Wildcats survive Presbyterian upset bid

K-State 76 Presbyterian 67



On paper, it looked like K-State would have no trouble with the Blue Hose on Thursday night. Presbyterian had other ideas making the game close as it cut the lead to four with less than three minutes to play in the game. K-State's halftime lead of 44-30 had diminished before the Wildcats and their fans eyes.

Luckily for K-State, junior walk-on Victor Ojeleye quieted the Blue Hose run twice. He was able to put up four points and grab two rebounds in eight minutes. The crowd in attendance gave him a standing ovation once he exited the game for good.

Senior guard Jacob Pullen finished the game with a team high 15 points, while sophomore guard Rodney McGruder had 10. McGruder's three point baseline score put the game in the bag as the score was 74-65 with 51 seconds left. The Wildcats won the game 76-57 to go 3-0 on the season. The Blue Hose starting phenom in Al'Lonzo Coleman finished the game with a double-double adding 15 points and 14 boards. Senior forward Curtis Kelly was once again on the bench.

Lady Cats handle Indiana State

K-State 64 Indiana State 48



Thanks to sophomore guard Brittany Chambers's 20 points in 35 minutes, K-State clobbered Indiana State 64-48 on Wednesday night. Both teams struggled mightily from the three-point line, but the difference was K-State's ability to shoot overall from the field. The Wildcats were 23 of 62 from the field, while Indiana State was 13 of 40.

K-State only led by three at the half 27-24, but added 37 points in the second half to put the game out of reach. Junior forward Branshea Brown was just short of a double-double. She scored nine points, while also tallying nine boards.

Shawnee Mission North graduate and freshman guard Brianna Kulas scored five points, but fouled out of the game while only playing 10 minutes. Brittany Schoen and Taylor Whitley of Indiana State each scored 12 points to lead their team respectively.

No. 3 K-State rolls against the Hokies

11/16/2010 - K-State 73 Virginia Tech 57



In front of a sellout crowd at Bramlage Coliseum K-State stomped Virginia Tech 73-57. The game was also televised on ESPN 2 as a part of ESPN's 24 hours of basketball on Tuesday. The biggest question of the night was about the absence of senior forward Curtis Kelly.

Kelly sat out for the second straight game of the season and fourth overall. The senior was in street clothes and hasn't played a minute this season. Senior guard Jacob Pullen picked up two quick fouls in the first half, but a trio of sophomore guards in Martavious Irving, Nick Russell and Rodney McGruder stepped up in his place. Irving finished with nine points, Russell had five and McGruder contributed 13.

The Hokies Malcolm Delaney scored 22 points on six of 18 shooting. He also was eight for nine from the charity stripe, making him 19 for 20 in the team's first two games. The Wildcats led at the half 30-29, but were able to pull away when they were up 66-49 with less than five minutes to play.

- Tyler Scott, 91.9 Sports Staff

Game #6: K-State (4-1) @ Kansas (2-3) Preview

The battle for the governors cup will take place tomorrow night in Lawrence, KS, but that’s not the only thing at stake when Kansas State (4-1) takes on Kansas (2-3) in this in state rivalry. The main thing both teams are looking for is redemption from their previous outings. K-State is looking to move past their horrific beating at the hands of Nebraska on national television last Thursday. Before the game, the ‘Cats were garnering some votes in the top 25 and looking to steal the Big 12 North. They received one vote last week, and still hold an outside chance at the division but it would take a Corn Huskers miscue, which doesn’t seem likely. At least they lost to a top-10 team and surefire national title contender though. The Jayhawks are coming off a route by the Baylor Bears 2 weeks ago. KU has had a trying season this far with losses to Baylor, North Dakota State, and Southern Miss. They do own a victory over Georgia Tech which looked impressive at the time, as the Yellow Jackets were ranked 15th in the polls however they have since tailed off. In the game last year the Wildcats were able to win 17-10 behind on the back of halfback Daniel Thomas. Which leads us to the breakdown of this year’s game.

