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(11/02/14 12:25am)
After their quick touchdown opening drive, Auburn could not continue its momentum for the majority of the first half as their 10 penalties for 105 yards proved to be costly for the Tigers.
Auburn did end the first half on a somewhat positive note though as the defense forced an Ole Miss punt after Cassanova McKinzy and Kris Frost combined for a sack. On the next play Nick Marshall completed a 57-yard touchdown pass to Sammie Coates to tie it at 14.
Auburn came out strong ready to play as soon as they elected to receive the ball to start the game, as they completed a 73-yard drive in less than three minutes. After Marshall's two-yard touchdown run capped off the opening drive, Auburn's offense began to slow down for the rest of the half, completing three punts and an interception.
But Marshall's touchdown run was the first time Ole Miss has allowed a first quarter touchdown this season.
After Auburn's defense forced a three-and-out on Ole Miss' first offensive drive, the Rebels bounced back for the rest of the first quarter. Their next drive was good for 11 plays and 92 yards as Ole Miss tied it up at 7 following a four-yard touchdown run from I'Tavius Mathers.
Auburn forced another punt to begin the second quarter but they did not capitalize off of Ole Miss' short 23-yard punt, since Marshall was intercepted in the red zone on the following drive with 10:28 remaining in the first half.
Ole Miss took the 14-7 lead after Bo Wallace had a career-high 59-yard rushing attempt and then completed the drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Laquon Treadwell.
After Marshall's touchdown pass to Coates, Ole Miss ended the first half by taking the 17-14 lead after a 47-yard field goal.
Ole Miss will receive the ball to begin the second half.
(10/31/14 3:00pm)
This week plainsman assistant sports editor Kyle Van Fechtmann and sports reporter David McKinney analyze Auburn's upcoming football game against Ole Miss and Auburn soccer's success.
(11/01/14 12:00pm)
Although we just passed the halfway point of the 2014 football season, the SEC released Auburn's 2015 schedule tonight, which features yet another Thursday night game on the road and three home games at Jordan-Hare Stadium in November to end the regular season.
The Thursday night away game is Oct. 15 against Kentucky, which will be the first ever Thursday night game in Commonwealth Stadium history.
Auburn opens up the season in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome on Sept. 5 against Louisville. Jacksonville State, San Jose State and Idaho round out the rest of Auburn's non-conference games for next season.
Besides the game at Kentucky, there are no other surprises in Auburn's SEC schedule as the home-away rotation continues. Therefore, Auburn's away conference opponents include LSU, Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas A&M and their home SEC matchups will be against Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Georgia and Alabama.
(02/24/15 2:22pm)
It could not have been a more memorable senior day for the Auburn women's soccer team as senior Chelsea Gandy-Cromer scored the game-winning goal in overtime to keep their postseason hopes alive and also keep the Iron Bowl trophy on the Plains for another year.
(10/25/14 1:00pm)
The Auburn Plainsman Sports Editor Eric Wallace and Assistant Sports Editor Kyle Van Fechtmann have a nice conversation about this week's happenings in Auburn sports.
(10/20/14 3:03pm)
The second bye week of this season gave the Tigers plenty of opportunities to improve on areas they needed to focus on following the loss to Mississippi State.
In order to evaluate improving areas, such as the four-man pass rush, defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said during the bye week they switched to having shorter, more intense practices.
"I think we got a lot of good fundamental work and we also didn't overdo it physically," Johnson said. "Our kids needed a break. They needed some physical rest and we needed just to get a little South Carolina base and some good crossover, going good-on-good. We got all that done and I think it was a good open week."
Johnson also said that moving forward to the second half of the season the practices would be filled with more good-on-good drills with the offense and defense having physical practices against each other, rather than using the scout team as much as they did in practices before this point.
"We're probably going to go back and do a little more fundamentals and try to get a little more crossover good-on-good when we can," Johnson said. "But we've got to be healthy to do that. And a little less scout team work. I think we've got into a routine where we're working against the scout team too many reps and not enough good-on-good."
Johnson said that you have to be smart about accomplishing those physical practices since they are at the point of the season where they have to be more careful about injuries.
According to Johnson, he doesn't want the team to become an assignment team.
"We want to be a good fundamental team that tackles well and gets off blocks, and not try to solve everything on the chalk board."
This bye week also gave players opportunities to watch more film to correct their previous mistakes.
