Strange but true: Kansas State hasn’t played a Big 12 Conference football opener at home since 1999. Thanks to all those road openers, the program that Bill Snyder transformed into national prominence got off to an 0-1 start in Big 12 play six years in a row until the Wildcats ended the streak last year with an upset victory at Texas.
Needless to say, KSU coach Ron Prince appreciates the Wildcats’ finally getting to play a conference opener at home, even if it is against a Texas Tech team that comes in with Nos. 7 and 8 national rankings. KSU (3-1) hosts Tech (4-0) at 2:30 p.m. today at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
“I think it’s a unique situation, because Kansas State for many, many years has opened conference play on the road,”
Prince said this week. “For consecutive years now, we open conference play against a team ranked seventh in the country and it’s on national television. So right out of the gate we get to have a very good attention getter for our players.”
For its part, Tech is coming off a rare open date, a free Saturday that Tech players didn’t seem to welcome. Tech coach Mike Leach thinks the Red Raiders made the best of it.
“I thought we got better in the off week,”
Leach said Thursday, “and then I thought we (practiced) well this week. We had pretty good preparation. Now we just need to keep it rolling.”
The Red Raiders are trying to protect the program’s loftiest ranking since 1976. Not that they didn’t already know, but Tech players were reminded by Leach at the start of the week not to get caught napping - the way four top-10 teams were last week.
Tech’s seniors have some firsthand knowledge of the subject. When last in the top 10, in mid-October 2005, the Raiders went to Austin and got their heads cracked by Texas, losing 52-17.
“I know last time we were ranked this high, we went and dropped a bomb against Texas my freshman year,”
safety Darcel McBath said. “I don’t remember how high we were ranked, but we kind of took it in too much, were reading too many newspaper articles. I’m going to make sure it doesn’t happen this year.”
Only one game over .500 during Prince’s tenure, the Wildcats are 13-4 at home under their third-year coach.
If the setting doesn’t foil the Red Raiders, the Wildcats hope their offense will. Quarterback Josh Freeman has run for six touchdowns. He has K-State 12th in the nation in passing offense, and he’s hit mighty mite receiver Brandon Banks for six long touchdown passes.
Of the 10 junior transfers in K-State’s two-deep, the 5-foot-7, 142-pound Banks has had the biggest impact. He leads the nation in receiving yards per game at 115.8
“He’s good when he gets his hands on the ball - quick and fast,”
Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill said.
Banks lines up in the slot, so he presents a tricky matchup.
“The linebackers, the nickel (defensive back) have got to be aware of him,”
McNeill said. “You don’t want to isolate him on a linebacker too much.”
K-State’s rushing game was no good for three games, but it got better last week when sophomore Lamark Brown switched from receiver to running back. He carried 29 times for 137 yards and a touchdown.
Freeman, at 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, and Brown, at 6-3 and 225, could be a load to tackle, though Tech’s 25th-ranked rush defense kept its non-conference opponents mostly in check.
If its last two games are any indication, K-State will need to match Tech touchdown for touchdown. In a 38-29 loss at Louisville and a 45-37 win over Louisiana-Lafayette, the Wildcats were torched for 303 and 335 rushing yards, respectively.
That bodes well for Tech. Running backs Shannon Woods and Baron Batch are giving the Raiders just about double the team’s average rushing yardage of last year. The last two games, they combined for 301 and 284 yards from scrimmage. Kansas State tends not to play a lot of defenders in the box, which could mean another productive day for the Tech running backs.
“I hope so,”
Leach said. “I expect so. They’re in a competitive situation. They’re really excited about what they’ve been able to do lately, you know?”
If nothing else, the open date gave key players such as guard Louis Vasquez (ankle), tackle Rylan Reed (ankle) and inside receiver Eric Morris (hamstring) some time to rest injuries.
“Yeah, so that could be dangerous,”
Leach said with a humorous tone. “Considering as healthy as we are that we’re more healthy, that’s always something to look out for.”