KSU Offense vs. KU Defense

K-State needs for their stud, Thomas, to revert back to his opening season form. That may be asking a lot of him as his opening season form was absurdly good, but they definitely need more production out of him, to lessen the load of QB Carson Coffman. Thomas has been held under 100 yards for 2 straight weeks, granted not many running backs can rush for 100 yards on the black shirts, especially with a mediocre passing game. Coffman has been hit-or-miss this year, but has had a tendency to come through in the clutch, engineering some spectacular 4th quarter drives. This could be the week that Thomas finally returns to form as he is facing a below average defense at stopping the run, as the ‘Hawks are ranked 95th and allowing 187 yards per game. Even so Thomas will continue seeing 8-man fronts until Coffman starts carving up the empty secondary. KU’s pass defense is allowing a modest 189 yards per game good for 40th in the nation. The D lost 8 starters off of last years team, including their whole front line and both safeties. Three of the starters were apart of the team that won the Orange Bowl. The Hawks have returned 2 freshman All-American from last year in LB Huldon Tharp and S Lubbock Smith, as well honorable mention All-Conference DE Jake Laptad. Major Edge: K-State

KSU Defense vs. KU Offense

Flashback to September 11th, as the Jayhawks were rushing the field and tearing down the goalposts, they thought they had found their savior. QB Jordan Webb was inserted after an ugly opening week loss to South Dakota State and if you asked fans in Lawrence he was some sort of mix between John Elway, Peyton Manning, and Joe Montana. Now Fast Forward to present day and those assumptions seem even more ridiculous than they did then (and they were pretty ridiculous then). Webb has at least given them the option of throwing the ball, and the team has put up some points, but they are still a sub .500 team. They have struggled all year to replace their core players from the Mangino era in Todd Reesing, Dezmund Briscoe, Kerry Meir, and Jake Sharpe. The Jayhawks offense is pathetic to say the least. They rank 74th in rushing and 84th in passing in the nation and are barely eclipsing 300 yards a game. On the other side of the ball the K-state Defense has been good or atrocious depending on which aspect you want to look at. The Rush Defense is believe it or not actually worse than KU’s ranking 116th in the nation allowing a meager 246 yards per game. However Webb will have his hands full trying to move the ball downfield on the KSU pass D, as they are allowing a stout 150 yards per game through the air and are ranked in the top 10. Despite the Jayhawks offensive woes one of the bright spots has been tailback James Sims who is averaging 4.9 yards a carry. Kansas will need for him to have a field day for them to have a chance in this game.
Edge: K-State

Special Teams

Last week the only bright spots you could find on the K-State team were the special teams players. Senior William Powell was electric returning the ball, almost to Nebraska territory every time he touched it averaging 31 yards a return. Punter Ryan Doerr pinned the Huskers inside the 20 3 times. The pair turned the field position battle in K-States favor throughout the night, but alas the ‘Cats couldn’t capitalize. Kicker Josh Cherry was perfect on the night hitting 2 field goals and 1 extra point. On the Jayhawks side kicker Jacob Branstetter has been anything but automatic, going 2 for 5 on the year, and already having missed and extra point. Punter Alonso Rojas is averaging a respectable 43.8 yards a boot but has already had 2 punts blocked, and Bill Snyder’s teams love to score non-offensive touchdowns. However returnman D.J. Beshears has been electric with the ball averaging 33.4 yards a return with a score.
Major Edge: K-State.

Coaching

We don’t need to spend too much time going over Coach Snyder’s accolades, as all KSU fans know them by heart. He engineered the “Miracle in Manhattan” and has led the team to 3 BCS bowls. He is a legend. On the flip side it’s harder to get a read on Turner Gill’s ability as a head coach. There is no doubting that he was truly one of the great players ever at the college level leading Nebraska to 3 Big Eight titles and 3 Major bowl games. But rarely do great players make great coaches. They struggle to adjust to the fact that not all players have the same work ethic they had. Gill started his career coaching at the University of Buffalo where his teams improved in his first 3 seasons going 2-10, 5-7, and 8-6. He led them to one conference championship and one bowl game, a loss. His high of coaching was when he led to the Bulls to a victory over then #12 Ball State in the conference Championship. He was then bypassed over the Auburn coaching job which many felt he deserved. But if you look at the teams records it’s hard to overlook the fact that he never established a conference championship caliber team year in and year out, despite playing in a below average conference with no true powerhouse. If Gill was as good of a coach as he was made out to be his teams would have done better than finishing 5th in his final year. It also hurts him that he is replacing Mark Mangino who actually restored some credibility to the KU football program with its 2007 Orange Bowl victory.
Edge: K-State

K-state pass defense will baffle Webb, and slow down the Kansas running attack enough. Thomas will gash the KU D, and Coffman will look better than he has all year as the Cats roll.

