Improved defense helped lift KSU

Linebacker Josh Buhl leads the Wildcat defense.
By ROB TODOR
VINDICATOR SPORTS EDITOR
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Kansas State's coaches and players don't necessarily agree when the turnaround to their season began, but the reasons why were the same refrain: the return of quarterback Ell Roberson to the lineup, and a renewed emphasis on fundamentals.
The Wildcats opened the season with four straight wins before Roberson was injured midway through the third game of the season against McNeese State. He sat out the next two weeks, a win over Massachusetts and a loss to Marshall, and played in losses to Texas (24-20) and Oklahoma State (38-34).
At the same time, the Kansas State defense was having trouble adjusting to a new scheme by second-year coordinator Bob Elliott.
"In the past we've always been a defense that has played pretty straight-up, man-to-man," said Elliott. "The system has been tweaked a little bit this year, with more zone elements. Once the guys got the hang of it we just got better and better."
Elliott saw marked improvement in the loss to Texas -- "A game we could have won," he said -- but a step back the following week against Oklahoma State.
"We laid an egg," he noted.
Game one of streak
But a 49-20 rout of Colorado started the Wildcats on a seven-game winning streak that carried them to the Big 12 Conference title, punctuated by the 31-7 pounding of Oklahoma, and to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
"Colorado was a big game for us," said Elliott, whose father, Bump, preceded Bo Schembechler as coach at Michigan. "It was the first time [this season] that the whole team clicked together. We played pretty well on defense and really well on offense."
The leader of the 'Cats' defense is linebacker Josh Buhl, a somewhat undersized (6-foot, 200 pounds) senior who was named to four All-American teams. He led the Big 12 with 171 total tackles as Kansas State was ranked fifth in the nation in total defense and fourth in scoring defense.
"Josh has the biggest motor I've ever seen," said Elliott. "By that, I mean he plays every play as hard as he can.
"For his size, he's an extremely hard guy to block. He has a great knack for avoiding blocks.
"The thing I'll remember about him is his toughness. He's always been told he was too small, and he's been hurt his whole career, but he's never missed a day of practice."
Leader in locker room
Buhl is also one of the Wildcats' vocal leaders. For the past two seasons he's made it a practice to address the team before each game. The messages range from strictly strategy to a more emotional edge, but it's always something he says "comes straight from my heart."
Buhl said the defensive turnaround was based on a rather simple point -- tackling.
"We finally realized it was an issue," he said. "We went back to the basics in practice, working on the fundamentals."