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Gopowercat.com's Tim Fitzgerald! The coolest big cat of them all checks in.
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00:00Poorly lit, but I'm better looking that way.
00:02That's all right.
00:03That's all right.
00:03It's because I'm here.
00:04Fitz wanted to have some FaceTime one-on-one.
00:06Exactly.
00:07Ignore the guy over there.
00:08How you doing, boyfriend?
00:10Hey.
00:11Hey, Fitz.
00:11Good to see you.
00:12Hope you're feeling great.
00:13Tim Fitzgerald or K-State Insider.
00:15You can find everything at gopowercat.com.
00:20It's just – cats have got you in a good mood.
00:23Cats have got you feeling good.
00:253-0.
00:26Looking good.
00:27Yeah.
00:27First little part of the season here.
00:30I'm not going to Cincinnati, but my guy Ryan Gilbert is,
00:34and it's a biggie for both programs.
00:36They're both 3-0.
00:37What do we know about the programs?
00:39Well, I think both Cincinnati and Kansas State are better off than what we thought,
00:45but Kansas State seems to be in a really solid position one game at a time, boys.
00:51There's a lot of Bill Snyder and Colin Kline,
00:52and he's not looking at anything except Cincinnati and getting out there
00:56and getting a win and getting back and having an off week.
00:59Let's start with Cincinnati and then work our way backwards.
01:02What do you know about Cincinnati Barricades?
01:05Well, they've had some ups and downs this season.
01:08Dramatic.
01:08I mean, down 28-7 last week.
01:11What, to Miami, Ohio?
01:12Well, that's not on their agenda, but they came back and won.
01:16This is a really good offensive line.
01:19Their quarterback is transferred in from Georgia Southern, I believe,
01:22and he's been really solid.
01:24They're really good.
01:26Probably about as good as you can expect coming out of a portal, to be real honest,
01:30at this level, if you're not buying the elite for $4 million or something.
01:33This is a pretty good team.
01:35They've got some nice elements.
01:37And I just, I'm afraid K-State fans and maybe the players are looking past them
01:43because this is a game that everyone kind of thought, including me, they'd win.
01:47But you got to go do it.
01:49And I think this team, the Cincinnati team, is really good along the lines.
01:54And that is exactly the kind of test K-State's offensive line.
01:58And let's be honest, their defensive line needs to get because, you know,
02:02nobody's been able to stop K-State's pass rush.
02:05This offensive line probably can, but I know this, their play calling will reflect
02:11an idea that they're not getting to the quarterback.
02:13And that's going to be the interesting friction in this game.
02:16Well, I look at, you know, we look holistically at what's been accomplished this year,
02:21and it is so difficult to do that this early in the season.
02:25Cincinnati runs like crazy so far this year.
02:29K-State defends the run really well.
02:33They're top 30.
02:34K-State, and I didn't know this until I started to look ahead to this game,
02:38right now, nationally, K-State's got the second best defense in the country
02:42by yardage allowed.
02:44Again, they haven't played anybody yet.
02:48And so I don't know what to take from that.
02:50But strength on strength in this game would appear to be K-State wants to run the ball.
02:56Cincinnati wants to run the ball.
02:58You bring up the lines.
03:00That's where this game's at, it seems like to me.
03:03And that's the question for K-State, right?
03:05This young and experienced offensive line.
03:07Are they ready for this?
03:09You nailed it.
03:10I mean, that's exactly it.
03:12This game, look, the whole cliche is it's won and lost in the trenches.
03:16This game really is about the trenches.
03:19That's where the strength of these teams has been.
03:21Excuse me.
03:23And I think if K-State can come out and assert itself along the lines,
03:27they're going to have a pretty good day.
03:29But I have a feeling this one's going to be kind of down to the wire.
03:33I don't know why.
03:33I've just been getting that feeling lately.
03:35And I think Cincinnati's got a point to prove.
03:38And keep this in mind.
03:39Again, under Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati started fast.