Prediction: K-State 34 KU 10

-- Josh Dockendorf, 91.9 Sports Staff

Big 12 Week 5 Preview

The Big 12 season is getting underway for most of the teams around the league. Teams like Kansas State, Iowa State, Texas, and Texas Tech have already gotten one league under there belts, heading into this weekend. Well now Texas A&M and Oklahoma State have joined them. Both teams headed into last nights game unbeaten, and the winner would hold a punchers chance at winning the Big 12 South. Oklahoma State is that team after narrowly pulling out a 38-35 victory on a last second field goal after intercepting a pass when Texas A&M themselves were trying to drive down for a last second field goal. The game was a turnover-palooza with Aggie quarterback Jerrod Johnson, accounting for 5 turnovers himself, and the Pokes themselves had three turnovers.

Tomorrow’s slate of big 12 games get kicked off at 11:00 when the rival Jayhawks travel down to Waco to take on the Baylor Bears and there stud quarterback, Robert Griffin III. Griffin is a freakish athlete who has won several sprinting events, and has brought hope to the Bear ever since he arrived on the scene and won the starting job his freshman year. Last year he suffered a season-ending injury early on in the year. He has continued to develop as a drop back passer as he has thrown for 971 yards with 8 touchdowns and only two picks. They are 3-1 on the year. Meanwhile the Jayhawks have had an up-and-down year so far. They suffered losses to North Dakota State, and Southern Miss. However they were able to pull of an upset against then ranked Georgia Tech, who has since dropped out of the polls. The Jayhawks have become at least respectable since inserting Joe Webb into the quarterback position, but are still in process of rebuilding under first year coach Turner Gill. They are currently 2-2 on the year.

The only big 12 team to play a non conference game this week is the Buffaloes from Colorado who take on the Georgia Bulldogs at home this weekend at six o’clock. The Bulldogs have suffered a disappointing season since starting of the year ranked. They are currently 1-3 on they year and 0-3 in SEC play. The Buffs will get there first taste of Big 12 action next week when they take on a talented Missouri team. As of right now they are 2-1. The only game they played against a BCS conference team was a 52-7 loss at the hands of future conference foe Cal. Cal is just a middle of the road team this year so don’t expect much from the Buffs.

The next matchup comes over in Ames where the Cyclones take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Both Teams are currently 0-1 in conference play with Iowa State losing to K-State and Tech lost to Texas. Some good news on the Cyclones front, it looks as if starting Quarterback Austen Arnaud will get the go this week despite being injured. Tech on the other hand just wants to keep improving under first year head coach Tommy Tubberville.

But no surprise the game of the week will like always be the Red River Rivalry which takes place in Dallas pitting the Texas Longhorns against the Oklahoma Sooners. The winner of this game has gone on to win four of the last six Big 12 titles with the loser winning the other two. In fact the last time that neither one of these teams one the Big 12 was back in ’03 when the ‘Cats were able to upset the then #1 Sooners behind Darren Sproles. The Last time the south wasn’t represented in this game by one of these teams was back in 1998 when Texas A&M had the honors and were able to throw a kink into the BCS by upsetting Kansas State when we were ranked number one at the time. This will be sophomore Longhorn quarterback Garret Gilbert’s first chance in this environment. Gilbert came into the national championship last year for the injured Colt McCoy and was able to show some flashes of brilliance, but this year has been a little different as he has not had a solid running game to lean on, as the ‘Horns are ranked 76th in the nation in rushing. They are coming off their first loss of the season a 34-12 drubbing at the hands of the UCA Bruins. The Sooners on the other hand just have one question, which team will show up? Will it be the team that played magnificently when they steamrolled over #17 Florida State, or will it be the team that has shown up the other 3 weeks who has allowed Utah State, Air Force, and Cincinnati to all come within a touchdown of them. If Boomer Sooner is rolling all cylinders behind QB Landry Jones, RB Demarco Murray, and WR Ryan Broyles, then the game should be over at halftime. But if they aren’t the Longhorns might possibly be able to sneak home with a victory.

