Why Kansas State football running backs coach Brian Anderson likes the Wildcats' prospects
MANHATTAN — Brian Anderson knew the day was coming that he would look at his Kansas State backfield and there would be no Deuce Vaughn.
It's a fact of life in college football that the great ones eventually leave.
But for Anderson, the K-State's fifth-year running backs coach, he can also pinpoint one instance late last season that encapsulated all at once just how much Vaughn meant to the team while also telling him that the Wildcats would be just fine moving forward.
It involved an exchange between Vaughn, the Wildcats' All-American running back, and DJ Giddens, his understudy. And all Anderson had to do was watch and appreciate.
"There was a moment in bowl practice when we moved down to New Orleans. (Giddens) ran a route and Deuce came over and kind of explained it to him, in about five minutes, what to do in this situation," Anderson recalled. "It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen in my life since I've been coaching.
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"Deuce explained to DJ, 'OK, when this happens, this is how you've got to react to it. When this happens, this is how you react.' DJ is like literally looking him right in his eye, like a laser, and he's soaking all this information in. And seeing that moment right there, I'm knowing that, OK, now DJ is starting to understand where we're coming from (and) how you've got to be so detailed."
Giddens, at 6-foot-1, 210-pound redshirt freshman from Junction City, presented a stark contrast to the 5-5, 175-pound Vaughn. And while no one questioned his raw ability, it took some time for him to gain the coaches' complete trust.
But as the season wore on, taking a toll on Vaughn's body as well, Giddens became more and more integrated into K-State's offense. So much so that by the end of the year he had racked up 518 yards and six touchdowns rushing while adding 98 receiving yards on eight catches.
"I think you would have seen a little bit more of DJ early in the year if his development was there," Anderson said of Giddens, who as a sophomore is the heir apparent to Vaughn, along with senior Florida State transfer Treshaun Ward. "It didn't happen until mid-year, so that's when most of his carries came last season, but I think that would have taken another 65, 70 carries off of Deuce if his development was there early in the season.
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"But we didn't want to rush in, and we knew Deuce could handle the load at the time until (Giddens) got comfortable. And so I think the more comfortable DJ gets, the more comfortable Treshaun gets, the more comfortable (sophomore) La'James White gets and the more comfortable (sophomore) Anthony Frias gets, you could see multiple guys doing multiple things."
But back to Giddens, who like Ward has been held out of contact drills this spring while recovering from an injury. Anderson said it was roughly midway through the season that something suddenly clicked.
"I can't remember exactly when it happened, but once it happened, you just saw it take off," Anderson said. "And so he was able to do things during the games as the season went, to be able to communicate the things that he saw out there like Deuce could do.
"And now, throwing the ball to him in space and getting him out running routes and those kinds of things, he continued to get going in that direction. So the sky's the limit for that kid. I think the world of him as a person, and he's hungry to be great."
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If Giddens had a breakout moment last year, it came in week 10 on Nov. 12 at Baylor, a 31-3 K-State victory in which he rushed for 58 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries and caught a pass for another 11 yards. The following week at West Virginia, he had 78 yards on 12 attempts, including a 49-yard touchdown as the Wildcats won a 48-31 shootout.
Like Anderson, Vaughn remembers his conversation with Giddens during the Sugar Bowl practice and how impressed he was with Giddens' response.
"Whenever he ran that route, I don't think he didn't look me in the eye for one second," Vaughn said. "We were eye-to-eye locked, and he was looking at me and I was telling him every single tip and cue that I have in running that route.
"And guess what? The next time he went and ran that route, he did exactly that. So he's a quick learner, and I'm so excited for him."
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Vaughn, who ended his three-year K-State career as the school's second-leading all-time rusher with 3,604 yards, also is convinced that the running back position remains in good hands without him.
"(Giddens) is going to be amazing. He's grown so much over the past two years that he's been here, and so I'm excited for him and Treshaun Ward to be like the two-headed monster for K-State," Vaughn said. "Because DJ Giddens is one of the most talented players I've ever seen. From his size and athleticism to power and just pure raw ability, he's unbelievable.
"And he's starting to pick up that playbook as well. He's gotten to that point where he's starting to get comfortable in that backfield, and he's locked in."
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: K-State's top running back prospects to replace Deuce Vaughn in 2023
