K-State Wildcats vs. Tulane Green Wave: Five things to know about final Big 12 tuneup
The Kansas State football team will try to complete a perfect run through the nonconference portion of its schedule when it hosts Tulane at 2 p.m. Saturday inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
If the Wildcats win, it will be their second consecutive 3-0 start under head coach Chris Klieman.
This will be a game of undefeated teams. The Green Wave are also off to a 2-0 start under coach Willie Fritz.
Here is everything else you need to know to start preparing for the game.
The details
Kickoff: 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas
TV: ESPN+
Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City and KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita
Betting line: K-State by 16 with an O/U of 49
Five things to know
1. Tulane has not been tested yet this season. Much like the Wildcats, the Green Wave won both of their first two games by decisive margins. They opened the season with a 42-10 victory over Massachusetts and followed that up with a 52-0 win over Alcorn State.
2. Willie Fritz has connections to the Sunflower State. He played at Shawnee Mission Northwest and Pittsburg State. He also served as an assistant coach at Coffeyville Community College before climbing the professional ladder to where he is now. Fritz has gone 33-43 at Tulane with three bowl appearances. This will be a homecoming of sorts for him and his family.
3. The betting line has already shifted for this game. When the odds for Tulane at K-State opened on Sunday, some betting sites had the Wildcats favored by as many as 20 points with an over/under points total of 54.5. Those numbers have already dropped. You can now find K-State favored by only 16 with an O/U of 49.
4. Adrian Martinez may take some deep shots on Saturday. The Nebraska transfer is two games into his K-State career and we have yet to see him attempt more than one downfield pass, which fell incomplete as he tried to connect with Phillip Brooks against South Dakota. K-State has led big in both of its games, so it makes sense that he hasn’t chucked the ball over the field. But it would be beneficial for him and the entire Wildcats offense to take a few chances in this game. He will need to throw for more yardage (4.4 yards per attempt currently) if K-State is going to win its Big 12 opener at Oklahoma. Now seems like the ideal time to let him test his arm.
5. No points for you! That could be the slogan for Kansas State’s defense after two games. The Wildcats have only allowed 12 points this season, and their defense ranks fifth nationally in terms of scoring. K-State would rank second behind only Georgia if not for Missouri scoring a touchdown on the final play of last week’s game on an untimed down after the clock hit zero in the fourth quarter. This will be a game of defenses that haven’t allowed many scores this year. Tulane has only surrendered a total of 10 points in its first two games.
This story was originally published September 12, 2022 at 10:13 AM with the headline "K-State Wildcats vs. Tulane Green Wave: Five things to know about final Big 12 tuneup."