Missouri, K-State, and Nebraska all have byes this week, with the ‘Cats being the only team who has already played a conference game. Next week the Tigers play Colorado, and on ESPN Thursday Night Football the Huskers and Wildcats will meet for the final time as conference foes, with Big 12 North title implications most certainly on the line.

-- Josh Dockendorf, 91.9 Sports Staff

K-State UCF Game-Wrap

It may not have been very convincing, but its a win, and the Wildcats will take it. Kansas State improved to 4-0 on the season with a 17-13 victory over the University of Central Florida in a game that featured a 1 hour and 26 minute weather delay early in the first quarter. Unfortunately the lightning in the air did not translate to many sparks on the field for K-State who struggled offensively the entire game, amassing 2 yards of offense in the first quarter and outgained 170-43 at halftime. The Wildcats did not cross into Central Florida territory until their final drive of the third quarter.

Opportunely for Kansas State, quarterback Carson Coffman came through in the clutch leading them on a game winning touchdown drive capped off by his 7 yard scramble for the end zone with 24 seconds left. The drive started with 5 minutes and 14 seconds remaining after UCF took the lead with a field goal. Coffman began the drive with two incompletions leaving many Cats fans to undoubtedly assume his poor play would continue as he looked incompetent throughout the game up to that point. Coffman then called timeout and executed one of three third down conversions on the drive with an 18 yard strike to Andre McDonald. As K-State moved into field goal range Coffman took the conservative route, handing the ball off to Daniel Thomas 5 times and completing 2 passes before getting into the end zone.

Coffman finished the day with 189 yards passing completing 11 of 22 for 1 touchdown and 1 interception. His performance may have been enough to get by the Knights, a Conference USA opponent, but he will need a much more productive outing if the Cats hope to compete with the powerhouse Nebraska Cornhuskers who travel to Manhattan a week from Thursday for an ESPN primetime matchup. Running back Daniel Thomas will need to be a bigger factor against the Huskers as well after carrying the ball 22 times for a season-low 76 yards. The Wildcats finished the game with 272 yards of total offense, 11 first downs and 3 turnovers.

Fortunately for the Cats they were bailed out by a couple of timely interceptions and another impressive performance from their defense. Emmanuel Lamur picked off a pass in the red zone in the second quarter and Terrance Sweeney destroyed the Knights chances of an improbable comeback with an interception in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter. UCF dominated time-of-possession, controlling the ball for 36:35, but the K-State defense refused to budge, limiting the Knights to only two field goals following a first quarter touchdown run.

Kansas State has next weekend off before hosting the #6 ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers on Thursday October 7 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

-- Ben Sojka, Wildcat 91.9 Sports Staff

Big 12 Week 4 Preview

Big 12 Week 4 Preview

Miami-OH (2-1) at Missouri (3-0)

After a close win last week over San Diego State, the 24th ranked Mizzou Tigers will look to close out the preseason strong with a win. Miami (OH) boasts the fifth best run defense nationally, which could present a problem for a Missouri team that has struggled to establish a ground game. However, the Redhawks anemic offense ranks 109nationally. Look for Blaine Gabbert to have a big day and for Mizzou to win comfortably.

Pereira's Pick: Tigers 45 Redhawks 10

UCLA (1-2) at (7) Texas (3-0)

The Bruins notched their first victory of the season last week over 23rd ranked Houston. Despite opening the season 0-2 with losses to Kansas State and Stanford, UCLA looked inspired last Saturday. Texas hasn't looked impressive through the first three weeks but still stand at 3-0. Neither offense has looked strong this year, with both ranked in the bottom half of the nation. This being said, the Longhorn defense has been exceptional while the Bruin defense has given up an average of 26 points per game. Texas should win, but if Garret Gilbert turns the ball over more than two times UCLA could make this a game. All that said, Texas still prevails.