03:43The first part of the season has been their strength.
03:46They fade, but that'll be long after this game if they do that.
03:50And we'll see what they've got in store for the Wildcats.
03:54One of the biggest stories going into the season for K-State
03:57was their offensive line, right?
03:59They had no Pastore, no Fitzpatrick is what it seems like it may be.
04:05Have they lived up to it?
04:06I know that there's Will Howard's little brothers out there.
04:08He's looking pretty good.
04:10What do you think of the offensive line?
04:11Are they going to be okay?
04:13Surprisingly good.
04:14They've been amazing.
04:16I mean, Charlie Adams got thrown into the left guard position
04:20because Tanner Morley, the guy who's been holding down that position
04:23almost since the day he transferred in from Colorado State.
04:26He's that good.
04:27And right now, PFF has, if you want to believe them,
04:31has Charlie Adams ranked one of the top offensive linemen,
04:35not only in the Big 12, but one of the best guards in the country.
04:38How do you take him off the field to put Morley back on the field?
04:41Because they're expecting him to be full go.
04:43In fact, the injury report kind of indicates that.
04:46So, you know, Brian Howard at left tackle has been a revelation.
04:50Has he been brilliant?
04:52Well, he hasn't faced anyone so far that makes him need to be brilliant.
04:56But he has been really solid, really good, far beyond what I thought he would be.
05:02I thought he'd be leaky, and he really hasn't been.
05:04But then again, they haven't gone against a defensive line like Cincinnati.
05:09So, everything always comes back to Avery in this season,
05:13and it will continue to do that.
05:15He had one of his best games as a Wildcat the last time out.
05:17That's obviously good to see.
05:19Everything has to go on the road now, though, for the first time here.
05:23I don't know, like, going into a game this big,
05:28and it is big early in the Big 12,
05:30and it being your first road game of the season,
05:33it's the first time Colin Klein's gone on the road,
05:36it's the first time Avery won't be at the bill
05:39trying to make the good decisions we're hoping he'll be able to make
05:43over the course of this season.
05:44I think that's a factor, and I think this is a big test for him,
05:47for Klein, for everybody to take the show on the road.
05:50It feels late in the year to be doing that in a game like this,
05:54where Cincinnati's 3-0.
05:56I don't care who they play, they're 3-0.
05:57Right.
05:58That's all that matters.
05:59You know, it didn't really, at the end of the day,
06:01when the game kicks off, you're 3-0.
06:03It doesn't matter how you got there.
06:05And, yeah, there's a lot at stake here.
06:07Both programs see some daylight that they can get to.
06:11And you're right.
06:12This is another event, you know, for Colin Klein to clear
06:19and going on the road with his team,
06:21the whole process of going on the road.
06:23Luckily, he inherits Casey Harper at Kansas State Football,
06:27who's been the ops person for a number of years.
06:29So she's got that under control.
06:31She's got all that stuff under control,
06:32and the coach doesn't have to worry about it.
06:36But there still is a different cadence to being on the road.
06:38You're in a hotel room.
06:39You got a 6 p.m. kick.
06:40That's a whole other problem because you're going to be sitting
06:42in that hotel room for all morning into the early afternoon
06:46when you go to Nippert Stadium.
06:48And that's a lot of stuff for a coach to manage,
06:50a lot of psyche to manage.
06:52And we'll see if K-State comes out with the same fire
06:54they've shown three games in a row.
06:56The fire that they have shown three games in a row, Fitz.
07:00Let's do some assessment of the season thus far.
07:03I think that a lot of people expected them to start 3-0.
07:06Are they on par or exceeding where you thought they would be?
07:10Well, I always put this out there first.
07:13I picked them to go 10-2.
07:15And that was based on the schedule because, guys,
07:17the schedule still remains very forgiving,
07:20and they are on course for that.
07:23I'm going to say this.
07:24I think they've had fewer problems than I thought they would have.
