It’s not officially the start of Big 12 season for Arizona, but it might as well be. Friday’s game at Kansas State was scheduled long before the latest round of college football realignment put the two Wildcats in the same conference, but officially it will be a non-league game.
The UA and Kansas State haven’t played since 1978, and they’ve never met in Manhattan, aka The Little Apple. K-State is 2-0 and ranked 14th in the latest AP Top 25, making this No. 20 Arizona’s first nonconference road game against a ranked opponent since 2011 at Oklahoma State and the first on the road with both teams ranked since the 1999 opener at Penn State.
To better under the other Wildcats, we reached out to Jon Morse of SB Nation sister site Bring on the Cats. Here are his balanced answers to our unstable questions:
AZ Desert Swarm: Kansas State rallied to win at Tulane on Saturday, coming back from down two scores. What impressed you most about that performance, and what was most concerning
Jon Morse: “The most impressive thing was the halftime coaching adjustments, to be honest. Much of the issue in the first half was down to bad schemes, although the players weren’t exactly executing wonderfully themselves. What was most concerning was the performance of the secondary, which got
beaten badly by leaving receivers wide open way too many times.”
Quarterback Avery Johnson threw two TD passes at Tulane but also had some big yards on the ground. How much do the Wildcats want him to run in this offense?
“Well, when you say ‘the Wildcats’ I’ll assume you mean the coaching staff, and based on the first two games the answer to that might be ‘not all that often.’ It’s possible that the entire scheme these two games has been designed to get him comfortable throwing the ball and not being the ‘do everything’ guy he was in high school, but we also have to consider that if he gets hurt his backups are much less talented. Keeping him in one piece, then, seems to be a wise strategy.”
DJ Giddens has consecutive 100-yard rushing games and also had a big TD catch in Saturday’s comeback. What makes him so effective with the ball in his hands?
“SIX consecutive 100-yard rushing games, as a matter of fact! Giddens isn’t the fastest guy out there; even if he breaks through the line for a big run, the secondary’s usually going to catch up to him. Now, whether they can tackle him is another question, and that’s what makes Giddens so effective. We have seen him time and time again get hit by a pack of defenders at the line and just drag them forward for seven yards.”
Who are the top defensive players for Arizona to be most concerned with, and what kind of scheme does K-State use on defense?
“K-State runs a base 3-3-5, usually with a linebacker stepping up as an edge rusher when warranted but occasionally they’ll switch into a 4-2-5 with an extra defensive end instead. The entire front six is deadly. The linemen—usually Tobi Osunsanmi, Brendan Mott, and Damian Ilalio—are not your prototypical sides of beef, but all move very well and do still have the strength to break blocks. The primary linebackers include Austin Moore, the unit’s quarterback and captain, as well as Desmond Purnell and Austin Romaine, both of whom are very disruptive.
“The secondary … well, safety Marquis Sigle’s pretty good but everyone else is on double secret probation with (our) staff right now.”
Who would win in a fight between Wilbur and Wildcat and Willie the Wildcat, who isn’t so much a mascot as some guy on the football team who is really into cosplay?
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“I dunno. I think Willie might have an edge simply because his arm movements aren’t restricted by Wilbur’s full costume. Then again, we try to avoid letting Willie get in fights after the time he accidentally kicked a little kid’s butt …”
Prediction time. Which Wildcats come out on top on this Big 12 matchup that isn’t officially a Big 12 matchup? Give us a score pick.
“This is always my least favorite part of these, because nobody is ever right. Usually. The math tells me that a 32-24 K-State win is probably the safest bet, but I’m concerned that Arizona is going to be playing into K-State’s weakness offensively.”
