Kansas State to get first test Wednesday at Louisville

[IE]

It's test time for the 2-0 Kansas State Wildcats with the 1-1 Louisville Cardinals providing some tough questions Wednesday at 7 p.m. (Manhattan time) on ESPN2.

As Wildcat coach Ron Prince says of the Cardinals, "They're really good, and we're not sure if we are."

K-State breezed through pop quizzes provided by North Texas and Montana State like they were of the open-book variety. But Louisville, while looking sad-sackish in an opening 27-2 loss to Kentucky, bounced back in week-two to dominate Tennessee Tech, 51-10.

"Overall it was a much better performance from last week and obviously that's what we wanted to see ? a rebound from the loss to (Kentucky)," Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe said. "I thought Hunter (Cantwell) did an excellent job managing the game and we were able to get him into rhythm. I was much more pleased with the way we played offense than I was the week before. But we've got a long way to go and we're still a work in progress."

Against Tech, the Cardinals balanced their offense with 234 rushing and 217 passing yards. Louisville rushed for three scores, passed for two, plus had a pair of defensive touchdowns.

All are reasons for concerns for the 'Cats, not to mention the fact that this game is on the road at the Cardinals' Papa Johns Stadium.

"We need to show we can handle the stage instead of being distracted by the stage," said Prince, whose teams have gone just 2-8 in road games in his two seasons.

K-State will attempt to win its third straight game in a week coming off of a bye.

In 2005, K-State blasted North Texas, 54-7, after a bye, and last year defeated No. 7 Texas, 41-21, after an off-week. Prior to that, however, K-State lost three straight games coming off a bye.

Overall, K-State is 12-4 in its last 16 games following a bye.







Harold to get start

Brandon Harold, a 6-foot-6, 264-pound freshman defensive end, will be getting his first start, replacing Eric Childs.

In making the promotion, Prince said, "What we look for at that position are guys who can handle combination blocks based on alignment. If you're in a 4-3, you get a variety of looks from tight ends and tackles. In a 3-4, you're lining up on a tackle and there's a combination between guards and tackles, and tackles and tight ends. It takes a person who understands where those blocks are coming from.

"We want a guy who, if he gets a single block, he will win," Prince said. "We're very eager to see if he can prove he belongs there."

 

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UK kickers on their toes for open competition



After the night Lones Seiber had Saturday, he figured it would be a good idea to get away.

Seiber, the University of Kentucky's junior place-kicker, missed four of his six field goal tries in the Wildcats' narrow escape over Middle Tennessee. The most talked-about miss was the potential game-clinching 29-yarder that was blocked, which set up MTSU's last-second Hail Mary that came up a yard short.

The Wildcats did not practice Sunday and Monday, so Seiber returned home to Knoxville to spend time with his young son. He turned his cell phone off and remained pretty much out of contact.

"The past couple of days I've been shying away from everything," Seiber said. I'm trying to build myself back up. It was a rough weekend. It took me about a day and a half or so to get over it."

Now that Seiber has recovered emotionally, he finds himself in a battle to hold on to his job. Coach Rich Brooks announced this week that he will conduct an open competition for the place-kicking job with Seiber battling redshirt freshman Ryan Tydlacka and senior J.J. Housley for the No. 1 spot in UK's game against Western Kentucky on Sept. 27.

Brooks has stated on more than one occasion that Seiber is clearly the best kicker in practice, but those performances haven't translated to game day.

"That's why we're going to judge it from scratch," Brooks said of the kickers. "We're not going on past history. We're going on moving-forward history."

Tydlacka has carved a niche as the Wildcats' pooch punter but has never attempted a kick in a college game. And while Tydlacka is now challenging for the place-kicking job, it wasn't easy for him watching Seiber struggle Saturday.

"That's just not something you want," Tydlacka said. "Lones is a friend of mine. Even watching on TV, if a kicker misses a kick, I feel sick to my stomach because of the fans. They're going to tear you apart."

Housley began the 2006 season as UK's starting kicker while Seiber was out with a hip injury. He missed his only field goal attempt and was 7-of-8 on extra-point tries in two games before giving way to Seiber when he returned. Brooks said Housley doesn't have the leg for long-range kicks but is accurate from inside 40 yards.

To his credit, Seiber has always manned up and answered questions with no hesitation during his struggles. He hopes that being challenged will provide him with the spark he needs to get out of his funk.

"This open competition could be the best thing for me," he said. "I know my ability. I'm good enough to do it. I just need to get over this mental block."

