Schedule Breakdown – Kansas State Football (First 6 Games)
By Max Nelson
August 30th – SF Austin (Home)
It’s easy to overlook early-season out of conference games like this. I mean, there is no way Kansas State could lose, right?
Usually I would write this game off. SF Austin was 3-9 last year in the Southland Conference (FCS). But, after the surprise loss to North Dakota State in the first game last year, anything could happen.
Snyder’s teams are historically pretty good out of the gate. With leaders returning on offense and defense and a far more talented…well…everything, the Wildcats SHOULD have a field day. Then again, crazier things have happened.
WIN: 1-0
September 6th – Iowa State (Away)
This game was a little more difficult to break down. Once again, on paper, it feels like the Cats should win.
K-State absolutely thrashed the Cyclones last year, 41-7, in Manhattan. The emphasis in that statement is “in Manhattan” because Iowa State is always a notably better team at home than away (most college teams are).
This year the game is at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, instead of the Little Apple. The Cyclones had a relatively disappointing team last year and will be looking to make up for it early in the season.
3 players that had huge success against Iowa State last year: John Hubert, Tremaine Thompson, and Daniel Sams. What do these 3 guys have in common? All of them no longer play for the Wildcats.
I look for Jake Waters to pick up where the Cats left off last season and shred the Cyclones through the air in this game. Iowa State finished 110th (wow…that’s all I can say) in points allowed last year with 36 per game.
WIN: 2-0
September 18th – Auburn (Home)
You know, this game isn’t un-winnable… It is just extremely unlikely.
The Tigers almost won the whole thing last year, while finishing the season 1st in rushing yards per game with 328.
It hurts to say this because I am a K-State fan but I wholly expect to get destroyed in this game. The only thing going our way is that it’s in Manhattan so luckily there won’t be a sad bus ride home.
Nick Marshall, the Tigers QB, now has a year of experience under his belt and is expected to be one of the biggest performers in college football this year after racking up 26 total touchdowns last year.
It does need to be noted, however, that we have something Auburn doesn’t. His name is Bill Snyder, and if anyone can coach a team to a W that they shouldn’t have got, its him.
LOSS: 2-1
September 27th – UTEP (Home)
This is a great match-up for the Waters-Lockett duo, which should put up some crazy numbers this season. UTEP allowed more than 39 points per game last season while going 2-10.
Offensively, UTEP should be relatively decent. Aaron Jones, starting running-back, was impressive as a freshman last year racking up 811 yards and 4 TD’s.
Personally, I think the Wildcats biggest question defensively is the secondary, which shouldn’t be a huge problem in this game. Jameill Showers, the Miners QB, isn’t necessarily someone who is going to tear you apart through the air (107 completions total last year).
Also, watch out for Ryan Mueller in games like this, if it starts to get out of hand and UTEP has to throw the ball around, could be a 3-4 sack performance.
WIN: 3-1
October 4th – Texas Tech (Home)
This game poses a problem for the Cats. With a weak secondary, the K-State defense needs to force 2 turnovers to have a chance to keep Tech under 40.
Kliff Kingsbury will be licking his chops watching the game film on Snyder’s secondary. Tech threw for 393 yards a game last year (2nd in the nation), even with a quarterback change in the middle of the season.
All that being said, I expect the Wildcats to match Klifford and the Big Red Dogs (copyright Max Nelson, damn I’m good) enough offensively to win the game.
Do you really think THE Bill Snyder is afraid of some punk-kid with nice sunglasses and a professional haircut?
WIN: 4-1
October 18th – Oklahoma (Away)
Fun fact: Oklahoma is the only team still in the Big 12 that Bill Snyder has a losing record against (7-11).
Considering Trevor Knight probably only got better and better over the off-season, I’m not looking forward to this game. The Oklahoma secondary is also good enough (22nd in points allowed in 2012-2013) to keep Lockett relatively quiet.
Look for Sterling Shepard and the other Sooner receivers to have big games, the K-State secondary simply won’t be able to keep up. The difference between this game and the Tech game is that the Sooners can also run the ball and play defense.
LOSS. 4-2
Obviously none of this is a perfect science, even if I am the perfect man. Anything can happen out on the football field. Maybe Snyder throws on some pads and gets out there in the Auburn game and takes over.
Maybe Tech finally hits their stride and starts rattling off win after win (its coming soon, just watch).
Maybe Tyler Lockett doesn’t show up this sea-…. Nah I’m kidding that’s actually insane.
Or maybe I’m completely wrong about all of this… but I’m probably not. EMAW.