I may have been watching football halfway across the country with a team in purple uniforms two weekends ago, but there were times when the Bill Snyder Family Center in Manhattan, Kansas felt eerily similar to an afternoon at Scott Stadium.
Last spring former Virginia offensive coordinator Ron Prince was tapped to fill in the monster shoes of now-retired Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder. Snyder took a program that was once last in Division I-A football and led them to a Big 12 title three years ago -- on the way achieving godlike status at a university that now prides itself on its football team.
Becoming a head football coach at a Division I college is a challenging enough task for the best and brightest (ask Larry Coker), let alone having to follow in the footsteps of a legend whose accomplishments are virtually impossible to match.
To help that transition it's not surprising that Prince brought some of the things he picked up in central Virginia to Manhattan, Kansas, or "The Little Apple," as it is referred to in the Midwest.
The 36 rushing to 15 passing attempts for the Wildcat offense last Saturday afternoon versus Oklahoma State wasn't shocking. Prince always loved a bruising ground game at Virginia, especially with men like Elton Brown and D'Brickashaw Ferguson manning the trenches. And with a Cowboy offense that averaged over 40 points per game coming into the weekend, Prince wanted to keep Oklahoma State's dynamic offense off the field by controlling the clock.
It was the smaller things that Prince picked up from Virginia football and his former boss, Al Groh.
Before Wildcat football games, K-State fans can now watch a video of their mascot, Willie the Wildcat, take on the opposing team's mascot who then runs onto the field at the video's conclusion. Willie is probably a couple decades younger than Cavman, and his pre-game video includes a cartoon backdrop with implanted live mascot combat that concludes at the stadium's midfield. (It just didn't give me the same pep to watch Willie tackle an OK State Cowboy at midfield that screaming as animated Cavman annihilates a Western Michigan Bronco with his sword on the jumbotron does.)
(In an effort to give back to the fans and help them connect to the players, Prince also has his team parade through the parking lot tailgates on game day as Groh sometimes has his boys do on Saturdays.)
Even Prince's press conference included some Groh-speak. Whether it was his reference to his team's collective mentality or his indication that he didn't read anything the press writes, Prince seemed to pick up some tendencies from how his former boss related to the media.
In the end, the off-the-field issues make zippy difference if the team doesn't put up a "W" in the win column.
This season both Prince and Groh have been forced to enlist freshmen quarterbacks to lead their offenses while relying on strong defenses to keep games close, but so far it has only seemed to work for one of two. And unfortunately for the Cavalier faithful, the successful one doesn't reside on the east coast anymore.
I didn't cry when Ron Prince left us for Kansas State. In fact, I was slightly excited for this season's offense after watching the group perform under current offensive coordinator, Mike Groh, in the Music City Bowl victory over Minnesota last January.
Until Prince opened up his offense midway through the fourth quarter two weekends ago, it was a slow-paced, smash-mouth football game full of the familiar runs off-tackle and dink-and-dump screen passes. It's not the most glamorous approach, but Kansas State is sitting at 4-3 (1-2 Big 12) with legitimate bowl hopes.
Compared to the current state of Virginia football, nearly all Cavalier fans would take that situation in less than a heartbeat.
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