K-State Q&A: Ty Zentner, Deuce Vaughn, Avery Johnson, new football transfers and more

Ty Zentner was our guest on the latest Sports Beat KC podcast, and I strongly recommend you go listen to the conversation that Kansas State’s special teams MVP had with Blair Kerkhoff and myself after you are done reading this mailbag.

“Legatron” was terrific. He walked us through how he nailed his game-winning kick against TCU at the Big 12 championship game, what life has been like for him since that clutch play, how he made the transition from soccer to football late in high school and what he is looking forward to most about going up against Alabama at the Sugar Bowl.

Turns out trying to respond to 150 congratulatory text messages was harder than making the kick.

One other fun nugget he shared after we stopped recording: New Orleans Saints kicker Will Lutz reached out to him and offered to walk him through all the best places to eat while Zentner is in town later this month. How cool is that?

It goes without saying that Zentner is confident he can kick another game-winner in New Orleans. But from what distance? Let’s say K-State needs a 60-yard field goal on the final play of regulation. Is his leg strong enough for that?

He gave us that answer, too.

“That’s a good question,” he said. “We will be in a dome, so there’s not going to be any wind, obviously. Against TCU, I got back to 64 yards with just my normal field-goal approach. I planned for over bowl prep to see if I can lengthen my approach at all like Justin Tucker does on his long field goals and see if I can get another two or three yards out of that. So we’ll see. Probably around 65 would be the furthest I could go.”

There you have it. Expect a 65-yard field goal from “Legatron” at the Sugar Bowl.

Great stuff, like I said. The podcast will post around 10 a.m. on Friday. I will link to it on Twitter and update this mailbag with a link as soon as it goes live. Be sure to check it out!

Now let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.

Santa Claus already delivered one transfer at an important position, in the form of Iowa wide receiver Keagan Johnson.

Chris Klieman seems to have lots of success with players from Iowa (cough, Ben Sinnott, cough) and Johnson looks like he could really contribute for the Wildcats after he gets away from the train wreck that is Iowa’s offense.

With Kade Warner definitely gone and Malik Knowles/Phillip Brooks probably gone, adding an older receiver who can contribute right away was a top priority on offense.

There are two other important spots on defense. K-State needs a veteran linebacker to help try and replace Daniel Green. It also could use a defensive tackle to help fill the void left by Eli Huggins.

I’m sure Klieman would also welcome a safety and maybe a running back from the portal.

The final wish list may depend on who else decides to transfer after the Sugar Bowl. I highly doubt K-State will end up with only five departing transfers.

Offense: B+. The offense could have been better at times, and was only middle of the Big 12 in most statistics at 5.1 yards per rush (4th), 7.7 yards per pass (4th) and 33.2 points per game (6th). But it was dynamite after Will Howard took over as QB1 late in the season. The Wildcats averaged 41 points when he started.

Defense: A. Outside of a few games when K-State couldn’t stop the run, there wasn’t much to complain about from Joe Klanderman’s unit. The Wildcats ranked third in the Big 12 at 5.3 yards per play and first in the Big 12 at 20.1 points per game.

Special Teams: A. Letting Ty Zentner do everything turned out to be a great decision.

Coaches: A. When you win the Big 12, your coaches did a heck of a job. Collin Klein had a strong debut as the OC and Klanderman was nominated for the Broyles Award. For good reason. My biggest critique in this area would be that it took a while for K-State to learn how to handle success. Big wins over Missouri and Oklahoma State clearly had a negative impact the following week when K-State lost to Tulane and Texas.

Transfer Portal: B. There were too many transfers who did nothing to deserve a higher grade than this. But Adrian Martinez, Kobe Savage and Josh Hayes were all great additions.

Offensive Player of the Year: Deuce Vaughn.

Defensive Player of the Year: Felix Anudike-Uzomah.

Play of the Year: Adrian Martinez third-and-16 at Oklahoma.

Scroll to the 2:57 mark below.

In order for it to be a good business decision for Deuce Vaughn to return to school as a senior some local boosters will need to step up and make it worth his while financially to stay in school.

I had Curry Sexton on a Twitter Space earlier this year. He is a former K-State wide receiver who now works with Wildcat NIL. He told me a player as accomplished as Vaughn could “easily” earn six figures per year as a college running back. Maybe if the six-figure number we’re talking about with Vaughn is $250,000 instead of $100,000 it will make him stay with the Wildcats.

But I’m honestly just spit balling there.

He would still make more than that in the NFL next season.

Vaughn is a difficult player to read on this topic. He values getting his degree and probably wants to stay in college as long as possible. But running backs don’t get to play forever and he has nothing left to prove at Kansas State.

He has gone back-to-back as a consensus All-American, he is a lock for the K-State Ring of Honor and Hall of Fame, he has won a Big 12 championship and now he gets to play Alabama.

What more is there for him to prove?

The smart move seems to be for him to turn pro. I think he will. But it’s a decision he may wrestle with.

Will Howard and Avery Johnson should co-exist rather easily next season.

Howard will start at quarterback after leading K-State to a Big 12 championship this year, while Jake Rubley serves as his backup and Johnson sits out with a redshirt but possibly plays in a few games.

Now, plans could change if there are injuries or someone decides to transfer. I suppose scout team quarterback Adryan Lara could also factor into the depth chart hierarchy, as well.

Things could get a little trickier in 2024.

If Howard is still at K-State, one would assume he would remain the unquestioned starter. But I’m guessing the coaching staff would want to somehow get Johnson involved, too. Of course, there is always a chance Howard plays so well that he turns pro early.

Either way, Johnson should be in command of the offense by 2025 ... unless Lara or Rubley surprise us all and one of them wins the job.

Funny thing about this question is that it shows how much things have changed over the past few months. After the Tulane game earlier this season, everyone on here wanted Adrian Martinez benched, Howard in the transfer portal and Rubley as the QB1.

I have been to New Orleans a few times.

Unfortunately, I am not an expert on the city. I have never had a great time there, honestly. Bourbon Street isn’t my jam. I could die happy without drinking another Hurricane.

Hopefully I have just been doing it wrong and I will learn to love the place when I visit later this month. I should probably ask all of you for suggestions. Hit me up on Twitter if there is something you strongly recommend there.

I can say that I enjoyed my last trip to the National World War 2 Museum in New Orleans. There are also plenty of great food options. You can go anywhere and find a good Po Boy sandwich. I am definitely looking forward to eating a few of those before the Sugar Bowl.

I have no problem helping you poke fun at Nebraska basketball.

The Cornhuskers are the only school from a power conference that has never won a game in the men’s basketball version of the NCAA Tournament.

They have made it to the Big Dance seven times. Their record is 0-7.

What a crazy stat. It’s not very hard to put together a decent basketball team once every 10 years. And yet Nebraska has never even been to the round of 32. Incredible.