MANHATTAN
Practice was too quiet.
Dante Barnett, the senior safety in charge of calling out Kansas State’s defensive formations, was unable to participate because of an injury. None of his teammates knew how to fill the noticeable leadership void. Someone had to step up. But who? For a day or two last week, everyone seemed too shy to try.
Then Will Davis took command.
“He is like the quarterback for us,” sophomore linebacker Elijah Lee said. “We all follow him.”
Davis, a junior linebacker, showed leadership in practice and followed that up with the best game of his career.