No. 16 Kansas State brings back plenty of experience for its Big 12 championship defense

The Wildcats are picked so highly despite losing first-team All-American Deuce Vaughn from the backfield, first-round pick Felix Anudike-Uzomah from the defensive line and two other NFL draft picks from the secondary. And that says a lot about what they have coming back: quarterback Will Howard, their entire offensive line and most of the rest of the defense.Florida State transfer Treshaun Ward could be the No. 1 running back by the season opener Sept. 2 against Southeast Missouri State.

“The continuity is huge,” Klieman said, “especially on the offensive side. I think we’ve barely scratched the surface of what we can do offensively. I saw some innovation and some things in spring ball that they were able to do, and when you have someone like Will that is so smart, I think we can advance some of the things we’ve done.

Klanderman scrapped the Wildcats’ defensive system before last season, implementing a 3-3-5 scheme that is better designed to stop the proliferation of read-option offenses in the league. The result was the Big 12’s third-best scoring defense.Howard had appeared in 14 games over his first two seasons, and that experience paid off when Adrian Martinez was hurt a year ago. He stepped into the starting QB role and never gave it back, guiding the Wildcats to the Big 12 title and the Sugar Bowl.

The senior completed just 59% of his passes, but his 15-to-4 touchdown-to-interception rate over seven games was exceptional.Right tackle Christian Duffie will miss the start of the year because of an injury sustained over the summer, but the Wildcats have plenty of depth along the offensive line. Carver Willis has taken most of the reps this fall alongside fellow starters Hadley Panzer, KT Leveston, Hayden Gillum and Cooper Beebee, an All-American candidate and potential first-round draft pick.

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