MANHATTAN, Kan. | Deon Murphy wasn&#8217;t taking the bait.</p><p>Obviously, Kansas State&#8217;s receiving corps is deeper than last season &#8212; and really, a kiddie pool has more depth than what the Wildcats trotted out at wide receiver in 2007. We can say this for certain after what happened in the season opener against North Texas, when Josh Freeman completed passes to six receivers.</p><p>Freeman looked comfortable breaking in the junior-college additions, Aubrey Quarles and Brandon Banks. And veterans such as Lamark Brown, Ernie Pierce and tight end Jeron Mastrud seemed more polished.</p><p>But does Freeman, a junior quarterback, already have a favorite? Has he established a rapport with any of the six he hooked up with Saturday, anything comparable to the clear connection he shared immediately last season with Jordy Nelson?</p><p>Murphy grinned as he shook his head. He wasn&#8217;t on the field for any offensive snaps against North Texas because of an undisclosed injury. But being the most productive wide receiver returning from 2007 &#8212; with 57 catches for 605 yards and five touchdowns &#8212; he realized where this was going, what he was supposed to say, what he might be tempted to say.</p><p>Instead, the ultraconfident Murphy exercised some restraint.</p><p>&#8220;I couldn&#8217;t tell you,&#8221; he said. &#8220;A lot of receivers touched the ball (last) week. I feel I&#8217;ll be one of his best targets to throw to. If you don&#8217;t feel that way, you shouldn&#8217;t play this game. &#8230; I feel like when I get out there and run routes with Josh, we&#8217;re on the same page.</p><p>&#8220;He knows where I&#8217;m going to go and I know where he&#8217;s going to throw the ball.&#8221;</p><p>Ditto for Quarles. And Banks, Brown, Pierce, Mastrud and Adrian Hilburn, another junior-college transfer Prince singled out for his special-teams contributions against North Texas.</p><p>At this point, Freeman could be forgiven for gloating. He spent much of the preseason saying the passing game wouldn&#8217;t fall off without Nelson.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;d like to think I have a connection with all of the guys out there,&#8221; Freeman said. &#8220;When you play with guys so much, like how many reps we got in camp, you start to get a feel for exactly what they&#8217;re going to be doing, and I feel like I have a good feel for what everybody is doing.&#8221;</p><p>One game doesn&#8217;t provide enough evidence to formulate theories or spot trends, but against the Mean Green, once Freeman found an open receiver, he tended to find him often during the same drive. On K-State&#8217;s third drive, he hit Quarles three times for 28 yards. On the next drive, it was back-to-back passes to Banks, including a 30-yard touchdown strike that Prince said after the game was largely improvised.</p><p>Banks added another touchdown to open the second half. With his two scores against North Texas, the 5-foot-7, 142-pound Banks has already accounted for as many touchdowns as Mastrud (zero), Brown (zero) and Pierce (two) combined for in 2007.</p><p>And on the next drive, it was Brown, the sophomore who has finally made the transition to the speed of the college game. A 12-yard pass for a first down, an 18-yard completion for another first down and then the first K-State touchdown of his career.</p><p>Everybody was involved &#8212; except for Murphy, of course.</p><p>But a favorite? Does Freeman have one already?</p><p>&#8220;I have no idea,&#8221; Brown said.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; Banks said.</p><p>There isn&#8217;t one, Freeman explained, because there doesn&#8217;t have to be. Last year, Prince marveled at how opposing defenses knew the ball was going to Nelson, yet they could do little to stop it from getting there. So far, the difference this year is no one knows where the ball is going.</p><p>Although Murphy has a clue.</p><p>Asked what Freeman would do on a game-deciding drive, faced with third down and 7, and Murphy finally bit:</p><p>&#8220;I want the ball. He&#8217;s probably going to throw it to me.&#8221;</p><p>But then he felt the need to explain himself.</p><p>&#8220;Not only because I want the ball, maybe as the most experienced, but we&#8217;re going to get the ball to whoever is open,&#8221; said Murphy, who&#8217;s expected to play on offense and special teams Saturday. &#8220;Josh is going to go through his reads, and whoever is open, that&#8217;s who he&#8217;s getting the ball to.</p><p>&#8220;But I want the ball.&#8221;