Kansas State’s offense has a new kind of bragging rights system, and it starts with the dirty work.
The Wildcats are 2-0 under first-year head coach Collin Klein and averaging 52.5 points through two games, but one of the clearest signs of how this group is operating showed up on the final touchdown against Washington State. Avery Johnson hit Brandon White on a short pass to the perimeter, White turned it into a 9-yard catch-and-run score, and K-State stretched the lead to 34-7.
The part that doesn’t show up in the box score belonged to Jaron Tibbs.
The 6-foot-2, 212-pound senior wideout wiped out two WSU defenders on the play, opening the lane for White to finish the job. Tibbs didn’t get an assist, and he didn’t need one. For him, the block was the point.
“We have a saying: If you don’t block, you don’t get the rock,” Tibbs said. “As my college career has gone on, I haven’t had the best success with team records.
Right now, we’re 2-0. My only objective is winning, whatever that looks like.
Last game it looked like me blocking, and I took full pride in that.”
Klein noticed the same thing when he went back through the tape. Tibbs wasn’t the only one throwing his weight around, either. The K-State coach said Josh Manning and Linkon Cure stood out for their downfield blocking, and he even caught Johnson trying to help as an extra blocker after handing the ball off.
“That type of mindset and mentality,” Klein said, “is so valuable.”
Klein has turned that mindset into a game within the game. On Monday, he explained that players can earn their way into a special club he calls EMAW 10 by delivering blocks that help create big plays for teammates.
It works like a reward chart for football’s unglamorous jobs.
“It’s a mentality,” Klein said. “Collectively, we have a lot of fun with it.”
The perks stack up as the blocks do. The first reward is a T-shirt.
After three times, a player gets shorts. Five earns a hoodie.
Ten gets dinner from the coaching staff.
“It’s a club that our guys will be able to get into, and they get rewarded for what they put on tape in a game,” Klein said. “We reward those 10 other guys working for the ball-carrier, whether it’s a run or a pass.
They’re buying into that. I think it’s even grown from Week 1 to Week 2.
Hopefully, those habits will take root.”
Joe Jackson said he has been chasing a spot in EMAW 10 since Klein’s first spring practice. He likes scoring, sure, but he’s starting to see the payoff in helping somebody else get there.
“We are all working to get better on the perimeter and at blocking specifically,” Jackson said. “That’s something that we have got to improve on for the ultimate success of this football team. We’re still leaving a lot of meat on the bone in that area, but we’re starting to make an impact.”
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