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[Lynch]

journalism. I swear Kellis does everything half hearted.

K-State hopes linebacker Arthur Brown can bolster defense
By KELLIS ROBINETT
The Kansas City Star

There sat Arthur Brown, wearing a suit and tie Tuesday in the middle of the preseason football festival known as Big 12 media days.

To an outsider, he looked no different from any other player in the room. His responsibilities included smiling and greeting everyone who came his way. He answered questions about his personal life, his Kansas State teammates and the huge expectations he will face this season.

Sounds simple enough, right?

Not when you play for Bill Snyder. The Wildcats football coach has long looked at this event as an important outing for his players. Those he brings with him each year are expected to represent K-State in a classy manner, and he brings only those he considers the most deserving.

Former standout running back Daniel Thomas had to prove himself for a year before Snyder considered him worthy.

So if anyone was curious about how Snyder felt about Brown, a junior linebacker who was a top-ranked player coming out of Wichita East and is expected to add a much-needed boost to K-State’s defense after transferring from Miami, his mere presence said it all.

“I’m very impressed with him,” Snyder said. “He’s a hard worker, he’s a splendid young guy, he handles himself quite well.”

Brown hasn’t played in a game for the Wildcats, but he has earned Snyder’s trust.

“I like guys that do it, and Arthur does it,” Snyder said. “He’ll lead by example, but it’s hard for him to be the vocal leader. But he’s putting himself out there and trying to do that. That tells you an awful lot about a young guy who would put himself in an uncomfortable environment for the betterment of his football team. That tells you he’s part of the family and he truly and legitimately cares.”

Good thing, because if Kansas State is going to be an improved football team in the debut season of the new-look Big 12, Brown will need to lead a defensive turnaround.

Even with younger brother Bryce Brown expected to keep K-State’s running game going at a high level, Collin Klein capable of improving quarterback play and a deeper receiving corps promising to bring balance to the Wildcats’ offense, it’s going to be hard for K-State to simply outscore its opponents.

When asked to do exactly that last season, K-State came out on the wrong end of shootout after shootout. Scoring nearly 34 points per game was good enough for seven wins and an appearance in the Pinstripe Bowl, but allowing a Big 12-worst 231.4 rushing yards per game and a whopping 445.7 yards overall prevented the Wildcats from having a breakthrough season.

“It wasn’t that we were bad,” Snyder said. “We stunk.”

Arthur Brown, who sat out last season, noticed.

“It’s always difficult wheyou'rere off on the sidelines you'dou’d like to contribute to your team,” Brown said. “But it was a gain for me in a lot of areas. I have properly prepared myself to play this season.”

He is hoping for better in 2011, but unless K-State can slow opponents more than it did a year ago it will be difficult to gain bowl eligibility against a tougher schedule that includes an early road test against Miami and games against Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State all in the same season.
andd it’s not as if Baylor, Missouri and Texas A&M are offensive slouches. K-State is going to be challenged at every turn, and it will need vastly superior efforts on defense to survive.

Brown may be just what it needs.

“I could go on and on about how much Arthur is going to help us this year,” senior safety Tysyn Hartman said. “He’s one of those freak athletes — great size, great strength, great speed — just about everything you need in a linebacker. Tough, and everything you could ask for.”

While Snyder is quick to point out “one guy can’t do it all,” Brown does allow K-State to switch up its strategy. In the past, the Wildcats have used a 4-2-5 scheme and relied heavily on their secondary to help against the run. With Brown, coaches are planning to use a 4-3 formation and lean on their linebackers.

A few other players will make a defensive turnaround possible. Ty Zimmerman is one of the best young safeties in the conference, Defensive back David Garrett led the Wildcats with 92 tackles a year ago, and Hartman and linebacker Emmanuel Lamur bring experience.

But experience was never the problem on K-State’s defense a year ago. Its biggest deficiencies were tackling in open space and containing runners at the line of scrimmage.

Snyder says K-State’s defensive line, “is the big question,” but he hopes improved depth across his defense will spark improvement. Competition should be stronger than past years in fall camp, and injuries won’t cripple a unit.

We won’t know how well the Wildcats can actually execute until the season gets under way, but Brown has a prediction — a prediction Snyder would surely endorse.

“We have a lot of opportunities as a defense,” Brown said. “Over spring and over the summer we have really grown and really become more unified. Those are my expectations, to come together as a team. As a defense, I expect to see that. We have a lot of energy and a lot of passion that are going to keep us there throughout the season.”



Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/26/3039169/k-state-hopes-linebacker-arthur.html#ixzz1TWMuwXpD