Kansas State Wildcats Face Auburn Tigers in Primetime Test
By Eddie Grier
Coming off a bye week and a Big 12 come from behind victory against Iowa State, Kansas State prepares for the defending SEC Champion Auburn Tigers on Thursday night.
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Game #3
Who: #5 Auburn Tigers (2-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. #20 Kansas State Wildcats (2-0, 1-0 Big 12)
Where: Manhattan, Kansas (Bill Snyder Family Stadium)
When: Thursday 6:30pm
TV: ESPN
This is even bigger than facing the Miami Hurricanes coming to Manhattan for a visit to Manhattan a couple years ago. The game against Auburn by far will be the measuring stick to see where the #20 ranked Wildcats are at early in the season.
At Bill Snyder’s press conference this week, he said it was odd playing a high ranked opponent this early. We will definitely find out the answer on Thursday night if the K-State is ready for that challenge.
So many story lines going into this matchup especially with the two quarterbacks in this game Jake Waters and Auburn’s Nick Marshall. No matter what this is a huge opportunity for the Cats to make a statement in primetime, at home, and on National Television that they can play with the SEC’s best. A win could really boost the Kansas State Wildcats higher in the Top 25 rankings.
K-State Offensive Preview vs. #5 Auburn
Jake Waters and the rest of the Wildcat offense will have a very tough challenge going up against a much faster and strong group in the Tigers. Waters is coming off a career high as yards rushing on the ground (with 138 vs. Cyclones) and will need to keep the Auburn defense off balance. With Waters’ ability to run and more authority to add with his arm, he definitely has the ability to do great things for this offense on Thursday night against a tough team.
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KSU also will need Charles Jones and DeMarcus Robinson to be effective enough to move the football and keep Auburn’s triple run threat offensive off the field.
Tyler Lockett was announced last week with an unspecified injury and yet he showed his toughness at Iowa State. With the bye week in the books you would hope to see #16 on the field. Lockett coming off his 1o career game where he had over 100 yards receiving could be a big difference maker for the Wildcats Thursday night.
K-State Defense Preview vs. #5 Auburn
Being at home and playing in front 50,000 plus loud, packed full of purple could, could play matters into the hands of the K-State defense. Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall is twice is good than Sam Richardson for Iowa State and will bring a much tougher offense on the field than the Cyclones did.
K-State has had over a week and a half to prepare for whatever the Tigers come with on offense. Defensively, the key to this game is containing Marshall and slowing down the running backs led by Cameron Artis-Payne for the Tigers. Artis-Payne is coming into the primetime contest ranked sixth nationally in rushing offense with 330 yards given the two opponents that Auburn has faced.
K-State was fooled in the trick play department for a touchdown in Ames and must be ready for any surprises that Gus Malzhan could have for the Cats. A key matchup on the outside for the Cats in secondary is Sammie Coates, who only has one catch so far in 2014.
Final Say
This will be Auburn’s first road game of the year and it will come in a rockus home environment in Manhattan. I think for K-State this first quarter will be the key into how far this game is going to play out.
If the Wildcats can stay with the Tigers then this is going to be closer than fans think it’s going to be. But also, crazy things happen on Thursday night football so anything can happen. The Wildcats definitely have a chance to close the door on Auburn’s college playoff hopes.