Kansas State vs. Louisiana Tech: Three-minute college football preview
When/where: 2 p.m. Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan.
TV/radio: Fox Sports KC; WHB (810 AM)
The series: K-State leads 2-1
The line: K-State by 9
KANSAS STATE (2-0, 0-0 Big 12)
Date | Opponent | Result/time |
Sept. 5 | South Dakota | W, 34-0 |
Sept. 12 | at UTSA | W, 30-3 |
Saturday | Louisiana Tech | 2 p.m. |
Oct. 3 | at Oklahoma State | TBA |
Oct. 10 | TCU | TBA |
Oct. 17 | Oklahoma | TBA |
Oct. 24 | at Texas | TBA |
Nov. 5 | Baylor | 6:30 p.m. |
Nov. 14 | at Texas Tech | TBA |
Nov. 21 | Iowa State | TBA |
Nov. 28 | at Kansas | TBA |
Dec. 5 | West Virginia | TBA |
LOUISIANA TECH (1-1, 0-1 C-USA)
Date | Opponent | Result/time |
Sept. 5 | Southern | W, 62-15 |
Sept. 10 | at Western Kentucky | L, 41-38 |
Saturday | at Kansas State | 2 p.m. |
Sept. 26 | Florida International | 1:30 p.m. |
Oct. 3 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 6 p.m. |
Oct. 10 | at UTSA | 6 p.m. |
Oct.17 | at Mississippi State | TBA |
Oct. 24 | Middle Tennessee | 2:30 p.m. |
Oct. 30 | at Rice | 7 p.m. |
Nov. 7 | North Texas | 2:30 p.m. |
Nov. 21 | at UTEP | TBA |
Nov. 28 | Southern Miss | TBA |
What’s at stake
The Wildcats are looking for their first perfect run through nonconference play in three years. A 3-0 start followed by an off week before Big 12 play begins is the ideal Bill Snyder scenario. Louisiana Tech is looking for a victory against a marquee opponent.
Cheers if …
K-State’s running backs top 150 rushing yards. Louisiana Tech has a questionable defensive line, and the Wildcats should take advantage of it on the ground.
Jeers if …
Any key K-State players are injured. Starting quarterback Jesse Ertz is done for the season, senior safety Dante Barnett is out for an undetermined length of time, and captain Stanton Weber missed K-State’s last game. The Wildcats want nothing more to do with the injury bug.
Three things about Louisiana Tech
1 You will probably recognize Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz. He has been coaching since 1987, serving as the head coach at Connecticut, East Carolina and South Florida. He is also the son of former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz.
2 Jeff Driskel went 16-6 as a starting quarterback at Florida before transferring to Louisiana Tech, where he is 1-1. This season he has completed 40 of 63 attempts for 631 yards and six touchdowns.
3 Louisiana Tech is not skilled on defense. It allowed averages of 435.5 yards and 28 points in its first two games.
Key matchup
K-State’s pass rush vs. Jeff Driskel: Driskel has the talent to pick apart a secondary when he has time to do so. The Wildcats need to put pressure on him and force him into quick decisions.
KANSAS STATE OFFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
WR | 6 | Deante Burton | 6-2 | 205 | Jr. |
WR | 19 | Kody Cook | 6-1 | 200 | Sr. |
LT | 55 | Cody Whitehair | 6-4 | 305 | Sr. |
LG | 77 | Boston Stiverson | 6-4 | 316 | Sr. |
C | 71 | Dalton Risner | 6-5 | 300 | Fr. |
RG | 68 | Luke Hayes | 6-6 | 295 | Sr. |
RT | 65 | Matt Kleinsorge | 6-5 | 310 | Sr. |
TE | 80 | Cody Small | 6-5 | 241 | So. |
WR | 4 | Dominique Heath | 5-9 | 175 | Fr. |
QB | 8 | Joe Hubener | 6-5 | 211 | Jr. |
RB | 24 | Charles Jones | 5-10 | 206 | Jr. |
K | 16 | Matthew McCrane | 5-10 | 165 | So. |
KANSAS STATE DEFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
DE | 75 | Jordan Willis | 6-5 | 250 | Jr. |
DT | 95 | Travis Britz | 6-4 | 293 | Sr. |
DT | 60 | Will Geary | 6-0 | 297 | So. |
DE | 45 | Marquel Bryant | 6-3 | 254 | Sr. |
LB | 9 | Elijah Lee | 6-3 | 218 | So. |
LB | 35 | Will Davis | 6-0 | 224 | Jr. |
LB | 52 | Charmeachealle Moore | 6-0 | 221 | Jr. |
CB | 33 | Morgan Burns | 5-11 | 201 | Sr. |
SS | 22 | Dante Barnett | 6-1 | 193 | Sr. |
FS | 4 | Kaleb Prewett | 6-1 | 204 | So. |
CB | 7 | Danzel McDaniel | 6-1 | 205 | Sr. |
P | 14 | Nick Walsh | 5-11 | 212 | So. |
LOUISIANA TECH OFFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
WR | 13 | Marlon Watts | 6-2 | 187 | So. |
WR | 5 | Trent Taylor | 5-8 | 180 | Jr. |
LT | 75 | Darrell Brown | 6-4 | 315 | Jr. |
LG | 55 | David Mahaffey | 6-4 | 307 | Jr. |
C | 73 | Kirby Wixson | 6-4 | 320 | Jr. |
RG | 68 | Josh Robinson | 6-2 | 312 | Sr. |
RT | 66 | Shane Carpenter | 6-6 | 300 | Fr. |
TE | 33 | Ricky Jones | 6-1 | 247 | Sr. |
WR | 3 | Paul Turner | 5-11 | 196 | Sr. |
QB | 6 | Jeff Driskel | 6-4 | 231 | Sr. |
RB | 28 | Kenneth Dixon | 5-10 | 213 | Sr. |
K | 10 | Jonathan Barnes | 5-9 | 168 | So. |
LOUISIANA TECH DEFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
DE | 50 | Deldrick Canty | 6-2 | 266 | So. |
DT | 98 | Aaron Brown | 6-1 | 270 | Jr. |
DT | 9 | Vernon Butler | 6-3 | 316 | Sr. |
DE | 8 | Vontarrius Dora | 6-4 | 262 | Sr. |
LB | 6 | Beau Fitte | 6-0 | 218 | Sr. |
LB | 24 | Nick Thomason | 6-1 | 243 | Sr. |
LB | 29 | C.J. Cleveland | 6-1 | 215 | Sr. |
CB | 15 | Bryson Abraham | 5-9 | 182 | Sr. |
S | 23 | Kentrell Brice | 5-11 | 197 | Sr. |
S | 7 | Xavier Woods | 5-11 | 203 | Jr. |
CB | 21 | Adairius Barnes | 5-11 | 189 | Sr. |
P | 43 | Logan McPherson | 5-10 | 178 | Jr. |
Kellis Robinett’s pick: Kansas State 35-17
Expect Louisiana Tech to finally score a touchdown against K-State, but it won’t be enough. K-State should move the ball with ease against a weak defense. An inability to score touchdowns in the red zone could keep the score somewhat close.
To reach Kellis Robinett, send email to krobinett@kcstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @KellisRobinett.
This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 1:40 PM with the headline "Kansas State vs. Louisiana Tech: Three-minute college football preview."