Pereira's Pick: Longhorns 31 Bruins 14

(8) Oklahoma (3-0) at Cincinnati (1-2)

Cincinnati has been less than impressive so far this season. Ever since head coach Brain Kelly left for Notre Dame, the Bearcats have not looked like the squad that captured the Big East championship last season. On the flip side, Oklahoma has been a bit of a question mark this season. The Sooners have two close wins against non-BCS opponents in Air Force, 27-24, and Utah State, 31-24. This could be an interesting game with Cincinnati playing in their own backyard. Despite the home field advantage, expect Landry Jones and Ryan Broyles to have big days and Oklahoma to roll.

Pereira's Pick: Sooners 42 Bearcats 20

New Mexico State (0-2) at Kansas (1-2)

The New Mexico State Aggies are off to a rough start, losing 41-21 San Diego State and 42-10 to UTEP. The Aggies are winners of just nine games in the past three years, with four of those victories coming against FCS opponents. Despite KU’s two early losses, 6-3 to North Dakota State and 31-16 to Southern Miss, the Jayhawks should win this game. However, it's very difficult to pin KU at this point in the season. If Gill loses this one then Jayhawk faithful will really be calling for his head.

Pereira's Pick: Jayhawks 31 Aggies 10

Northern Iowa (1-1) at Iowa State (1-2)

After dropping another heartbreaker to K-State at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, the Cyclones have a very favorable bounce back game against the an FCS foe in UNI. The Cyclones are talented and disciplined under Paul Rhoads. The Cyclones have a scary backfield with quarterback Austen Arnaud pairing up with runningback Alexander Robinson, the Big 12's 3rd leading rusher a year ago. The Cyclones handle business at Jack Trice Stadium.

Pereira's Pick: Cyclones 42 Panthers 17

Baylor (2-1) at Rice (1-2)

The Baylor Bears have one of the most dangerous weapons in all of college football, Robert Griffin. After returning from a 45-10 schlaking at the hands of TCU, the Bears should get back on track against a Rice team that gave the Longhorns a scare in the opening week. If Rice is going to have a shot they must shut down Griffin. Bears win and continue to fly under the radar.

Pereira's Pick: Bears 34 Owls 16

South Dakota State (0-2) at (6) Nebraska (3-0)

While I believe Nebraska is a bit overrated, they are still a good team and should win this one easily. Taylor Martinez, Roy Helu, and Niles Paul should have a hay day against a defense that has given up an average of 25 points a game to FCS opponents. This should and will be nothing but practice for the Huskers, who will more than likely go into their Thursday night tilt against K-State undefeated and possibly in the top 5 in the country.

Pereira's Pick: Huskers 56 Jackrabbits 6

-- Mike Pereira, 91.9 sports staff

Iowa State Game-Wrap

Farmageddon II has come and gone, and not much changed. The Game itself was still a thriller, and the Wildcats were still able to hold on for the victory, even though it looked as if they might not be able to. Kansas State ended up winning the game 27-20 to maintain there perfect record on the year as well as open up conference play with a huge win.

The Wildcats entered the 4th quarter knotted up at 17 when they finally were able to pull away and maintain there lead for the rest of the game. That’s not to say they weren’t tested, their defense especially. The Kansas State D forced a fumble with less than 7 minutes to go and were ultimately able to seal the game off by making the Cyclones turn the ball over on downs at the Kansas state 34 with just 13 seconds left. The game was truly dominated by the Wildcats but the Cyclones were pesky throughout all 60 minutes and scratched and clawed their way to their final possession.

The Wildcats were led once again by senior running back, and Heisman candidate, Daniel Thomas. Thomas gained 181 yards on the ground on 34 carries raising his season average to a whopping 6.7 yards per carry. He also tallied 2 touchdowns on the day, none of which was bigger than his 2 yard run in the middle of the fourth quarter to give K-State the lead 24-20.
"I know one thing. He doesn't get weaker as the game goes on," Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said of Thomas.