Johnson said that Justin Garrett in particular used this week to learn more about his new job at linebacker since he moved from the star position.
"(Garrett) has been really good," Johnson said. The biggest thing is his speed and quickness. He's physical. He's a natural inside linebacker. There are a couple things that
will pop here and there about an adjustment or a key or something like that, but I think he's going to help us a lot in there."
According to senior wide receiver Quan Bray, the offense is not even close to reaching their full potential but they used this bye week to also look at where they need to improve.
"We got to break down our minds and our bodies," Bray said. "We're running the same type of offense but we're just doing the little things more now. I don't think we've really played a complete game to be honest. Hopefully in these next few games you can really see us clicking."
Bray also said that he's been impressed with how much the secondary has improved as the season has progressed.
"They've stepped up their game times 10," Bray said. "I'm on the sideline and I'm saying, 'If those guys keep playing like that then we could really be SEC champs and hopefully get back to the National Championship.'"
(10/15/14 12:18am)
Although we just passed the halfway point of the 2014 football season, the SEC released Auburn's 2015 schedule tonight, which features yet another Thursday night game on the road and three home games at Jordan-Hare Stadium in November to end the regular season.
The Thursday night away game is Oct. 15 against Kentucky, which will be the first ever Thursday night game in Commonwealth Stadium history.
Auburn opens up the season in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome on Sept. 5 against Louisville. Jacksonville State, San Jose State and Idaho round out the rest of Auburn's non-conference games for next season.
Besides the game at Kentucky, there are no other surprises in Auburn's SEC schedule as the home-away rotation continues. Therefore, Auburn's away conference opponents include LSU, Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas A&M and their home SEC matchups will be against Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Georgia and Alabama.
Complete 2015 Auburn Tigers football schedule:
Sept. 5: vs. Louisville (Atlanta)\0x2028
Sept. 12: vs. Jacksonville State\0x2028
Sept. 19: at LSU\0x2028
Sept. 26: vs. Mississippi State\0x2028
Oct. 3: San Jose State\0x2028
Oct. 10: Bye week\0x2028
Oct. 15: at Kentucky\0x2028
Oct. 24: at Arkansas\0x2028
Oct. 31: vs. Ole Miss\0x2028
Nov. 7: at Texas A&M\0x2028
Nov 14: vs. Georgia\0x2028
Nov. 21: vs. Idaho\0x2028
Nov. 28: vs. Alabama
(10/13/14 2:54am)
Defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee are confident that the Tigers can bounce back in the second half of the regular season after their lone loss to Mississippi State.
Although both coordinators gave the deserved credit to the now No. 1 team in the country, Lashlee said that the offense beat themselves with the turnovers and red zone inefficiency.
"You can't have three turnovers on the road in an environment like that against one of the better teams in the country, and you can't get the ball in the red zone six times and score two touchdowns," Lashee said.
The Mississippi State game is now in the past though and the Tigers are ready to move forward to the second half of the season.
Even though both coordinators think their players will be able to respond positively after the loss, there are plenty of improvements that need to be made before these tough last six regular season games.
For example, Johnson said the defense has played "pretty well" in the first half of the season but the main thing that they need to focus on is putting pressure on the quarterback, since they continue to struggle in that area.
"The one thing that continues to be an issue is we're not getting any pressure on the quarterback with four people," Johnson said. "Right now we're going to have to bring pressure to affect quarterbacks."
The other aspect on defense that the Tigers need to continue to improve on is the secondary play, according to Johnson.
"I think we're improving out back and we're very young [in the secondary]," Johnson said. "This open date is going to help us too and they get more and more experience getting comfortable back there."
Luckily for Auburn their second bye week of the year comes up this weekend prior to the South Carolina game at home on Oct. 25.
According to Lashlee, this bye week is a great opportunity for the team to look at where they're at and focus on where they want to be.
"When you lose, everybody looks at themselves," Lashlee said. "We're halfway through the season and it allows us to slow down and really look at ourselves and try to say, 'here's the direction we need to really try to focus on.' We can try to clean some things up and maybe refocus some things more so than we could if we didn't have the off week."
(10/11/14 5:46pm)
In this pre-game edition of this week in sports, plainsman sports editor Eric Wallace and assistant sports editor Kyle Van Fechtmann analyze both #2 AU and #3 MSU in anticipation for the big game today.