07:26New systems, a bunch of new players, half the roster is new,
07:30key players being plugged in and out,
07:32late injuries on the offensive line,
07:34which is really bad for most programs.
07:37They've overcome everything so far.
07:39They've met every answer.
07:40The coaching staff, even though Young, has been fantastic.
07:43The team's prepared.
07:44The team's motivated.
07:45And schematically, this team seems really, really sound.
07:49These coaches know what they're doing.
07:51And, yeah, it's going to be –
07:53this is going to be a great book to read.
07:55It's got 12 chapters.
07:56We're two chapters in.
07:57We don't know where this thing is going.
07:59It started off pretty good,
08:00and let's see what this next chapter is all about.
08:04Oh.
08:06So when we get in and through this game,
08:09we talk about that schedule.
08:12Cincinnati, better –
08:14when you projected out that schedule,
08:16Cincinnati, I would imagine, Fitz,
08:18probably better than you anticipated they would be on schedule.
08:22How does the rest of it look?
08:24Houston, we saw.
08:26They're for real.
08:27They took it down to the wire in Lubbock against Tech.
08:31Arizona State, we saw.
08:33Maybe not very good, which was sort of expected.
08:35Obviously, Oklahoma State's going to be better than we thought.
08:38Iowa State may be better than we thought.
08:40How does it stack up now versus what you thought it'd be
08:43before the year starts?
08:44Well, the Big 12 always tightens up, doesn't it?
08:47The teams that you think are going to be good are good.
08:50Someone always falls back into the pack.
08:52Looks like it could be Tech,
08:54which you win by two at home and move up in the polls.
08:58That's an impressive jump.
08:59But it's – yeah, you just don't know what you're going to get
09:04from the schedule either because Big 12 teams are volatile.
09:08They do ebb and flow through the season.
09:10All college teams do.
09:11And we know this.
09:13In this conference, anyone gets you.
09:15There's no gimmies.
09:16There just isn't.
09:18And K-State's just got to line up and keep taking them down.
09:20And that's – everything so far about this program has been
09:25Bill Snyder 3.0, and I expect that – all those trends to continue.
09:29I saw a chart the other day, Fitz, about the – is your – I can't remember
09:34who put it out, so sorry, whoever it was.
09:36Is your college football team actually disciplined?
09:38Did you see this?
09:39And it was like defensive penalties on this axis and offensive penalties
09:43by this axis.
09:44And like K-State's the most disciplined team in the country so far
09:46through three weeks.
09:48Is that the reincarction of Bill Snyder coming through?
09:50It's a lot of it, isn't it?
09:51It's amazing.
09:52He had five penalties last week at Tulane, and boy, he wasn't happy about that.
09:58Most coaches would take five penalties.
10:00But they have been really a low-penalized team.
10:03They haven't made a lot of turnovers, save the couple Avery interceptions
10:07and a fumble here and there.
10:08They've been pretty good with the ball.
10:10Yeah, this team's buttoned up.
10:12And buttoned up for any team, let alone a first year of a 30-some-year-old
10:18head coach.
10:19I mean, it's impressive what this coaching staff has put together
10:23at their level of experience.
10:26But it seems to be a very knowledgeable group and not just X's and O's.
10:30They know how to put together a team, apparently.
10:32So I'm curious, to go back to Avery for a second, your take on this.
10:37I think Wyatt Thompson agreed earlier this week on it.
10:40And we wondered what could be the next phase for him.
10:44The answer that kept coming up last year was, man, I wish he'd run more.
10:47But that's not it for me this year.
10:49It's can he make better decisions?
10:52Can he be more like a pro quarterback, I guess, was kind of how I looked at it.
10:58I do think, based on what we're seeing now, he is getting deeper into plays.
11:04It feels like he is getting through second and third reads more often than we've seen
11:10him get before.
11:11The distribution of where he's throwing the ball is not quite as singular, maybe,
11:18as it was in the past, where it's just like a bunch of tight end catches.
11:20Like, he's featured different receivers in different games.
11:23Are you seeing that?
