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When Kansas State football’s defense was at its best last year, the Wildcats were hard to beat.
Fortunately for K-State, that was more often than not the case on the way to a 9-4 season capped by a 28-19 Pop-Tarts Bowl victory over North Carolina State in Orlando, Florida.
The Wildcats return eight starters from that unit, which ranked second in the Big 12 in scoring defense at 21 points per game and third in total defense, allowing an average 372.5 yards. K-State also was third in red zone defense, limiting opponents to a 78.8% success rate with only 13 of 26 scores resulting in touchdowns.
Related: Kansas State football coaches are bullish on their young and talented defensive ends
“Defensive line and secondary are our strength in numbers and experience,” head coach Chris Klieman said. “We’re going to rotate seven or eight guys in the defensive line, and we have a lot of depth there.
“In the secondary we’ve got both of our returning corners back, and then all of our safeties return. We’ve just got to continue to develop the depth at linebacker.”
What the Wildcats lack in depth at linebacker, they make up for with quality, especially with super-senior Austin Moore on the weak-side Will position and junior Desmond Purnell on the strong side, or Sam.
Here are five key returning defensive players to keep an eye on in 2024, plus a couple of others who should make an impact as well.
Kansas State junior safety Marques Sigle (21) points towards Wildcat fans after making an interception in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Sunflower Showdown against Kansas inside David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
Senior free safety Marques Sigle
Marques Sigle started 12 games at free safety as a junior after transferring from North Dakota State and tied for the team lead with 63 tackles, including three for loss with an interception and 10 passes…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kansas-state-footballs-defense-look-080322477.html
Author : The Topeka Capital-Journal
Publish date : 2024-07-26 08:03:22
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