(10/14/14 1:30pm)
The National Football League has dealt with numerous off-the-field problems this season, but believe it or not, the problem getting the most attention is definitely not a new one. The only reason why this problem of domestic violence is getting more attention than ever is because of a video.
Roger Goodell and the NFL took a stand against the ongoing problem of domestic violence in the league simply because of the Ray Rice elevator video TMZ released.
The second video should have changed nothing, but it ended up changing everything. The facts of the case remained unchanged, and the NFL and Goodell all knew Rice assaulted his then fiancee in the elevator after seeing the initial footage of Rice dragging her limp body out of the elevator.
So why did it take video evidence of what happened in the elevator to increase the suspension?
After Rice's original two-game suspension was released, there was some public outcry about how it is unacceptable a player who assaulted a woman gets only two games while players who take Adderall get suspended three times the amount of games. But after a couple of weeks, it seemed like the NFL was actually going to not only get away with the joke of a two-game suspension, but also escape their ongoing domestic abuse problem.
The NFL made this strong stance against domestic abuse only because this was the first time one of their players has been caught on video hitting a woman. Once again, the video changed everything.
According to USA Today's NFL Arrests Database, since 2000, 77 NFL players have been involved in 85 domestic violence incidents. Of those cases, six players received one-game suspensions, and Rice was only the second player to be suspended for two games.
In 2005, nine NFL players were arrested for domestic assault charges and only one of those players received the strict one-game suspension. Domestic violence is by no means a new problem in the NFL.
The NFL was always able to escape their ongoing domestic violence problem because the league always had complete control of the problem. It didn't matter 77 of their players were involved with domestic abuse. The fact none of them were caught on video is the reason why the public never got control of the problem.
The NFL is a moneymaking machine. No matter how many players were involved with domestic abuse before Rice, the problem never got out of the NFL's control because video never got out.
Losing sponsors means losing money, therefore, once money became an issue for the NFL, they knew they had to finally make a stance against domestic violence by suspending Rice indefinitely.
It's too little, too late for the NFL to make an actual, genuine stance against domestic violence.
You're not fooling anyone, NFL. Video evidence of the ongoing domestic violence problem that caused financial problems is the only reason why the stance was made.
Kyle Van Fechtmann is the assistant sports editor at The Plainsman. He can be reached at sports@theplainsman.com
(10/06/14 3:08am)
Nick Marshall had yet another game where he eclipsed 100 yards through the air and on the ground in Auburn's 41-7 victory over LSU.
But 207 passing yards, 119 rushing yards and four touchdowns is a game that can be considered perhaps his most impressive performance yet for the dual-threat quarterback, especially against an SEC team that Auburn had not beaten since the 2010 undefeated season.
Although everyone has taken notice of Marshall's ability to perform on a national stage by glancing at his statistics against LSU, players and coaches have noticed how his abilities to run and control the offense have improved this season because of his confidence and knowledge of the offense.
"Nick brings something special to the game every time he steps on that field," wide receiver Sammie Coates said. "He's a playmaker who's going to do something great every time he has the ball in his hands."
When Marshall is able to have games where he has success with running and throwing the ball, that makes it even more difficult for opposing defenses, according to Coates.
"For our quarterback to be able to get out of the pocket and still make plays, it helps us out," Coates said. "When he makes plays running the ball and throwing the ball it keeps our offense balanced and keeps defenses on their toes."
According to Coates and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, Marshall's intelligence of being able to read what the defense is bringing has given the offense more chances to have more explosive plays, which creates more points on the scoreboard.
"He can go out there and see what to do with the defense," Coates said. "He's so smart back there. He's doing a great job with knowing what to run and what we can't run. The way he is playing right now is unbelievable."
Coates also said that Marshall is the rare type of playmaker who is able to see something, such as an opening on the defense, and is able to create a successful play from it.
Marshall's increased knowledge of the offense this season has given him more responsibility and more freedom with calling more plays on his own.
According to Lashlee, Marshall has had to to make a lot of reads in a split second before or right after the snap.
"With the way we read so much stuff, whether it's zone read or power read, there are a lot of decisions being made in a split second after the snap," Lashlee said. "We don't call a lot of that stuff. I think that's why he has been such a threat doing what we're doing because he just does a really good job knowing when to call or pull something."
