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By the Lincoln Journal Star

Difference-maker

Daniel Thomas

Running back / Jr. / 6-2 / 227

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Kansas State running back Daniel Thomas is chased by Kansas defensive tackle Caleb Blakesley in KSU's win on Nov. 7. Thomas leads the Big 12 with 106 yards rushing per game and 11 rushing touchdowns. (AP file)

Kansas State running back Daniel Thomas is chased by Kansas defensive tackle Caleb Blakesley in KSU's win on Nov. 7. Thomas leads the Big 12 with 106 yards rushing per game and 11 rushing touchdowns. (AP file)

He has a linebacker’s mentality, which might explain why  his 253 touches (228 of them runs) represent 34.4 percent of the Wildcats’ season total.

The former junior college quarterback is the Big 12’s leading rusher (averaging 106 yards per game) and also has run for a league-best 11 TDs. With another 99 yards to his 1,166 total, he’ll move up to No. 4 on the school single-season chart.

Three games ago, in a 42-30 loss at Oklahoma, the Wildcats gave Thomas enough room for him to gain 88 yards on 16 carries.

“They really make you work to understand formations and where they are trying to out-gap you and get an extra man somewhere to create opportunities to run the football,” Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. “Then, if you get too aggressive, they are going to run verticals on you and try to get behind you, so you have to be very disciplined to defend it.

“They do an excellent job of using the quarterback in the run game, so right there they are outnumbering you and then changing up their fits and gaps and where they are going with the football. I thought we really held up in the first half, and were really strong. In the second half, they worked us a little bit, but we came up with those stops in the fourth (quarter) with the last couple of drives when we really had to.”

OU strong safety Jonathan Nelson feels that Thomas’ presence gives the Wildcats the luxury of not having to sugarcoat things on offense.

“They don’t try to do a whole lot of motion so they confuse you. They have a bunch of different formations and will try to pound the ball right down your throat. They try to relax the defensive backs and get them into a comfort level where they can go deep on you. If a coach tells you to read the lineman or the fullback, then read the lineman or the fullback. Don’t read the play action that they’re liable to do.”

Last week, Missouri contained Thomas better than any of K-State’s opponents, as he finished with a season-low per-carry average of 3.4 yards on 23 attempts.

“You’ll see him break away, and you’ll see him run over you, too,” linebacker Will Ebner told the Kansas City Star. ... “You get a little more action right in front of you. ... They have good, traditional blocking schemes, but they’ll throw some weird formations at you, too. Your key read takes you to the ball. Even (in) ‘Wildcat’ (formation), the same guard or tackle is going to be pulling. You have the key read. You run to the ball.”

Others to watch

Brandon Banks

Returner /Sr. / 5-7 / 150

Blink and you risk missing the Big 12 all-purpose yardage leader. Last year against Nebraska, Banks took a kickoff 98 yards for a score. This year, he’s gone the distance a league-record four times and if he does it one more time he’ll tie the NCAA career mark of six.

Emmanuel Lamur

Free safety / So. / 6-1 / 214

This guy seems to bask in the key moment. One of his two picks against Colorado kept the Buffs at bay late, he made one against Kansas at the K-State 3-yard line, blocked a potential game-tying extra point kick that gave the Cats a win against Iowa State and also blocked a field goal in a tight game against Massachusetts.

Wildcats on offense

Maybe the best example of how heavily K-State relies on the run (beyond its nation-best time-of-possession average) came in the 17-10 win against Kansas two weeks ago, when quarterback Grant Gregory passed for just 66 yards. Two games before that, in a win against Colorado, Gregory had 80. But let’s not crash the sixth-year senior’s farewell party. Gregory, who spent a season at Indiana redshirting before transferring to South Florida, was granted a sixth year by the NCAA last spring, then decided to take advantage of a rule that would allow him to transfer and play right away because he’d graduated. Getting his first collegiate start in the fifth game, he then directed the Wildcats past Iowa State.

The O-line is led by senior left tackle Nick Stringer, and with tight end Jeron Mastrud and sometimes Braden Wilson playing lead blocker, Daniel Thomas can be a load to stop. Lest Nebraska forget he used to play quarterback, he’s 3-for-4 passing with a TD.

Brandon Banks is clearly KSU’s top receiving threat, as his 51 catches are nearly double that of the other starting wideout, Attrail Snipes. Banks, though, has just one TD grab, as K-State is last in the league with seven.

Wildcats on defense

Senior end Jeffrey Fitzgerald was a freshman All-American during his one season at Virginia, and he’s finishing his collegiate career in similar fashion. Fitzgerald leads the Cats with six sacks and 81/2 tackles for loss, has forced three fumbles and recovered two.

The other awards candidate on this unit is sophomore strong safety Tyson Hartman. The former backup quarterback has four interceptions. He’s also the team’s third-leading tackler. By the way, Emmanuel Lamur, in addition to his already mentioned clutch interceptions and kick blocks, leads the team in tackles. Look for Joshua Moore to be matched with Niles Paul. He’s the team’s best cover corner, although the other starter, Stephen Harrison, has the same number of breakups (10).

The Cats have given up too many passing yards, but that’s a byproduct of their ability to stop the run. They’ve cut the average rushing yardage allowed last year by more than half. Credit much of that to giving up fewer plays of 20 yards or more. Last year through 11 games, they’d allowed 59 — this year it’s down to 38.

This bunch also has become adept at creating takeaways. Thirteen of their 24 have come in the last five games. It’s worth noting that has come about even though injury has limited their most talented defender, end Brandon Harold, to one game.

Wildcats on special teams

Nebraska will have made a mistake if Brandon Banks is given the chance to return anything. He’s averaging 29.9 yards on 36 kickoff returns and 8.5 yards on 15 punts. McCook native Josh Cherry has fought through a 1-for-6 start on field goals to hit 11 of 12 in Big 12 games. For making four against Missouri last Saturday, he was named Big 12 special-teams player of the week. Freshman punter Ryan Doerr is averaging a modest 41.2 yards (he’s had one blocked), and the net average is a lower-than-usual 35.1.