The Wildcats leaned heavily on the ground game once again as they racked up 262 of their 366 total yards behind the power blocking of that big offensive line.

Carson Coffman did a decent job in his role of game manager completing 50% of his passes for 104 yards, although he did throw his first interception of the season. With KSU up 10-7 Coffman threw a pass right into the hands of linebacker A.J. Klein who returned in 69 yards for a score to put Iowa State right back into the game. It was the ‘Cats opening possession of the 2nd half, when they were looking to go for the kill.

The Cats look to take on Central Florida this Saturday at 11:00 here at Bill Family Snyder stadium. This is their last game before the big showdown between the top 2 teams in the Big 12 north face of in a Thursday nighter as K-state looks to get a get a little revenge the Cornhuskers of Nebraska, in a game that the winner will most certainly have the inside track to the Big 12 title game.

-- Josh Dockendorf, 91.9 sports staff

Iowa State v. K-State Preview for 9/18/10

The Kansas State Wildcats football team lead by legendary head coach Bill Snyder will stroll into Arrowhead Stadium this Saturday looking to get another win notched on their purple belt. They will face an up and coming opponent in the Iowa State Cyclones who themselves will be looking to bounce back from year’s heartbreaking one-point loss to the cats. Arrowhead will be a mad house filled with purple and red come Saturday, and those attending should be in for quite a scrumptious treat of great football.

Last year’s tilt made headlines across the Midwest for the last minute heroics by Kansas State’s Emmanuel Lamur, who blocked an extra point with thirty two seconds left on the ticker to help secure a 24-23 Wildcat victory. The Wildcat offense had a new wrinkle to throw at the Cyclones with the debut of senior quarterback Grant Gregory. Cats’ fans were given an outstanding performance from Gregory as he put up some very impressive and unseen numbers as far as the previous four games had gone. Gregory threw 23 passes completing 16 of them for a total of 206 yards passing and two touchdowns and carried the ball 14 times gaining 29 yards and one touchdown. The Wildcats offense really began to come together during this match up, and they built from this game as the season progressed. A late game rollout by Gregory, which led to a 54-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Banks, was the winning play that helped propel K-State towards a Big 12 season opening win. The Cyclones, with Austen Arnaud at the helm then drove the field late in the fourth quarter and did end up scoring a touchdown with under a minute to go on the clock. After the 23-yard strike from Arnaud to Jake Williams cut the deficit to 24-23, the elusive Lamur blocked the PAT attempt to give his team the victory. As both teams prepare this week for the upcoming rubber match on Saturday, there will be obvious motivation for both sides as practices intensify late in the week. For the Cyclones, revenge will be the flame burning in their minds throughout the week. As for the wildcats, the thought of a good start to the big 12 season continuing the efforts for a successful future this season will be on the line come game day.

The Kansas State offense is a wrecking crew with aim to run down opposing defenses until they can bust through and slaughter their opponent. Daniel Thomas is the most obvious visual aide to this thesis. He is a big, fast, tough running back who can and will take down any opposing defense through fighting and grinding the entire game. This will be no different on Saturday. As we have seen thus far, DT has the ability to do whatever he wants against defenses even though many of those defenses are structuring their game plans around him. This will be an even bigger deal for the Cyclone defense after losing middle linebacker Matt Tao’fo’ou to a broken left leg during the first quarter of the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes last week. Daniel Thomas should have his way with this defense with the lass to Tao’fo’ou, but don’t be too surprised to see Snyder get a little airy on Saturday. The Cyclone secondary has been meager to say the least this year, and the tools necessary to have a very dangerous air attack are in place for the Cats. This could lead to many a hook-up from Coffman to his various wide out weapons. It will require that Coffman make quick and smart decisions when it comes to his reads, which has been a difficulty thus far for the senior captain. I think Coffman can become a successful passing quarterback and this could be the game for him to do so as he should have many opportunities to prove to Wildcat Nation just what he can really do with the multiple weapons he has at the wide receiver position.