According to Lashlee, Marshall began to really get a good grasp of the offense during the Tennessee game last year and since then the coaches' trust in him has continued to grow to the point where now they fully trust him to make some of the play calls.
"We have a good bit of confidence in calling what we need to call and if it's not there he's going to make the most of it," Lashlee said. "As a coach you trust him more and more to call things to give him chances to make plays knowing that if it's not there he's going to make it right. That's probably the biggest change from last year to now."
(10/03/14 11:00pm)
Plainsman sports editor and plainsman assistant sports editor discuss if LSU has a chance against AU this week in sports.
(09/29/14 3:00am)
Before this season most people were talking about how much it helps that the offense has a season of experience under head coach Gus Malzahn and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee's system, but through the first four games the defense has shown improvements each game because of their knowledge in the second season of defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson's system.
According to Johnson, the defense played aggressively last year but the main difference he has seen thus far this season is his team knowing exactly what they're doing on the field, whether that's lining up in the correct alignment or their ability to make the necessary halftime adjustments.
"Obviously confusion causes hesitation and last year we were new to the system and maybe tried to do too much early," Johnson said. "We had a lot of players who couldn't pull the trigger and weren't sure of what to do. So it wasn't lack of aggression, it was more of a lack of knowledge."
Johnson also said that his defense has become more comfortable as a result of being in the second year of the system, which has contributed a lot to them playing faster.
The biggest adjustment that Johnson's defense has been able to respond successfully to is their ability to contain opposing rushing offenses. Since the first half of the Arkansas game the defense has responded by only allowing an impressive 212 rushing yards in seven halves of play.
But the main aspect that Johnson wants to see the defense improve upon is their four-man pass rush of hoping to get to the quarterback more.
"I think we're starting to find how we're going to have to do it," Johnson said. "I don't feel like we're any closer to developing a really good four-man pass rush. We're still trying to find that right combination. It's an area that's got to keep improving."
Other than specific plays that the defense needs to improve on, Johnson has been impressed with the No. 1 defensive line prospect out of junior college last year, DaVonte Lambert.
"The last two games DaVonte has really been a lot better," Johnson said. "He had some production before but I think he's consistent now. Even when he's not making a big play, his alignment, his technique, his separation off the block and his run game have all gotten a lot better. He has gotten sharp and is playing at a really good level right now."
According to Lambert, he feels really good about going in and playing against a strong LSU team that is fueled by their powerful rushing attack.
"It helps knowing that our defense can stand up to a tough run," Lambert said. "We made plays and we stopped (Arkansas). When a team (like LSU) comes in with a great running game we know that we have a good game plan to stop them."
(09/28/14 2:45pm)
Plainsman sports editor Eric Wallace, assistant sports editor Kyle Van Fechtmann, and sports writer CJ Holmes give you the highlights and more from the AU vs. LA Tech.
(09/27/14 11:37pm)
Although Auburn was leading 24-10 after putting up only 58 total yards of offense in the third quarter, their offense took off in the fourth as Quan Bray helped seal the victory with his 44-yard touchdown pass followed by his 75-yard punt return touchdown.
"I just keep faith in the man above, I know he'll take care of us," Bray said. "My teammates feed off one another and we did that tonight."
Bray's three touchdowns and 91 receiving yards are career-high performances for the senior.
"We talked with the seniors before the season about how this is their year," head coach Gus Malzahn said. "(Bray) really has been raising his level. In a game like this he really made some impact plays to help us win. I'm very happy for him."
Cameron Artis-Payne rushed for 116 yards and Nick Marshall ran for 106 to help the team put up 254 total rushing yards.
Eight different Auburn players had at least one reception as Auburn had 219 receiving yards and four touchdowns.
Even though it was a slow first quarter for Auburn's offense, the Tigers still led Louisiana Tech 7-0 thanks to the defense holding the Bulldogs offense to 35 total yards and because of Montravius Adams' 35-yard interception return that set up Cameron Artis-Payne's five-yard touchdown run on the next play.
Auburn's offense showed improvement in the second quarter as Daniel Carlson hit a 25-yarder after missing his first one, Marshall threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Bray and an 18-yard touchdown to D'haquille Williams, who made the grab with one hand.
At the end of the half the Tigers led 24-3, as the defense continued to stop the Bulldogs offense.
