Five storylines to watch as Kansas State preps for Friday night game vs. Arizona
Friday night lights aren’t just for high school football this week.
Kansas State will host Arizona at 7 p.m. on Friday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in a game that could be loaded with offensive fireworks.
K-State is off to a 2-0 start with wins over Tennessee-Martin and Tulane. Arizona also won its first two games against New Mexico and Northern Arizona. Only one team will remain undefeated after this battle of the Wildcats.
Here is everything you need to know to start preparing for this week’s game.
ARIZONA AT KANSAS STATE: GAME DETAILS
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan
TV: FOX
Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City and KFH (1240 AM and 97.5 FM) in Wichita
Betting line: K-State by 7.5 with an O/U of 58.5
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
1. Arizona and K-State are Big 12 rivals, but this is not a conference game. Let’s clear this up before we move on to anything else. This game will not count in the league standings. It is a non-conference game even though Arizona joined the Big 12 this season. Why? Because KState and Arizona agreed to play a home-and-home series several years ago and it was too late for both teams to find replacement opponents after conference realignment happened last summer. Baylor and Utah also played a non-conference game last weekend. K-State will play another non-conference game at Arizona next season.
2. Tetairoa McMillan is one of the best wide receivers in all of college football. The Arizona junior caught 90 passes for 1,402 yards and 10 touchdowns last year, and he is already off to an impressive start to this season. McMillan caught a whopping 10 passes for 304 yards and four touchdowns in the seasonopener against New Mexico. Noah Fifita is also a talented quarterback who can get him the ball. Defending that duo will be a challenge for a K-State defense that allowed Tulane to throw for 342 yards on Saturday.
3. K-State wide receivers are off to a slow start. The Wildcats are two games into the season and their leading receiver is Jayce Brown with 88 yards. That’s not so good. Running back DJ Giddens actually leads the team with seven receptions. K-State hasn’t found much success throwing the ball down field this season, as Avery Johnson has only thrown for 347 yards. To be fair, he missed Sterling Lockett when he was open for a long touchdown at Tulane. A connection there would make these numbers look better. In any case, K-State needs to do a better job throwing the ball.
4. DJ Giddens and Dylan Edwards have already formed a dynamic duo. Giddens has rushed for 238 yards this season and Edwards is averaging 10.8 yards per carry. It’s hard to beat that kind of production in the backfield. The Wildcats probably need to get Edwards more involved, though. The Colorado transfer has amassed 114 total yards of offense and scored three touchdowns, but he has only touched the ball 12 times.
5. Brent Brennan is in his first year as coach at Arizona. It was surely disappointing for Arizona football fans when Jedd Fisch left for Washington during the offseason, but the team could still be on the rise with Brennan at the helm. Arizona hired Brennan after a successful stint at San Jose State. He was able to keep many key Arizona players on the roster this season, and that is why the Wildcats entered the Big 12 with high expectations. This is the second straight week that K-State will face a first-year coach.