kinks.
Their return begins a stretch of nine games in nine weeks that includes a trip to Miami on Sept. 24 and the start of league play against Baylor on Oct. 1.
''We're not where we thought we would be coming out of the first game,'' wide receiver Brodrick Smith said, ''so we'll go out there next week and just prepare like, you know, we've got to go out there and get better. Next week we'll use that bye week as a `get better' week.''