The lone touchdown in the third quarter came from the Bulldogs' top running threat Kenneth Dixon, as the junior rushed into the endzone for his 37th career touchdown.
The fourth quarter put the game out of reach, starting with Marshall's ability to escape two defenders in order to throw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Bray. After Auburn's defense forced another three-and-out, Bray's punt return touchdown made it 38-10.
The Bulldogs did not quit then though. They responded in the following drive with a successful drive capped off by another Dixon touchdown run.
Then Jeremy Johnson replaced Marshall at quarterback and took advantage of his reps at the end of the game as he found C.J. Uzomah with a 15-yard touchdown pass to make it 45-17.
With this homecoming victory and 300th win in Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn is now 4-0 heading into their 6 p.m. game next weekend against LSU.
"We're still going to continue to go up," Malzahn said. "Obviously we have a very tough game next week at home but we just need to keep improving."
(09/27/14 9:35pm)
After one half Auburn leads Louisiana Tech 24-3 with 249 total yards compared to 155 total yards from the Bulldogs.
Nick Marshall is leading the way for the Tigers on offense with 94 rushing yards and is also 6-for-9 with two touchdown passes and 98 passing yards.
Although it was a slow first quarter for Auburn's offense, the Tigers still led Louisiana 7-0 thanks to the defense holding the Bulldogs offense to 35 total yards and because of Montravius Adams' 35-yard interception return that set up Cameron Artis-Payne's five-yard touchdown run on the next play.
The first quarter was also a tough one for Auburn because of four starters, Montravius Adams, Kris Frost, Patrick Miller and D'haquille Williams, all having to leave the game to get checked out for injuries in the locker room. Williams and Adams returned to play in the second quarter Miller returned to the sideline. But Frost is still questionable to return as of now with a potential knee injury.
After missing his first field goal of the day, Daniel Carlson made a 25-yard field goal to make it 10-0 to open up the second quarter.
Louisiana Tech's first drive of the second quarter was their most productive of the day but they failed to capitalize as the drive ended in a missed 37-yard field goal attempt.
Auburn's offense responded with a 12 play, 80-yard drive capped off by a one-handed 18-yard touchdown catch by Williams.
Jonathan Jones forced a fumble and Adams recovered it on the following LA Tech offensive drive.
Nick Marshall then threw for his second touchdown of the day with 34 second left in the half, this time a 37-yard pass to Quan Bray.
The Bulldogs ended the half by getting on the scoreboard with a 25-yard field goal to make it 24-3.
(09/26/14 10:15pm)
This week Plainsman sports editor Eric Wallace and assistant sports editor Kyle Van Fechtmann talk everything Auburn sports, including AU vs. Kansas State, AU vs. LA Tech, volleyball, and soccer.
(09/25/14 7:30pm)
Although the main theme of Auburn's defense throughout the first three games has been their ability to limit their opponents' rushing yards, the revamped secondary's ability to step up in times of need has been another story for this year's defense.
This became especially true in the Tigers' 20-14 win at Kansas State.
The Tigers' secondary was put to the test as the Wildcats threw the ball 40 times since their running game struggled, allowing just 40 yards on 30 attempts.
"I thought all our guys out back played pretty well," said defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson. "We put a lot of pressure on them. We had to play a lot of man coverage to make sure we loaded the box on the quarterback, and I thought they really competed well."
The secondary faced plenty of adversity leading up to their initial road test, including senior Jermaine Whitehead not making the trip because of a suspension, junior Josh Holsey moving from cornerback to safety to fill in for him and a couple other players who are still making the transition from playing offense to defense.
"What are you going to do in tight situations?" said junior defensive back Jonathan Jones. "We stepped up to the adversity. We were just prepared. That goes back to the coaches."
According to Johnson, Holsey played a large role in helping the secondary produce against Kansas State, as he led the defense with 11 solo tackles.
The performance earned Holsey SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
"I thought he did a good, solid job," Johnson said. "It was a tough move for him since it was done during the week, and he didn't have but one-half of a practice and another small, light practice."
The two former offensive players, Trovon Reed and Johnathan Ford, are also beginning to find comfort on defense, according to Johnson.
"Overall, (Reed) played very solid," Johnson said. "He's made steady progress, and I think now it's to the point we can play him as much as those starters, and that's important."
Johnson also said Ford has improved drastically since his move from running back to defensive back.