Iowa State has found a saving grace for themselves within the last few years. The most evident model of this discovery is Ames native, senior quarterback Austen Arnaud. Arnaud is a quick and agile QB with quite an arm to back up his rushing abilities. The Cyclones offense will look to Arnaud to lead them to a much-needed big 12 season opener win. Arnaud will aim to lock up a win on Saturday with help from his teammate Alexander Robinson, who is the running back that holds down the Cyclone backfield. Robinson has played well the last two weeks, and could be a major factor for the Kansas State frontline. The Wildcats defense will look to improve on their efforts in the second half last week against the Missouri State Bears. Cruising into Kansas City this weekend with a very experienced and talented secondary as well as a hard-working veteran front seven, the wildcats will look to shut down the offensive attack of the Cyclones. Arnaud will be a very big impact on this game, and it will be very important for Alex Hrebec as well as Brandon Harold and the rest of the frontline defensive unit to get to him early and often to pin him into making difficult passes. Also, the wildcat defense will need to be ready to pick up the option and defend it until there are no more options for the Iowa State offense to make. The Cyclones are centered on a dual threat quarterback who can run and manage a very effective option offense. In regards to the option, it will be a very interesting thing to see whether or not the cats’ defense can respond well to such an offense. Nonetheless, the Wildcats defense will need to show up come Saturday in order to stop a very tough and relentless Cyclone offense.

Bill Snyder and staff will weigh heavily on strategy and game plan when it comes to the overall scheme of offense against Iowa State. It will be very important to come ready to go on Saturday because the Cyclones will be raring to get on the scoreboard first. I think that Snyder will need to make up his mind early, what type of game he would like to play. We have the best running back in the nation in my opinion, and we will obviously use him to his fullest potential. The question will be whether or not Snyder wants to take a shot with Coffman down the field a few times. The opportunity will present itself quite a few times throughout the game with the staggering rush game that we have in our front pocket, it will be interesting to see how Bill takes advantage of such opportunities as the game progresses. On the flipside of things, Iowa State head coach Paul Rhoads will come thoroughly prepared to try and stop the wildcats offensive prowess on the ground. Rhoads stated that this is the best running attack that the Cyclones will face all season, and he is ready to go at it head on. The Cyclone offense should show up, but Rhoads focus will be defensive aggression and shutting down Daniel Thomas.

I think that this game presents a great opportunity for both teams involved in the infamously coined “Farmageddon.” For the Cyclones, this game presents a possibility to win a marquee match up with a very good football team and start off their big 12 season 1-0. On the other hand, this game provides the wildcats with an opportunity to continue the success that they have achieved thus far, and also show the league and nation how much talent this team really has. This is really a great way for both teams to highlight their talents and prove to the doubtful that they can each be successful football teams this season. My prediction is that this will be a very hard fought game for sixty minutes, but I think that the Wildcats will pull away come the latter part of the fourth quarter. I would say that the Wildcats will win this game 24-14 and walk away with one interception. Carson Coffman will have a breakout game and throw for over 200 yards, while Daniel Thomas will continue to wreak havoc on the Iowa State defense to run for over 100 yards. The game should be a very fun one due to Kansas State painting Kansas City purple the whole weekend. I would encourage all Wildcat fans to keep the purple on all weekend and show KC how much we love our Cats.

-- Jordan Spencer, 919 Sports Staff

K-State Cruises Past Missouri State

MANHATTAN, Kan. - For one night Carson Coffman was the man. K-State's fifth year senior signal caller threw for a career high 280 yards and three touchdowns while connecting on 18 of 26 pass attempts to help the Wildcats roll to a 48-24 win over Missouri State on Saturday night.

“The numbers were good,” K-State head coach Bill Snyder said. “But there are a lot of things that go into playing well than just the numbers.”

K-State used an efficient first half effort to burst out to a 27-7 halftime lead and never looked back from there. Senior running back and heisman candidate Daniel Thomas chipped in his usual workman like effort with 21 carries for 137 yards, 101 of which came in the first half.

Missouri State pushed the K-State defense all game long behind a strong effort from senior quarterback Cody Kirby who tossed for 281 yards and 2 scores of his own. The Bears offense amassed 447 yards of total offense, a mere 63 less than the Wildcats total.

“I feel like we were a lot better mentality,” Kirby said. “We played a lot closer then the scoreboard indicated.”

