Auburn vs. Kansas State: TV Info, Spread, Injury Updates, Game Time and More
If No. 5 Auburn is to make the College Football Playoff, the journey officially starts at No. 20 Kansas State Thursday.
One of the week's lone matchups between Top 25 teams and one that comes under a national microscope kicks off a brutal path for Gus Malzahn's Tigers. For the Wildcats, the visit offers not only the biggest game ever played at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, but a chance to build an impeccable playoff resume.
Thanks to a pair of talented, versatile offenses, this showdown figures to be a high point of the week, as intended. Whether the Big 12 or SEC emerges in a better position for the playoff is a tough guess based on the matchup at hand.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Keeping Pace
As most unfortunately realized too late last season, Malzahn's offense has a way of controlling the pace of the game no matter what the opposition attempts to do about it.
In a way, Kansas State can do much of the same.
The Wildcats have dual-threat senior Jake Waters under center to thank for that. Through two games, he has led the team in passing and rushing, going for 223 passing yards and 55 rushing yards with four total scores against SF Austin before 239 through the air and 138 on the ground with two scores against Iowa State.
"It's rare, but Jake's a rare quarterback," running back Charles Jones said, per STATS LLC, via ESPN.com. "He's excellent in running and passing, and I saw that when he first came here. I saw how well he runs and just how good of a passer he is. To a lot of people it might be a surprise, but to us, we expect him to do stuff like that."
While Auburn is no stranger to running threats under center, the team has yet to encounter a talent like Waters. Last year, the only teams able to beat the Wildcats held him to 50 rushing yards or fewer.
Of course, Auburn signal-caller Nick Marshall is a bit more well-known thanks to his role as the leader of last year's improbable run while rushing for more than 1,000 yards and completing nearly 60 percent of his passes for 1,976 yards and 14 scores through the air.
But keep in mind that the Wildcats are more than accustomed to dances with prolific offenses thanks to their status as a member of the Big 12.
It equates to a war of strengths in which an additional emphasis will be placed on the turnover battle. Whichever team gives way in that regard will be forced to give up its preferred approach and surrender a stranglehold on the game's pace in order to catch up.
For two senior quarterbacks, it can very much be chalked up to a game of chess.
The Path Less Traveled
It is difficult to find two teams with a more difficult path to the playoff, a journey that coincidentally begins Thursday night.
Why Thursday? Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs wanted the world—including the College Football Playoff selection committee—to be paying close attention.
"The other thing, too, is it’s on Thursday night, so everybody in the nation will be watching," he said, per ESPN.com's Greg Ostendorf. "We didn’t have a competitive disadvantage whatsoever—us or Kansas State—and it put Auburn versus Kansas State on Thursday night, ESPN."
Capture their imagination now, because the road ahead is littered with mines.
The Wildcats still have to take on No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 25 Oklahoma State and No. 7 Baylor, the highest ranks of those being away contests. Visits to TCU and West Virginia are no laughing matters, either.
Ditto for the Tigers, a team that encounters schools such as No. 8 LSU, No. 14 South Carolina, No. 10 Mississippi, No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 13 Georgia before a trip to take on No. 3 Alabama to close the season.
It is critical for both teams to get off to a hot start as they get into the teeth of their respective schedules. The wherewithal to even book Thursday's showdown knowing full and well the conference responsibilities that lie ahead speaks volumes as to how competitive each program is.
For one, the gamble creates perhaps a playoff-ending loss.
When: Thursday, September 18, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas
Television: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Betting Lines (via Odds Shark):
- Over/Under: N/A
- Spread: Auburn (-6.5)
Team Injury Reports
| Gage Batten | FB | 08/31/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | knee |
| Sammie Coates | WR | 09/13/2014 | is questionable for Thursday's game against Kansas State | Questionable | undisclosed |
| Alex Kozan | G | 08/02/2014 | will miss the entire season | Out | back |
| Carl Lawson | DE | 07/15/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | knee |
| Patrick Young | FB | 08/31/2014 | is expected to miss the entire season | Out | knee |
| No significant injuries | |||||
Injury reports via USA Today.
Prediction
While both sides agreed to have this showdown in Manhattan, and the Wildcats are 130-31-1 at home since 1990, the favorite seems to be the safe way to go with this one.
Both teams enter the game coming off a bye, and for Auburn, that means another week of Marshall getting his feet back under him before he takes on an inexperienced Wildcats secondary that allowed a minimum of 200 passing yards in each of their first two games against mediocre competition.
Expect to see Marshall get back to his 2013 form when it comes to the passing attack. Auburn's prowess on the ground will open things up, and as long as the Tigers can keep the turnovers down, the offense will eventually wear down an iffy defense and pile on the yardage and points.
Prediction: Tigers 38, Wildcats 24
Statistics and info courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