"He just shows up," Johnson said. "He catches your eye. You can see how explosive he is, how fast he closes on things. He's been a good tackler. He's been doing well in coverage. He's getting better and we really have a lot of confidence in him right now."\0x200B
(09/18/14 12:00pm)
All of college football will have their eyes on tonight's Big 12 versus SEC clash for a variety of reasons, whether that's fans who are interested in seeing a non-conference battle between two nationally-ranked teams or perhaps it's because of the many who simply are excited to watch how two of the most unique college football offenses match up with one another on a national stage where the college football playoff committee will be taking notes.
Besides both teams being led by talented dual-threat quarterbacks Jake Waters and Nick Marshall, each team's true leader lies in two men on opposite sidelines, head coaches Gus Malzahn and Bill Snyder, who both know a thing or two about turning around a football program.
As all Auburn fans know by now, Malzahn led the Tigers to an SEC Championship in one of the biggest turnaround seasons in college football history.
Snyder, on the other hand, is responsible for arguably the biggest turnaround in any program's history when he took over in 1989 as head coach of Kansas State, which was the only team in college football at the time with 500 losses in their program's history. Since then Snyder has racked up 180 victories, eight national coach of the year awards, two conference championships and even has their home stadium named after him and his family because of his role in revitalizing the football program in Manhattan, Kan.
Malzahn's first season as Auburn head coach not only earned the Tigers a conference championship but also gave Malzahn a national coach of the year award of his own while also producing three AP All-Americans and sending four of his players through the 2014 NFL Draft.
Although the two coaches are different in many obvious ways that are shown in their comparison with one another, such as the 26-year age difference, it's safe to say that tonight's matchup between No. 5 Auburn at No. 20 Kansas State will be nothing short of exciting with one of the most legendary college football coaches calling plays on the home side and one of college football's rising head coaching stars calling shots for the visiting team.
(09/18/14 1:30pm)
"How are we going to respond to adversity?" is going to be answered Thursday night on the road at Kansas State, according to offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee.
Both Lashlee and defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said this road matchup will be a test that will show where this year's team is at after a 2-0 start.
"It's going to be a test for our players," Johnson said. "They present some unusual challenges. We probably need to find out if we have improved."
According to Lashlee, the players are excited to travel and play a nationally ranked team in a hostile environment in front of a sellout crowd at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
"They know we're playing a really good opponent at their place," Lashlee said. "We just keep telling them that it's a great opportunity to see where we're at. We're going to know a whole lot more about our team."
Because Auburn opened the season with back-to-back home games at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Lashlee said this will be a chance for the approximately 70 players and coaches to step out of their comfort zone and walk into a tough situation playing on the road.
According to Lashlee, a lot of the players and coaches have never been to Manhattan, Kansas, but from what they've been told it's an incredible atmosphere.
"From all we can tell, it's going to be a really big challenge for us," Lashlee said. "How are we going to respond to adversity? How are we going to respond to momentum swings in the game?"
Kansas State has multiple players on both sides of the ball who can cause problems for Auburn on offense and defense.
Johnson pointed out dual-threat quarterback Jake Waters and All-American wide receiver Tyler Lockett as two players who can make things challenging for the defense.
Lockett had 81 catches for 1,262 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, and he has carried that success over to this year's first two games with seven catches for 145 yards and a touchdown.
"He's on both sides, so you can't always match up who you want to be on him," Johnson said. "You can't necessarily put a designed defense on him. It's going to be a deal where we're going to have to get lined up and wherever he shows up somebody is going to have to step up."
Waters also creates challenges for defenses, not only because he's a dual-threat quarterback who has rushed for 193 yards and thrown for 462 yards this season, but because he stays on the field even when the offense runs different formations, like the wildcat.
According to Johnson, the defense must be very aware of that and prepare for the four or five formations that Kansas State may throw at them.
"When they do the wildcat they give you a lot of different formations just to try to get you misaligned and find an open spot," Johnson said. "They leave (Waters) out there so you don't know if it's going to be the wildcat. We have to really be on our toes."
On the defensive side for Kansas State, Lashlee is impressed with preseason All-Big 12 senior defensive end Ryan Mueller.
"He plays as hard as anyone I've ever seen," Lashlee said. "He's very active, very smart, he's tough to block one-on-one. He has an unbelievable motor and will never give up on plays."