Florida Atlantic @ Kansas State preview
Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 9, 2006 ) Florida Atlantic 0, Kansas State 45
Kansas State is more than eager for Saturday’s game against visiting Florida Atlantic. The Wildcats are coming off an early bye week and are ready to atone for a season-opening setback against Stanford, and they’ll also be the last Big 12 Conference team to have their home opener.
"It has felt long," Kansas State defensive back D.J. Reed told the Kansas City Star earlier this week. "Watching everybody play on TV last week was hard. You want to play. ... We definitely want to get back out there, especially in our home stadium." Even veteran coach Bill Snyder, in his 25th season in Manhattan, says he has some extra anxiousness this week. "We’ve had 100 practices, and we haven’t played at home yet," Snyder said at his weekly news conference on Tuesday. "That is very uncommon for us. I sense the anxiety. I probably have a little bit of it myself, and I normally don’t." FAU, meanwhile, had anything but a week off last Saturday, losing at No. 25 Miami 38-10 to fall to 1-1.
TV: 2:30 p.m. ET, FSN. LINE: Kansas State -22
ABOUT FLORIDA ATLANTIC (1-1): The Owls, of Conference USA, are in search of their first winning season since 2008. FAU started on the right foot with a 38-30 victory over Southern Illinois but then squandered some early opportunities against Miami – having only a field goal to show for five trips into Hurricanes territory – before the hosts put the game out of reach. Quarterback Jason Driskel (224.5 yards per game) and tailback Greg Howell (101.5 yards per game, three TDs) are the Owls’ offensive leaders while defensive end Trey Hendrickson, the Conference USA sacks leader a year ago, has totaled 2.5 tackles for loss and has blocked field goals in each of the first two contests.
ABOUT KANSAS STATE (0-1): The Wildcats hung tough defensively against now-No. 6 Stanford in the opener before Heisman Trophy-candidate Christian McCaffrey broke things open with a 41-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Kansas State actually outgained Stanford 335-272, but an inexperienced offensive line, featuring a pair of freshman starters, has needed the bye week to try to patch things up after allowing eight sacks, including one for a safety. Junior quarterback Jesse Ertz, who is back after missing the 2015 season with a torn ACL, struggled to get much going in the opener, completing 16-of-34 passes for 207 yards, while senior strong safety Dante Barnett, the Wildcats’ defensive leader, had 2.5 tackles for loss and his first career sack in the game.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Under Snyder, Kansas State is 22-2 in home openers and is 62-4 in home non-conference games.
2. This will be only the second meeting between the Wildcats and Owls, but Kansas State is 21-4 against Conference USA schools.
3. All but six players on the FAU roster are from Florida, including 23 of 24 starters.
PREDICTION: Kansas State 41, FAU 7