MANHATTAN, Kan. — “You know, all our defense has gotta do is worry about you and Collin (Klein) running the ball. Because that’s all you got.”
So said Baylor’s Ahmad Dixon, just this past May. A gauntlet officially tossed to the turf, a line drawn across the Little Apple.
“Everybody’s saying that all we can do is run the ball,” explained Kansas State tailback John Hubert, who was at the receiving end of Dixon’s wrath, a playful confrontation that took place a few months ago in their hometown of Waco, Texas.
As the talk switched to the trash variety, Hubert gleefully reminded Dixon, his old high school teammate, about the Wildcats’ 36-35 victory over the Bears last October. Dixon’s rebuttal was to rip the K-State passing game to shreds. And here we are.
“So we want to go out and just prove him and Baylor and the other Big 12 conference (teams) that we can also throw the ball as well,” Hubert continued. “We’ve got great wide receivers that can go out and catch it.”
That’s not the rub. This is: Do the Wildcats have a quarterback that can go out and sling it? Really, really, really, really sling it?
The folks who put together the watch list for the 2012 Unitas Golden Arm Award, given annually to the nation’s best senior collegiate quarterback, seem to think so — K-State star Collin Klein was among the 29 who made Wednesday’s cut. It’s the fourth preseason honor for Klein, who’s also on the short list for the Davey O’Brien Award (best college quarterback), the Manning Award (ditto) and the Maxwell Award (college player of the year).
Given that the 6-foot-5 Klein was a one-man offense, a Tebow clone, an old-school first-down machine, the love’s more than deserved. It’s just that the whole ‘Golden Arm’ thing is a little funny when you consider that all anybody could talk about last year was Klein’s golden legs.
In total, the Colorado native ran the ball 317 times and threw it just 281. Of the Unitas candidates who appeared in at least 10 games during the 2011 campaign, Klein had the fewest passing yards (1,918) of the bunch, having accounted for fewer than 175 yards through the air on at least 10 different occasions.
Klein was more throwback than a pure thrower, amassing only six interceptions and keeping the chains moving; in the meantime, the Wildcat offense chewed up valuable clock and piled up cardiac win after cardiac win en route to a 10-3 record. In a league full of high-tech spread attacks and quick-strike, no-huddle schemes, K-State was slow, methodical, and meticulous, an analog offense in a digital conference. Whatever. It worked.
But lightning has this thing about striking twice, and there are no guarantees that it’ll work with quite the same mojo during Klein’s senior sequel. Ramming your gigantic quarterback into the line may be whole mess of fun on the Xbox, but your controller doesn’t have to spend the next four days in the training room afterward from the repeated battering.
“Yeah, I think we’ve just got to be more diverse in what we do,” co-offensive coordinator Dana Dimel allowed. “If we have to throw the ball, we’ve got to throw it better when we have to throw it.”
If Dixon’s comment is any harbinger of defenses to come, then, yes, they’re going to have to throw it. Or at the least, keep the other guys honest with the threat of throwing it. Teams are wise to Klein’s power and Hubert’s wheels by now; the line of scrimmage figures to be more congested than I-70 at rush hour. Add in the fact that the Wildcats are likely breaking in at least two new offensive linemen, and you can understand why the word “balance” isn’t just lip-service during preseason camp — it’s a mantra.
“Coach Dimel, Coach (Del) Miller and Coach (Bill) Snyder, I mean all of them, they really put us in good positions where we can be successful,” Klein allowed. “It’s just a matter of us going out and doing it.”
Doing it through the air, well, that’s the fun part. When Klein The Passer had to throw ball 29 times or fewer in 2011, K-State went 10-1. But 30 times or more? Two games, two losses.
“That’s why we want balance,” Snyder said. “So if they take away one thing, at least we’ve got a chance with something else.”
While scouts drool over Klein’s speed (a reported 4.6 in the 40-yard dash), frame, strength, smarts and intangibles, they wince at his throwing motion. The book says the windup is a bit funky, the release is a tad slow, and the comfort level on some routes is in question. And yet Klein’s teammates just sort of roll their eyes at such critiques.
“I think he can throw for 3,000 and rush for 1,000,” receiver Chris Harper said.
That works. Klein did chuck it 56 times for 480 yards in the spring game, and the summer reports have been encouraging for the most part. With speedster Tyler Lockett back healthy at wideout and tight end Travis Tannahill raising Cain across the middle, Klein will have some salty options at his disposal. Assuming, of course, that he can find them.
“I tell everybody, ‘I’ve played more quarterback than what Collin played before last year, and he went out and broke I don’t know how many records,’” Harper continued. “I mean, I’ve stopped trying to limit Collin after last year.”
Opposing defenses, though, won’t share that sentiment. Dixon doesn’t share that sentiment. Klein The Passer can run. But if the Wildcats want to return to a January bowl, he sure as heck can’t hide.
You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter @seankeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com