11:24Are they talking about that?
11:26Is he getting further into a play this year than he was in years past?
11:30Yeah, he is.
11:31He is.
11:31And I think that grows from confidence in his coaching staff, his scheme, and also in that
11:37offensive line.
11:39He's built some trust already with him.
11:41I think Avery feels like he can just go play.
11:45But the real test for Avery is going to be a close game, fourth quarter.
11:50How does he handle that?
11:52Does he have the turnover like we saw at halftime against Washington State?
11:55Does he make that big turnover?
11:57Or does he turn into an efficient, you know, quarterback when everything's on the line?
12:02The great ones do that.
12:03They button it up really tight, and they make great decisions down the stretch.
12:07And that hasn't been Avery's M.O.
12:10I'm going to put a lot of that on his shifting of coordinators and different people in his
12:15ear.
12:15And he's got back the guy that brought him to K-State, and they've been on the same page.
12:20So we'll see if that improves.
12:23It did seem like the final part of that is that Colin, Klein, and Avery back together.
12:27There was the talk all offseason about, you know, is there something to that?
12:32Is there a way to unlock him?
12:34And is he the guy that has to unlock him?
12:37Is this the best version that we've seen of him?
12:39And is he unlocked, right?
12:41Through three games.
12:42You know, obviously last year at this point, we were sitting here talking about, why won't
12:46he run?
12:46Why is he not leaving the pocket?
12:48What's going on?
12:49It seems like that's not the case, and especially last game.
12:52I mean, he ran for 150 yards.
12:54Yeah.
12:56This is, even Avery in press opportunities, this is the most relaxed I have seen him.
13:03He's always really comfortable.
13:05He's a confident young man.
13:07But he just seems to be enjoying himself, having fun, not feeling the stress of stuff
13:11right now.
13:12He seems to understand what this offense is trying to do, and he's capable of doing it.
13:17But I think the best sign K-Stater saw was how he opened up his running game last week.
13:22We haven't seen Avery do that since his true freshman year.
13:24I mean, really let it uncork.
13:27And he did a little bit of that.
13:29And I think that helped his confidence, too.
13:31I think he had lost a little confidence in his legs, which is what's got him to this point,
13:36is his ability to move around and be elusive.
13:38And he's layered in better passing.
13:41He's better at it this year.
13:42But boy, when you put that run element in, and Cincinnati's given up some quarterback
13:46run yardage so far this year, you layer that in, it gets pretty interesting how volatile
13:51this case in offense could become.
13:54But all of this is predicated on the fact that Avery can stay healthy.
13:58Because did you see the injury report that came out?
14:01Is it true that Lincoln Kier is the backup quarterback?
14:04It's either got to be him or Wesley Fair, or there's a freshman.
14:07Wesley Fair, do you thought?
14:08Fair was a high school quarterback, man.
14:12I don't know what they're going to do.
14:14There's four guys on their injury report.
14:16The three backup quarterbacks are among those four.
14:19Now, look, two of them are questionable.
14:21I would imagine one of them is going to be suited up, ready to go, whichever one they
14:25have to tape together.
14:27But that does come part of your play calling, then.
14:31You literally do need to protect the guy.
14:33It's one thing to not want to go to a backup quarterback.
14:37It's another thing to not want to go to a tight end or a safety playing quarterback.
14:42I'll throw an anecdote at you.
14:43I'll throw an anecdote at you.
14:44This was back whenever they were still in high school.
14:47It was my first year covering them, covering K-State football.
14:49I talked at a K-State game while they were visiting.
14:53It was Avery and Wesley on a visit, a game day visit.
14:55And it was a day that it absolutely downpoured in Wichita on a playoff game or something like
15:00that.
15:00And I was asking him how the games went last night.
15:01And Avery said, he's like, I mean, it ran so much we couldn't throw the ball.
15:05I just took it and ran every single time.
15:06And Wesley Fair said, that's how I play quarterback, too.
15:09That's crazy.
