Kansas State-UTEP college football preview
When/where: 11 a.m. Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan.
TV/radio: Fox Sports KC; WHB (810 AM)
The series: First meeting
The line: K-State by 26
KANSAS STATE (2-1, 1-0 Big 12)
Date | Opponent | Result/time |
Aug. 30 | Stephen F. Austin | W, 55-16 |
Sept. 6 | at Iowa State | W, 32-28 |
Sept. 18 | Auburn | L, 20-14 |
Saturday | UTEP | 11 a.m. |
Oct. 4 | Texas Tech | 6 p.m. |
Oct. 18 | at Oklahoma | TBA |
Oct. 25 | Texas | TBA |
Nov. 1 | Oklahoma State | TBA |
Nov. 8 | at TCU | TBA |
Nov. 20 | at West Virginia | 6 p.m. |
Nov. 29 | Kansas | TBA |
Dec. 6 | at Baylor | TBA |
UTEP (2-1, 0-0 Conference USA)
Date | Opponent | Result/time |
Aug. 30 | at New Mexico | W, 31-24 |
Sept. 6 | Texas Tech | L, 30-26 |
Sept. 13 | New Mexico State | W, 42-24 |
Saturday | at Kansas State | 11 a.m. |
Oct. 4 | at Louisiana Tech | 5 p.m. |
Oct. 11 | Old Dominion | 6 p.m. |
Oct. 25 | at UTSA | 5 p.m. |
Nov. 1 | Southern Miss | 6 p.m. |
Nov. 8 | at Western Kentucky | 2 p.m. |
Nov. 15 | North Texas | TBA |
Nov. 21 | at Rice | 6 p.m. |
Nov. 29 | Middle Tennessee | 5 p.m. |
What’s at stake
K-State is hoping to put an emotional loss to Auburn behind it and move into the rest of Big 12 play with the momentum of a victory. UTEP is trying to win its second game ever against a ranked team on the road.
Cheers if …
The Wildcats get back to running the ball the way they did in their first two games. They managed 40 rushing yards against Auburn and had to focus on the passing game.
Jeers if …
The Miners lead after the first quarter. Few teams crave early leads more than UTEP. When it is on top, it will hand the ball to Aaron Jones and try to control the clock.
Three things about UTEP
1 UTEP running back Aaron Jones ranks second nationally with 548 rushing yards through three games. He is averaging 7.8 yards per carry. He had 144 rushing yards in a 30-26 loss to Texas Tech.
2 The Miners use their running game to their advantage when it comes to time of possession, holding onto the ball for 36 minutes per game. That number ranks fourth nationally.
3 UTEP is 1-31 against ranked opponents on the road. Its lone victory against a top 25 team came in 1974 against then No. 14 Arizona State.
Key matchup
Jake Waters vs. UTEP’s pass rush. Miners coach Sean Kugler takes an aggressive approach on defense, preferring to blitz linebackers and leave defensive backs in man coverage. Waters might not have a lot of time to make decisions in the pocket, but if he reads the defense quickly and correctly he could find receivers down field for big gains.
KANSAS STATE OFFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
WR | 16 | Tyler Lockett | 5-11 | 175 | Sr. |
WR | 14 | Curry Sexton | 5-11 | 183 | Sr. |
LT | 55 | Cody Whitehair | 6-4 | 309 | Jr. |
LG | 77 | Boston Stiverson | 6-4 | 312 | Jr. |
C | 66 | B.J. Finney | 6-4 | 303 | Sr. |
RG | 61 | Drew Liddle | 6-3 | 288 | Sr. |
RT | 65 | Matt Kleinsorge | 6-5 | 306 | Jr. |
TE | 85 | Zach Trujillo | 6-5 | 256 | Sr. |
WR | 6 | Deante Burton | 6-2 | 205 | So. |
QB | 15 | Jake Waters | 6-1 | 210 | Sr. |
RB | 24 | Charles Jones | 5-10 | 197 | So. |
K | 3 | Jack Cantele | 6-0 | 193 | Jr. |
KANSAS STATE DEFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
DE | 44 | Ryan Mueller | 6-2 | 245 | Sr. |
DT | 99 | Valentino Coleman | 6-2 | 285 | Sr. |
DT | 95 | Travis Britz | 6-4 | 293 | Jr. |
DE | 75 | Jordan Willis | 6-5 | 250 | So. |
LB | 9 | Elijah Lee | 6-3 | 214 | Fr. |
LB | 35 | Will Davis | 6-0 | 223 | So. |
LB | 21 | Jonathan Truman | 5-11 | 219 | Sr. |
CB | 33 | Morgan Burns | 5-11 | 195 | Jr. |
SS | 22 | Dante Barnett | 6-1 | 186 | Jr. |
FS | 20 | Dylan Schellenberg | 6-9 | 195 | Sr. |
CB | 7 | Danzel McDaniel | 6-1 | 205 | Jr. |
P | 14 | Nick Walsh | 5-10 | 198 | Fr. |
UTEP OFFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
WR | 14 | Ian Hamilton | 6-5 | 225 | Sr. |
LT | 69 | Jerel Watkins | 6-3 | 300 | Sr. |
LG | 76 | Will Hernandez | 6-3 | 320 | Fr. |
C | 60 | Eric Lee | 6-1 | 295 | Jr. |
RG | 75 | Derek Elmendorff | 6-3 | 310 | Fr. |
RT | 70 | Jerome Daniels | 6-3 | 295 | So. |
TE | 87 | Eric Tomlinson | 6-7 | 270 | Sr. |
WR | 4 | Jarrad Shaw | 5-9 | 190 | Sr. |
QB | 1 | Jamiell Showers | 6-2 | 230 | Sr. |
FB | 30 | Darrin Laufasa | 6-1 | 235 | So. |
TB | 29 | Aaron Jones | 5-10 | 185 | So. |
K | 47 | Jay Mattox | 6-0 | 185 | So. |
UTEP DEFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
LE | 36 | Nick Usher | 6-3 | 235 | So. |
DT | 90 | Maurice Chavis | 6-1 | 275 | Sr. |
NT | 63 | Gino Bresolin | 6-2 | 285 | So. |
RE | 43 | Roy Robertson-Harris | 6-7 | 255 | Jr. |
MLB | 34 | Anthony Puente | 5-11 | 225 | Sr. |
WLB | 16 | Alvin Jones | 5-10 | 215 | Fr. |
CB | 2 | Ishmael Harrison | 6-0 | 195 | Jr. |
SS | 22 | Jameel Erving | 6-1 | 205 | Sr. |
FS | 27 | Devin Cockrell | 5-11 | 190 | So. |
CB | 1 | Adrian James | 6-0 | 195 | Sr. |
WS | 13 | Wesley Miller | 5-10 | 195 | Sr. |
P | 96 | Mike Ruggles | 6-6 | 210 | So. |
Kellis Robinett’s pick: K-State 37-14
UTEP, with its power-running style, is a difficult team to blow away. But it will need a break or two to keep this game close. Auburn couldn’t run on K-State’s defense. There’s no reason to think UTEP will do any better.
Kellis Robinett, krobinett@kcstar.com
This story was originally published September 25, 2014 at 9:35 AM with the headline "Kansas State-UTEP college football preview."