MANHATTAN — Will Howard had a pretty good idea when he left the field Saturday at the end of Kansas State's blowout victory over Oklahoma State that he had been well protected.
A film session the next day confirmed it.
"The reason I'm playing with so much confidence is because of the guys around me," Howard said of his breakout performance in the Wildcats' stunning 48-0 shutout of the Cowboys. "I barely got touched. The (offensive) line played a really, really good ballgame.
"They've been playing some really good football. I knew that they played really well after the game, but man, when I went back and watched the film, they shut down a really good front."
While Howard burst back onto the scene the past two weeks — he had limited success as a backup quarterback the previous two years — the offensive line has been a steady work in progress all season. Considering the fact that only two starters returned and one of them was filling a new position, there figured to be room for growth.
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"Credit to those guys, Credit to (offensive line) coach (Conor) Riley," said head coach Chris Klieman. "I see those five guys working together really well. That's a really good front for Oklahoma State, and I thought our guys really rose up and played well."
The numbers certainly bear that out.
Howard, substituting for injured starter Adrian Martinez, wasn't sacked once while completing 21-of-37 passes for 296 yards and four touchdowns Saturday. Oklahoma State was credited with just four quarterback hurries.
And the running game produced 199 yards, including 158 on 22 carries and a 7.2-yard average from Deuce Vaughn.
The Wildcats have broken in three new starters up front, including one less two quarters into the season opener. The only holdovers were junior Cooper Beebe, an all-Big 12 selection who moved from left tackle to left guard, and senior right tackle Christian Duffie.
Senior KT Leveston has stepped into Beebe's left tackle slot, with senior Hayden Gillum working at center and sophomore Hadley Panzer at right guard. Panzer took over at guard during the second quarter of the season opener against South Dakota when starter Taylor Poitier went down for a second straight year with a knee injury.
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"We continue to grow each day and gain experience together and gain that trust," said Gillum, a former walk-on from Plainville who spent the previous two years as the backup to Noah Johnson. "A lot of people don't understand about the offensive line. It's a lot of X's and O's, but a lot of it is being able to trust the guy that's next to you, and really understanding.
"Like nonverbal communication, and I know that Beebe's going to be there, and Hadley is going to be there. We continue to see that with each practice and each game."
Losing Poitier for the season cut into the line's depth, with Panzer moving from backup at both center and right guard to starter at guard. But it also gave the starters more time to work together to build chemistry.
"We definitely knew that there was some urgency there when we lost Taylor," Gillum said. "It was hard on all of us. Our hearts all went out to Taylor, but like coach Riley says, 'Man down, man up.'
"We knew that we really had to rally around him, we had to rally around as a group together, and it took all coming together. I think it has helped us in the long run (because) we've had to step up in areas. I've had to improve my play, improve my leadership, and same with Hadley and the rest of the guys on the line."
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Leveston's improvement during the offseason allowed Beebe to move inside to guard, where he's more physically suited to play. And Gillum has taken on much of the vocal leadership role from his predecessor Johnson.
"He hasn't played very much coming into this year, and I've just seen him grow because he's learning so much about the game," Klieman said of Gillum. "The more snaps you take, the more and more you learn about not just your position, but he knows what everybody's doing on that front.
"And that's cool for us because we have really a quarterback of the offensive line — he'd love that I called him quarterback — that he's making all the calls and is very confident in what he's doing, and he's getting stronger as the year has gone on."
That is true for everyone on the line, Gillum added.
"It's a group that hasn't played together a ton," Gillum said. "It's a group that hasn't played as a whole, so every time we get the opportunity, we're learning and growing.
"So there's really no ceiling for our group, and that's what's exciting. We watched film Saturday and there's countless plays that we all wish we could have back, and that's encouraging. There's more out there and more for us to work towards."
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached atagreen@gannett.comor on Twitter at @arnegreen.