It wasn’t exactly the dominating performances of the first two weeks, but your Kansas State Wildcats were able to dispatch Tulane, finally, 31-20 last Saturday to improve to 3-0 on the season and a clean-sweep of the non-conference schedule.
Now Collin Klein and the Wildcats will look to do something that hasn’t happened at K-State since 2012, and has never been accomplished by a first-year head coach — start the season 4-0. Both Ron Prince and Chris Klieman opened 3-0, but lost in game four. In 2006,
the Wildcats fell 24-6 to then-No. 8 Louisville in Manhattan, and in 2019, it was listless 26-13 loss at then-No. 24 Oklahoma State. That 2006 loss was ultimately a symptom of Ron Prince being a terrible head coach, and the 2019 loss was the first real example of Chris Klieman struggling with finding the right offensive coordinator for FBS football. Collin Klein has a major advantage in both categories.
But it won’t be easy. Despite Cincinnati needing a huge second-half comeback and a last-minute touchdown to dispatch cross-state rival Miami last Saturday, they are still a Big 12 program and must be respected. Statistically, the Wildcats and Bearcats are basically identical on offense. Both are averaging 222 passing yards per game, both are averaging 269 rushing yards per game, 491 total yards per game. But defensively, the Wildcats hold a pretty massive advantage. Despite issues with inside runs, the Wildcats are (unadjusted for sacks) holding opponents under 100 yards rushing and passing per game on average. Meanwhile, the Bearcats have been torched through the air, and is what gave Miami a major boost last week, and haven’t exactly been lock-down against the run. Cincy allowed over 300 yards passing to the Redhawks — the Wildcats haven’t even allowed over 300 yards passing total this season, and most of that came last week (167) against Tulane.
K-State looks like they should be the better team. The sportsbooks have the Cats as a 6.5-point favorite on the road, which includes the 3-point edge given to the home team. This is a step up from Tulane and Washington State, but not a step that the Wildcats should be uncomfortable making.
It’s time to go out and take care of business. It’s time to raise the bar.
For the first road game of the season, we’ve got an 6:00pm CT kickoff from Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati being aired on ESPN2 with Chuckie Kempf (play-by-play) and Dustin Fox (analyst) on the call.
If you don’t have ESPN2 or can’t access the stream, the game can be heard across the 29-station K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play), former K-State quarterback Stan Weber (analysis), and Matt Walters (sidelines) calling the action. The game will also be on SiriusXM Satellite Radio Ch. 268, and available online via the Varsity Network app. Live stats are also available at k-statesports.com, and Twitter updates (@KStateFB) will also be a part of the coverage.
Go Cats!
