I think it's about a lack of hunger that makes us lose focus, take things for granted, and then get pouty. We really can't afford that against Tech. The offense and defense better have extremely short memories and stay conservative. This is a much, much better team with plenty to prove, led by a Coach who has made a career out of shocking ranked opponents. I'm confident, but also scared. The longer we stay undefeated, the more restless I sleep. I'm not ready for that to end.
Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-1)
Yikes. I thought the worst was over after West Virginia. Turns out it's just the beginning.
Players to Watch
#7 Quarterback, Seth Doege - We spent all that time worrying about Geno Smith, only to be rewarded with Seth Doege. Despite Geno's mind-boggling stats, it's Doege who has the touchdown record with 28 on the year. West Virginia was ranked 6th in passing yards when we played them and Tech is ranked 4th. How is it possible that they're even more statistically impressive? The Big 12 is just a minefield of Heisman quarterbacks and super prolific offenses. Hear that, ESPN? A MINEFIELD.
#16 Safety, Cody Davis - The truly terrifying thing about Tech this year is that they have a legitimate defense. Tech last year was basically West Virginia this year. That means that Tech this year is like OU last year. Still with me? Cody Davis is the leader of the Big 12's top defense with 56 tackles and 3 interceptions. He's also a finalist for the Campbell trophy so he's a defender with a brain. That's a truly lethal combination. He'll be tested by our three offenses at once, but I expect him to get better as the game goes on. Our offense will need to improve too.
#86 and # 6 Wide Receivers, Alex Torres/Austin Zouzalik - If you watched any of the TCU/Tech game last week, you probably saw the Alex Torres highlight reel. He and Zouzalik had an amazing day, catching everything Doege threw up, especially in high pressure situations. TCU has a decent defense, and these two torched them all day long. Our poor secondary will need to have an even better game than they did last week.
Keys to Victory
Score more than 21 points. K-State is 1 of 4 teams in the country to hold their opponents to 21 points or less in every game this year. If Tech wants to pull off this upset on the road, they're going to have to score a lot more than 21 points.
Stop the run. Now that Klein has proven himself as a legitimate passing threat, defenses have quite a bit more to do. If Tech can stop the run first and keep Hubert, Pease, and Klein in the backfield, they should have enough time to create havoc with the offensive line and disrupt the passing game. Sounds simple, but no team has been able to do it yet.
Avoid turnovers. Last year's game appeared to be in Tech's favor well into the fourth quarter. Then Tech turned the ball over 4 times in 5 plays and K-State escaped Lubbock with the win. Zimmerman is on a hot streak and Nigel gets closer every week. With Randall Evans roaming around ready to tip balls and the pass rush gaining strength and confidence every week, Doege is going to have to be very careful on Saturday.
Fun Facts
If K-State wins this game, they'll be 8-0 for the first time since 1999. Part of our trouble with getting to 8-0 is that we've lost 9 of the past 11 games against top 25 opponents at home. Texas Tech is currently ranked 14 (or 15 or 17 - there are too many polls). No pressure though. It's not like there's a national championship on the line. Or a chance for redemption for our beloved coach who had his heart shattered 14 years ago. Nothing like that. Walk in the park.
Texas Tech may not seem like the season's scariest opponent, but history is not in our favor. We haven't defeated Texas Tech in Manhattan since 2000. That means that we have a total of 2 home victories over the Red Raiders since the Big 12 began. Texas Tech came to Manhattan for the first time in 1996, as the first game of the Big 12. The Cats won that year, then again in 2000, and then... never again. Our victory over Tech last year in Lubbock snapped a 5 game losing streak against the Raiders. If you have K-State HDtv, go ahead and rewatch the game from last year. It was the luckiest we've ever been.
Spooky stat line of the week: Texas Tech and K-State have IDENTICAL scoring stats. They've each played 7 games. They've each scored exactly 300 points. They've each had 39 touchdowns. They've each had 9 field goals. Spoooooooooky.