15:10So if you put Wesley Fair back there, you better be ready to see a quarterback run.
15:14Yeah, exactly.
15:16I mean, that's what they probably do.
15:17They just need someone who can throw it enough to keep you honest, which means, you know,
15:21throw it to Joe Jackson out of the backfield or something.
15:24It could get interesting.
15:26That'd be so fun.
15:27Not fun, but it'd be interesting.
15:29It'd be interesting.
15:30It'd be something else to watch, wouldn't it?
15:32Let's not let's not even have it be a question.
15:35You know, we go we've talked just a little bit about it.
15:37The story for K-State again this year might be the defense fits like I don't they again
15:42they haven't, you know, Tulane kind of punched him in the mouth early and it was like, oh,
15:47no, was this not for real with the defense?
15:50And then they did settle in and look pretty good again.
15:53But is it a good enough defense when we're talking about the Big 12 and when we're talking
15:58about can this be a top defense in the league?
16:00I kind of am starting to think it can be agree.
16:04I agree because the thing that this defense appears to have we're going to find out because
16:09Cincinnati's offensive line is so much better than what they've seen is guys coming off
16:13the edge.
16:15You know, window Gregory that he's not alone.
16:18There's there's plenty of other guys and that changes how an offense has to operate.
16:24And so far teams have not wanted to put their quarterback in the pocket because it ends in
16:28disaster.
16:29So that'll be that'll be something really to watch.
16:33But this this team has just been really well put together.
16:39I'm just continuing to be surprised.
16:40Fitz, let's talk about high school recruiting.
16:43How about that curveball for you?
16:44The cats got a Derby Panther who's a junior this year.
16:49Do you know anything about it?
16:51Who's in charge of that now?
16:52Is that is that Cole rating?
16:55Yeah, cool.
16:56What's he what's he told you?
16:59Um, I don't know.
17:01I had to be honest.
17:01That caught me off guard.
17:02That was out of left field.
17:03I mean, whatever it was for us to whenever you're a junior at Derby, that usually means
17:08that we haven't seen a ton of you because they're always loaded.
17:10So it's like, oh, they've got a guy that's going to be a powerful linebacker.
17:14You know what it's that's a very Bill Snyder thing, too.
17:18You go out and see someone.
17:20I don't need to see more.
17:21I see the feet.
17:22I see the hips.
17:22I see the development.
17:24I see his dad or, you know, whatever.
17:26Yeah, I've got got a feeling he's going to fill out a lot.
17:30I'm going to do it.
17:31I'll pull the trigger.
17:32That's how Bill Snyder got a lot of recruits.
17:34And here's the thing.
17:35And this is crappy to say he doesn't work out.
17:39You get cut loose.
17:40That's you know, it's a two way street.
17:42Hey, players decommit.
17:43You can decommit from them, too.
17:47Fitz, what do you guys have going at Go Power Cat to get us ready for the game?
17:50We've got the pregame show dropping at Go Power Cat at 11 a.m.
17:55and drop on YouTube premieres at 10 a.m.
17:57That's a lot of fun, except my allergies kicked in.
18:00So that was a circus.
18:01But yeah, it's going to be a good day.
18:04We've got a lot of K-State coverage coming.
18:05Our VIP stuff is rocking for our subscribers.
18:09Kick off Saturday night.
18:10Our Ryan Gilbert will be there.
18:13All right.
18:14There's Tim Fitzgerald.
18:15Go PowerCat.com.
18:16Bye, pups.
18:17Bye, Fitz.
18:18Is that Daphne or dude?
18:20Is that Daphne or dude?
18:21That's Daphne.
18:21And dude was barking.
18:22I saw dude pop it.
18:23All right.
18:23Dude just walked in, showed us his rear end, and walked out.
18:27He's all about the moneymaker, man.
18:29Clearly, Apple doesn't fall far from the tree on that.
18:33It's so true.
18:34We'll see you on the other side.
18:35See you, boys.
18:36See you, boys.