MANHATTAN, Kan. | There are no lesser concerns. Ron Prince wishes he were so fortunate.</p><p>As the Kansas State coach admitted Monday, everything about the Wildcats&#8217; defense has his attention right now.</p><p>Prince has been vocal about craving more production on the defensive front, and his insertion of John Houlik into the starting lineup for Saturday&#8217;s game at Texas A&amp;M following the junior&#8217;s offseason DUI arrest and three-game suspension illustrates the coach&#8217;s desire to shore up his linebacking corps.</p><p>And now, his focus shifts to the secondary, which has been somewhat overlooked in this dreadful defensive start to the season.</p><p>Everyone saw Louisville and Louisiana-Lafayette gash the Wildcats for more than 300 rushing yards, but the pass defense hasn&#8217;t been much better. K-State is allowing 229.2 yards, which is 86th in the country. In pass-efficiency defense, the Wildcats are 78th.</p><p>But know this: Sophomore cornerback Josh Moore, who has started every game, is fine.</p><p>Everyone else, though, is essentially a work in progress. Not that Prince is unhappy with his secondary.</p><p>&#8220;What we have to do is get a little more consistency,&#8221; he said.</p><p>To meet that goal, drastic measures have been taken, such as:</p><p>&#8226;Eight different defensive backs starting for K-State, including senior Gary Chandler. Last year&#8217;s Big 12 defensive newcomer of the year, Chandler was suspended indefinitely Sept. 29 following his arrest for driving with a revoked license and obstructing the legal process.</p><p>&#8226;Freshman Tysyn Hartman being shifted from quarterback to safety before the Wildcats faced Louisiana-Lafayette. After two weeks at his new position, he&#8217;s Chris Carney&#8217;s backup, and Prince is thrilled with Hartman&#8217;s play thus far.</p><p>&#8220;We have a whole bunch of guys who can do each job,&#8221; Hartman said. &#8220;We&#8217;re kind of interchangeable. Whoever they want to put in, they put in. It&#8217;s not too big of a deal or a drop down in performance.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226;Rashad Harrell, a walk-on who revealed he never had any expectations about actually seeing the field for K-State, playing a significant role.</p><p>&#8220;Rashad isn&#8217;t afraid to hit somebody,&#8221; senior defensive end Ian Campbell said.</p><p>And Prince is seeking something similar from his last line of defense. He needs the unit to make an impact, preferably in the takeaways category. With five in five games, the Wildcats rank 87th in turnover margin.</p><p>The coach points to Carney, a junior captain. Last year, as an honorable mention All-Big 12 selection, Carney had four interceptions.</p><p>No such luck this season. No interceptions, no forced fumbles &#8212; but he does have 25 total tackles.</p><p>&#8220;Chris is doing a solid job,&#8221; Prince said. &#8220;I&#8217;d love to get him off the hash rather than the middle of the field, to allow him to make a play on the ball. That&#8217;s what a free safety has to do. &#8230; He&#8217;s doing a solid job of getting us lined up and everything, (but) we&#8217;d love for him to be a little more disruptive on the ball.</p><p>&#8220;We feel that&#8217;s coming.&#8221;</p><p>But back to Harrell.</p><p>He&#8217;s a Miami native, and when an ankle injury his senior season scuttled most of his scholarship offers, he was urged by his coaches at Miami Central to give Rainy River Community College in International Falls, Minn., a shot. The school dropped its program, though, unable to cover the necessary costs. His dream of Division I football barely alive, Harrell enrolled at Clemson as a preferred walk-on, but he quickly realized he couldn&#8217;t afford it. Before school began, he dropped out.