Thomas got the scoring going on K-State's second possession when he scampered in from 45 yards out with 11:50 left in the first quarter. The Wildcats second score of the day would not come as easy. In a rare moment of trickery from Bill Snyder, K-State faked a field goal and holder Ryan Doerr made a successful option pitch to place kicker Anthony Cantele who took it in for a three yard touchdown run with 9:45 left before halftime. Moments later Carson Coffman hooked up with wideout Brodrick Smith for a 42-yard touchdown pass and the Wildcats had a 20-0 lead.

“Our goal was to come out and pass the ball a little bit,” Coffman said. “They stopped the run early, and I’m glad they gave me the opportunity to get out there and throw it.”

Next up for K-State is the big 12 opener this Saturday against Iowa State at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

Hi everyone, I posted a new episode to my podcast, John Kurtzs Podcast. Please click the link below to view it. http://919sports.podomatic.com/entry/2010-08-11T21_07_35-07_00 See you there! - John

Spring Football Press Conference #3

For the third time this spring K-State head coach Bill Snyder addressed the media today as the Cats prepare for the Spring Game this Saturday at 6:10. Nothing too earth shattering today from coach. Still no one separating much at the QB spot. Team is still inconsistent. We do have some 1 on 1 sit downs with OL Zack Kendall, LB/DE Josh Berrard and DB Stephen Harrison.

1 on 1 with Zack Kendall

John Kurtz's Podcast

1 on 1 with Josh Berrard

John Kurtz's Podcast

1 on 1 with Stephen Harrison

John Kurtz's Podcast

1 on 1 with Kadero Terrell

John Kurtz's Podcast

Sports Talk April 6th

John Kurtz's Podcast

Sports Talk 1 on 1 with Jamar Samuels

John Kurtz's Podcast

Sports Talk 1 on 1 with Curtis Kelly

John Kurtz's Podcast

Monday at Bramlage

After the bitter home loss to Iowa State on Saturday it was a fairly somber, relaxed mood at Bramlage today. The players seem focused on atoning for the 0-2 finish to the season in Kansas City. We have 1 on 1's with Curtis Kelly and Jamar Samuels to follow in the blog. Those interviews as well as sound from Frank Martin will appear on a special Big 12 Tournament preview of Sports Talk tomorrow live at 6:30 inside Kites in Aggieville!

Tuesday at Bramlage...

Some great stuff from media availability today. From Jamar and Curtis singing to Jake and Ron Burgandy impersonations there was hardly a dull moment. Check out this when Jacob Pullen was asked about Sherron Collins and his senior prom.

Pullen on his high school prom, crashing a car and Sherro...

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Jacob Pullen on telling the freshman about Allen Fieldhouse

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Arthur Brown to KSU

What has been rumored for some time is finally official. Arthur Brown Sr. released this statement to rivals.com regarding the future of his son...

"I would like to acknowledge that Arthur Brown Jr. will continue his education at Kansas St. University, under the leadership of President Wefald and Coach Bill Snyder. We are very happy and elated to have Arthur Jr. back at home, and we appreciate the overwhelming support and kind words we've received from the entire state of Kansas; our community, friends and immediate family. We are proud to become a part of the K-State family. We thank you again for your support.


Sincerely Yours,

Arthur D. Brown SR."

This is a needed boost for a football program that just lost Lamark Brown. How much of an impact can Arthur make in a purple and white uniform?

Lamark Brown

With gopowercat.com reporting that Lamark Brown has left the K-State football program it begs the question...is he the greatest let down in the recent history of K-State football? A guy that came in as one of the most highly touted recruits to ever step foot on the field at Bill Snyder Family Stadium leaves after 3 years with just 45 catches to his name. Thoughts of the public on this? Good riddance? Crushing blow to Snyder 2.0?

February 9th show

Welcome to Sports Talk's blog! Here is our KAB submitted show from February 9th featuring audio from Frank Martin, Jacob Pullen, former K-State linebacker Terry Pierce and Colorado men's basketball beat writer Ryan Thorburn!

Sports Talk February 9th

John Kurtz's Podcast