Kansas State football transfer safety Kobe Savage a big hit with Wildcats and their fans

MANHATTAN — Kobe Savage introduced himself to Kansas State fans during the Wildcats' season opener against South Dakota with a couple of bone-crushing hits that had Bill Snyder Family Stadium buzzing.

For his coaches and teammates, that was just proof of what they already discovered during spring practices and preseason camp. That Savage, a 5-foot-11, 206-pound junior from Tyler Junior College in Texas, might not be the biggest strong safety, but he certainly packs a punch.

"Kobe has been a great addition for us," K-State coach Chris Klieman said following Savage's 11-tackle performance last Saturday in the Wildcats' 41-34 upset victory at Oklahoma. "We knew it in the spring when we brought him here, because of his energy and love for football."

Cornerback Julius Brents agreed.

"Kobe, he's a baller. He's a savage. It's in his last name," Julius Brents said. "That's the type of mentality he plays with, and I love having him behind me.

"He's one of those guys where his motor is just non-stop. Just playing fast."

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The road to Kansas State recruitment

Savage plays fast in part because he doesn't have a lot of time to waste. Growing up in Paris, Texas, he wasn't heavily recruited as a quarterback and safety for Paris High School.

First he enrolled at Texas A&M Commerce, an FCS school, and redshirted. He then moved on to Tyler, hoping it would be a springboard to bigger and better things.

"I had a couple of Division I offers, but no Power Five interest," said Savage, who ranks second on the Wildcats with 23 tackles with one tackle for loss and is tied for the team lead with two interceptions. "And then we played in the Heart of Texas Bowl (last year) against Coffeyville and coach Klieman had called me while we were warming up, and I was telling him I was about to play a game, and then I called him at halftime and was talking to him and said I would call him after the game.

"We ended up beating Coffeyville, 28-7, and then they offered me on that bus ride, and I was like, OK, I'm ready to take a visit as soon as possible."

By that time, the Wildcats had good reason to recruit Savage. He was rated as the fifth-best junior college safety available and received second-team NJCAA All-America honors after recording 70 tackles as a sophomore.

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That was precisely why he went the JUCO route.

"It really was because I wanted to prove to everybody that I could play at this level," Savage said.

But he didn't rest once he arrived in Manhattan for the spring semester.

"He just has continued to improve from spring to summer and then through fall camp," Klieman said. "But if you track him for a day, boy, that kid doesn't sit, he doesn't probably sleep a whole lot.

"That kid is always doing something football, whether it's recovery to doing extra drills after practice. I remember coming up here during June and we'd have recruits up here and it's 90-some degrees out, and he and a handful of guys are out all the friggin' time out in the heat."

Kobe Savage 'a football junkie,' always watching film

Then there are the hours he spends in defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman's office, watching tape and picking his brain.

"Oh yeah, I’m too addicted to football," Savage said. "I'll go in coach Klanderman's office and just look at the field, eat some M&Ms and talk about football and talk about the game plan. Whatever he's seeing, what he's thinking this week and what's the best thing for our defense.

"Just little stuff like that."

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Klanderman, who also happens to coach the safeties, will attest to that.

"Part of the reason we recruited him is he's a football junkie," Klanderman said during preseason camp. "There's a group of about four guys that are in the office all of the time, and I say all of the time, I mean they're in there more than I'm in there, and he's one of those guys.

"He's just always wanting to know about ball. There's nothing that he doesn't know, but I think he's trying to get it to the point where he can't get anything wrong, and I think that's what's pushing him forward a little bit."

Savage's obsession with film study dates back to his high school days, and it's only grown as it became more available at the college level.

"I just always find it interesting to watch film, whether it's HUDL or the new technology we have up here, where it's like (high definition)," he said. "I would say it went back to whenever we were in high school, like in 2016.

"I just love watching film, love watching guys move around, try to check on tendencies or a quarterback's cadence or where he stands, if he's going to pass, or if he rubs his hands for a pass. Or just the way the O-lineman would sit in his stance for a run."

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Savage proving he belongs at K-State

That has definitely given Savage a leg up, but so has his intensity. Take the hit just before halftime that knocked South Dakota running back Travis Theis back for a 4-yard loss deep in his own territory, sending the sellout crowd into a frenzy.

"Just hearing the crowd and everybody getting excited about that, it boosted my confidence a lot," Savage said. "I already trusted my game and the guys around me, so having that little extra confidence right there just made me play with a lot more swag and playing loose.

"That was the mission. Definitely just to establish myself with the team and show everybody who we are, but I really wanted to let the world know that I belong here and I'm going to show up."

Savage received further validation on Monday, when he was named Big 12 newcomer of the week coming off his Oklahoma performance.

"It means the world. This is what I came here to do, to play football at a high level," Savage said. "But at the end of the day I'm a team player, so it's a great thing to have that honor, but it's a new week.

"So it means a lot to me, but I'm focused on Texas Tech."

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K-State, now 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big 12, faces Texas Tech at 11 a.m. Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The Red Raiders also are 3-1 and 1-0 in the league following their own upset victory last week, when they knocked off Texas in overtime.

Safety Drake Cheatum, another transfer, has no doubt Savage will continue to bring it for the Wildcats.

"Kobe, he's my guy," Cheatum said. "It turns me up to watch him hit somebody real hard. It just brings that energy. Kobe is like a spark."

Klanderman saw it from the start.

"He plays so hard and he's super intelligent, and I don't think he's satisfied where he is or satisfied that he might be a guy that plays significantly for us," Klanderman said. "He wants to be the best in the Big 12 and he's on his way."

Perhaps that's the next step, but for now, Savage is content just to prove that he belongs.

"Especially doing it in front of my friends and family and everybody who doubted me and my height and size and stuff like that," he said. "I just wanted to show everybody.

"That's how I play, with a lot of passion, just to show everybody and prove them all wrong."

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: Kobe Savage a big hit on the field, with Kansas State football fans