Kansas State Football: Non-Conference Slate Could Be Tough
By Stan Unruh
It’s not even Valentine’s Day and most fans are anxious for the 2017 college football season. Kansas State football fans know it should be a special season.
With National Signing Day in the rear-view mirror can the spring game come soon enough?
On September 2, the Wildcats will open the 2017 regular season against Central Arkansas in the first of three non-conference games.
These games will set the stage for what could be a memorable Big 12 campaign.
It is difficult to guess in February what could happen on the field in September but it’s fun to consider.
ESPN already has published a list of the nation’s ten toughest non-conference schedules. Only one Big 12 team is included. Kansas State is not on the list.
However, it may be a tougher game than you think.
UCA finished 10-3 and reached the second round of the FCS Playoffs last fall.
Their 10 victories were over Division I teams for the first time in school history.
On National Signing Day, the Bears added four junior college football players. All are expected to play right away.
Transfers included one player from a Kansas school. Jim Philistine a 6-2, 270-pound interior defensive lineman from Highland Community College.
As a sophomore, Philistin had 46 tackles, 4.5 sacks for minus 33 yards and three tackles for loss.
The talent haul also included Reggio Dean a linebacker named first-team All-MACJC, All-Region and Region 23 Most Valuable Player, according to a media release from UCA.
Defensive back Michael Ware transferred from Southwest Mississippi Community College where he was a first-team All-Mississippi Association of Community & Junior Colleges (MACJC) selection as a sophomore.
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The purple clad Bears gave Texas Tech a scare to opened the 2014 season.
In the final 3 minutes, the Red Raiders recovered an onside kick to win 42-35.
Kansas State beat that same Texas Tech team 45-13.