‘All on me’: Chris Klieman takes blame for Kansas State’s clock-management error
Chris Klieman sounded like a coach who was answering tough questions after a devastating loss.
“It is all on me,” he said.
“I’ve got to be better,” he added.
“Terrible gaffe,” he concluded. “I’m not accustomed to making those mistakes, and I’ll learn from it. It won’t happen again.”
Wait a minute. Didn’t Kansas State steamroll Arizona State 31-7 in a much-anticipated college football game between ranked teams on Friday night at Bill Snyder Family Stadium?
The No. 15 Wildcats played far and away their best game of this young season, with quarterback Avery Johnson passing for 156 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 110 yards rushing. K-State also flexed its defensive muscles by holding No. 18 Arizona and its high-octane offense to 324 yards and one measly touchdown.
Klieman wasn’t supposed to be apologizing after a game like that.
But the Wildcats committed one boneheaded mistake against Arizona that was so egregious Klieman felt like he needed to address it during his opening statement with media following the game.
That’s what happens when you drive the ball all the way to the Arizona 14 near the end of the second quarter with enough time left on the clock to run several plays … and let the half come to an end without calling a timeout or attempting a field goal.
Here’s what happened: K-State found itself in plus territory with 37 seconds flashing on the clock. Johnson had just thrown an incomplete pass and the clock was stopped. It was second-and-10. The Wildcats were in the perfect place to take a few shots at the end zone or try a field goal, especially with a timeout in their pocket.
K-State was leading 14-7, so a score of any kind would have been big.
But those plans got turned upside down when Arizona defender Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei sacked Johnson for a loss of five yards. That shouldn’t have ended K-State’s drive, as 30 seconds remained in the half. But the Wildcats showed little urgency to get to their next play.
By the time Johnson got the ball on third down, the game clock was at nine seconds.
If he was going to take a shot at the end zone he needed to do it quickly. Instead, he scrambled for about 15 seconds and then ran out of bounds. The half was over. No touchdown. No field goal. No anything. The score remained 14-7, almost as if the Wildcats had taken a knee and were trying to run out the clock.
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