Last week, Stephen A. Smith made a name for himself as dum-dum ESPN analyst of the week by saying that Collin Klein only looked good because the rest of the team were a bunch of scrubs. According to Smith, that made Geno Smith all the more impressive, because he wasn't surrounded by a stable of mediocrity. After K-State thrashed West Virginia, the players wasted no time in tweeting Stephen Smith and others about their supposed mediocrity. I appreciate the fire, but I think it's directed at the wrong person. ESPN analysts are paid to be dumb. It's the only way they get any attention. The real anger has to be taken out on the opponent. If not, you're just as bad as the analysts. I'm anxious to see if we can do more showing than telling on Saturday.
Kansas State Wildcats (7-0)
If it doesn't happen this year, can it ever really happen?
Players to Watch
#42 Defensive End, Meshak Williams - Meshak and Adam had a great game against West Virginia, but they're going to have to be even better against Texas Tech. Doege is coming in with confidence after two huge passing games and he has great rhythm and timing with Torres and Zouzalik right now. Our secondary will do what they can in the first half, but Meshak must get to the backfield and disrupt Doege in the second to prevent a shoot-out.
#3 Wide Receiver, Chris Harper - Are you finally ready, Chris? We need you and Tyler and Tramaine to be equally lethal to make sure Collin has plenty of options. You made sure the media heard all about your thoughts on mediocrity. Now it's time to prove it.
#24 Cornerback, Nigel Malone - Poor Nigel has had about 10 almost interceptions this year and you can see his blood pressure rise a little more with each one. He's such a ball hawk, and it drives me crazy to see him so close to breaking through. He came up huge for us last year, scoring on a pick 6 in Tech's first offensive series. A repeat might be necessary.
Keys to Victory
Defend the pass. Did you know that the secondary I'm always complaining about has only given up 7 passing touchdowns this year? Did you also know that they've recorded 8 interceptions? Sorry about that, guys. I promise that if you keep up your streak of only allowing opponents to score 21 points or less, I will sing your praises in the recap blog. I'm not worried about the offense suffering a mental letdown, but I'm a little worried about the secondary facing the two most prolific passing offenses back to back.
Be special on special teams. Have you ever noticed that Coach only shows emotion when the special teams unit screws up? If they get a penalty, or miss a block, or allow a 100 yard return, he gets downright scary. They owe him and the team and themselves after last week's debacle. In last year's victory, the special teams unit blocked two field goals (Raphael Guidry), returned a kick for a touchdown (Tyler Lockett), and then blew an onside kick (Tysyn Hartman). They need to play big on Saturday.
Grind it out. Turns out, when you play perfect football on the road, and your opponents are a bunch of undisciplined babies, time of possession doesn't really matter all that much. However, against a quality Tech defense, at home, after a blow-out victory, I think we're going to need to return to our grind it out style of time suck football.
Trap Level
Coach said in the press conference this week that the idea of a trap game shouldn't exist in the Big 12 because anyone can beat anyone, on any given Saturday. I was almost shamed into taking it out of the blog, but I still believe in that little bit of superstition. I think that Texas Tech has played well enough to earn the player's attention and respect, but I have no idea if the players showed up to practice this week with the same level of attention and focus and effort that they did for the West Virginia game. The possibilities for this team are staggering. Can they handle the pressure?
Goal of the Week
#12 No Self-Limitations. Coach has been saying it all week and I'll repeat it here. Just because we were good last week, doesn't mean we can't be better this week. Sage advice, considering our opponent will definitely be better than last week.
Prediction
I really have no idea what this one will look like. We had no business winning in Lubbock last year, but magically did. They have no business winning in Manhattan, but will they? They looked terrible against an angry OU team and great against a sluggish West Virginia. We both played Iowa State about the same. We both have the exact same scoring stats. We both have Heisman caliber quarterbacks and somewhat inconsistent defenses. Are they tired from the 3OT battle in Fort Worth? Are we tired from the cross country trek to Morgantown? I think this one is bound to get a little sloppy, and frustrating for both fan bases, but in the end, you can't pick against K-State at home. 35-27, K-State.
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Insider tip: Do you all still have your K-State HDtv subscription that I advised you to get for the Missouri State game? If you're like me, you do, and it's the best $10 you'll spend every month. They have the weekly press conferences from Coach and Collin, the radio calls with pre-game, halftime and post-game shows, and the whole televised game up by Wednesday. I have learned so much from re-watching these games and listening to Wyatt and Stan. They've been following this team from the early Snyder days and they know their stuff.
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