The first half of a difficult schedule behind them, the Buffs will open the second half of the 2008 campaign against an old nemesis.
Oct. 18: Kansas State
Fast facts: Kansas State in 2007 was a tale of two seasons. The first half of the season was all good. A 4-2 record, including a dominating 41-21 upset win in Austin over the No. 7-ranked Longhorns.
The second half was a disaster. A 1-5 record, with some very large numbers put up against the Wildcat defense: Points? 73 given up to Nebraska, 49 to Missouri, and 45 to Fresno State in the last three games. Yards? 510 to Oklahoma State, 519 to Nebraska, and 549 to Fresno State.
What to do? Third-year head coach Ron Prince brought in 19 junior college recruits to provide an immediate infusion of talent into the Wildcat lineup. It’s a high-risk, high-reward strategy.
By game seven, there should be some indication of how well the experiment has played out. Six, count ‘em six, receiver recruits will be there for star quarterback Josh Freeman to throw to. On defense, eight, yes eight, defensive linemen will try to bolster a defense which is switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3.
Why Buff fans should look forward to this game with optimism:
1) Junior college pipeline. Ron Prince may have a better record at Kansas State than Dan Hawkins in his first two seasons at Colorado, but there is definitely a divergence of opinion when it comes to the directions being taken by the programs.
The Wildcats loaded up on junior recruits this past spring (19, or almost as many as the rest of the Big 12 combined). First year coaches do this; perhaps even second year coaches. But a third year coach?
Shouldn’t the coach’s guys—Ron Prince’s guys—be stepping into starting roles now? What does this say about the players Prince recruited the past two seasons? What will this do to team chemistry?
2) Fresno State. Just as the Montana State ghost continues to linger over Folsom Field, the ghost of Fresno State may continue to haunt Kansas State in 2008.
The Wildcats, with a bowl bid on the line, lost to Fresno State, 45-29, to close out a 5-7 season that was once a 5-3 season.
What do you do when you have been bucked off a horse? You never get back on—or at least that is the message K-State administrators were telling their players.
Instead of revving up for a revenge game against the Bulldogs of Fresno State in game two of the 2008 season, Kansas State backed out, replacing the potential top 25 Bulldogs with...Montana State. Talk about bad karma!
3) It’s game seven, and it’s in Boulder. Kansas State may have a better record in the first half of the season, but that’s only because the Wildcats had three wins penciled in before fall camp opened.
North Texas, Montana State, and Louisiana-Lafayette don’t figure to be a hassle for home team in Manhattan (yes, yes, I know MSU beat the Buffs in 2006. I live in Bozeman, Montana, home of Montana State. I will be reminded of that outcome for the rest of my life).
The road games in the first half of the season are at Louisville and at Texas A&M, with a home game against Texas Tech. While the Wildcats have a fighting chance in each of these games, they may well lose all three.
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