NCAAF Report: Bill Snyder didn't tell assistants he was switching QBs vs. West Virginia
Bill Snyder apparently made the decision himself for Kansas State to change quarterbacks during a blowout loss against West Virginia on Saturday.
Alex Delton replaced Skylar Thompson as the team’s quarterback in the second half. According to the Kansas City Star, Snyder told Delton to go into the game. His offensive assistants were unaware that Thompson was going to be replaced until it happened.
No one informed Thompson he was getting benched. K-State offensive coordinator Andre Coleman and quarterbacks coach Collin Klein were also in the dark. As far as they knew, the plan was to keep plugging away at a comeback attempt with the quarterback who had started all four of the Wildcats’ games and had seemingly proven himself as the best passer on the roster.
But Bill Snyder was ready to make a change. So much so that the K-State head coach bypassed his coaching staff and informed Delton directly that he would finish out the game following an interception by Wildcats defensive back Johnathan Durham.
The Star article frames Snyder’s decision to insert Delton into the game as the execution of his preference for Delton to start while the offensive staff has preferred Thompson. Longtime Kansas State offensive coordinator Dana Dimel took the head coaching job at UTEP after the 2017 season while Snyder, 78, recently signed a five-year contract extension with the school.
Thompson has been the team’s starting quarterback in 2018 because of his passing prowess. He showed that at the end of the 2017 when Delton was injured after replacing the injured Jesse Ertz at quarterback. The performance of both backups led to a QB competition entering this season that Thompson won. At least to start.
Snyder wouldn’t publicly commit to a starter against Texas on Saturday. Though we’re guessing Delton will start if Snyder really does prefer him over Thompson. Thompson was 11-of-17 passing for 145 yards while Delton was 7-of-12 passing for 82 yards in the 35-6 loss to the Mountaineers.
“I would anticipate both of them would play. Both of them played reasonably well in the course of the ballgame at West Virginia,” Snyder said. “The decision to go from one to the other was not necessarily because Skylar was playing bad, it was because we had to get a touchdown on the board, which certainly was not Skylar’s fault. It was just a collective number of things. We will see who gets the start, but I will anticipate, as always, that both of them will be on the field contributing.”
We’ll also see if there’s better communication between the team’s coaches as to who is playing when.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter
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