LITTLE ROCK — The guys on ESPN radio couldn’t hear the loud condemnation from the driver of the car nor the apology that was mumbled days later.
The former occurred when they were babbling about upcoming bowl games and one of them had the audacity to suggest Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein does more for his college team than anybody else. Ahead of Baylor’s Robert Griffin III or Stanford’s Andrew Luck, no way, said the man behind the wheel.
The concession that the analyst might be right came after a review of KSU statistics. Raw numbers are not a tell-all — note Oregon’s brief time of possession in a 12-2 season — but there was nothing in the major team categories to explain the 10-2 record of the Wildcats, who will play Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl on Friday night.
In the Big 12, Kansas State is mid-pack or worse in most areas. Stretching a point, the Wildcats were third in the league in rushing defense. The easy explanation is that they were last in pass defense so their conference opponents just didn’t waste time running the ball.
Sooner or later, you come around to Klein.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
In a league where five quarterbacks threw for an average of 287 yards per game or more, he ran the ball … a lot. In nine conference games, KSU was dead last in pass attempts with 197 — 241 fewer than Oklahoma. In an offensive-minded, 10-team league, KSU was tenth in total offense.
Even though the Wildcats ran the ball more than any other Big 12 team, they were not particularly proficient, averaging less than 4 yards per try. Seven other teams were more effective.
A 6-foot-5, 226-pound junior, Klein is most of the KSU offense. In a 28-24 victory at Miami, he ran 22 times and threw 18 times.
“Klein was running through tackles,” said Miami coach Al Golden. “It would be third and forever and we would let them convert.”
Klein had 227 carries in conference play, 50 more than leading rusher Terrance Ganaway of Baylor. In eight of KSU’s 12 games, Klein ran the ball 25 times or more.
Somebody who keeps up with the Big 12 and who is familiar with Arkansas football compared Klein to quarterback Scott Bull — a winner who ran for more than 500 yards when the 1975 Razorbacks went to the Cotton Bowl.
For modern-day context, some people have compared Klein to former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.
“I think you can certainly see some comparisons there,” said Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino. “The size and the strength, the ability to break tackles, the ability to win games in the fourth quarter when the game is on the line.”
And, Klein scored 23 touchdowns in conference play, five more than any other player in the Big 12. Along with the itemized accounting of what Klein does do is the notation that he does not turn the ball over. The Wildcats had eight turnovers in league games — every other team in the Big 12 had at least 15.
Klein is so difficult to pigeonhole that The AP circumvented the question and named him the league’s All-Purpose Player of the Year. KSU coach Bill Snyder called the award appropriate.
“He maybe doesn’t fit every category but certainly fits an all-purpose category,” Snyder said.
All Arkansas has to do to win Friday night is keep Klein in check.
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Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.