Seiber said during games he often lets his nerves get the better of him. That in turn causes him to rush kicks, and that often results in low line drives.

"I need to stay focused on what got me to the game and keep the same stroke," he said. "I just need to trust my swing and trust what I'm doing."

While Seiber said he feels much better now than he did in the hours after the Middle Tennessee game, he'll have to wait almost two weeks for a chance at redemption if he retains his job.

"That's the worst part," he said. "I've got two weeks to dwell on this before I can prove something."

 

[parlayinn]

What does the second post have to do with KSU/Lou? :shrug:

 

[IE]

Kansas State: SCOUTING THE CARDINALS




1. Hunter Cantwell likes to hunt frogs. He has Kansas ties, often fishing in Pleasanton during the summer. And he's also a highly-regarded NFL pro prospect. His season statistics have been so-so -- 355 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions -- but he's 4-2 as a starter, as K-State knows all about him from that perspective. Starting in place of injured Brian Brohm, he led the Cardinals to a 24-6 victory in 2006, throwing for 173 yards and a score.

2. Papa John's rocks -- the stadium (the pizza is up to personal tastes). Since 1998, Louisville has run up a 50-12 record at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, which holds 42,000. A 20-game winning streak there was snapped last year. In all, coach Steve Kragthorpe lost three times at Papa John's during his first season.

3. WR Josh Chichester, at 6-8, is one of the tallest football players in the country. Chichester, who redshirted last season, played basketball for Rick Pitino in 2007, averaging 0.7 points and 0.3 rebounds in six games. He quit basketball before spring practice, and it seems to have paid off -- he's Louisville's second-leading receiver with six receptions for 70 yards. "He's a beast," K-State junior safety Courtney Herndon said.

Key matchup

Ron English against Dave Brock. Prince essentially said players play and coaches coach, but how about English, Louisville's new defensive coordinator, against Brock, K-State's new offensive coordinator? It's going to be a fascinating study as Brock, who wants to constantly attack, tries to out-maneuver English, the former Michigan assistant who has the Cardinals playing some salty defense.


First true test of the season for the Wildcats, and it comes on the road.....history card with this current bunch of Wildcats....K-State has only won two road games under Prince.

 

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K-State first to fatten up on cream puffs



Some people will argue that Southern California has been the most influential college football program over the past two decades. Others will chirp for the Miami Hurricanes, Florida State or the flavor of the moment from the crackling Southeastern Conference.


Pick a patsy. Pick two. Stuff your schedule with as many nobodies as possible. If you're good at it, as Kansas State usually is, you can find four slugs from outside your conference.

Dominate the nobodies and then fool everybody by winning those four games as well as a few more inside your conference. Then you can call yourself a bowl team. A good time will be had by all.

That has been the Kansas State way, a formula that has been embraced by everybody who dreams of playing in December or January. Heck, even Louisiana State, the defending national champion, is playing Appalachian State, Troy, North Texas and Tulane as its nonconference opponents this season.








How good is this 2-0 Kansas State team that coach Ron Prince brings to town tonight?

I was afraid you'd ask. The Wildcats' vital signs look terrific. Prince's team ranks in the top 20 in 11 NCAA statistical categories, including total offense (18th, 476 yards per game) and total defense (sixth, 198 yards). K-State quarterback Josh Freeman has been sack-free.

There is every indication that Kansas State is a more complete and powerful team than Louisville, an opinion reflected in the point spread that has the Wildcats favored by four.

Here is the fine print: Kansas State has played the kind of teams that it usually plays in September. That would be a North Texas program that has been outscored by 107 points in its first three games and mighty Montana State, a .500 team in the Big Sky Conference last season.

Maybe Kansas State will contend with Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas in the Big 12 North. Or maybe it will revert to the team that allowed 198 points its final four games in 2007 against legitimate competition.

I don't know. What I do know is this game, a nonconference game against a team from a Bowl Championship Series conference, is a deviation from the Kansas State blueprint.

Snyder took over at Kansas State before the 1989 season. The Wildcats had won three games in four seasons. Something had to change. And the first thing that changed was the schedule.

Snyder played so many Mid-American Conference teams that he was voted the league's Coach of the Year. He did more to publicize Indiana State than Larry Bird, going 3-0 while outscoring the Sycamores 151-28. He kept the athletic directors from Northern Illinois, New Mexico State and Western Kentucky in the first three slots of his speed dial.

In Snyder's 17 seasons at Kansas State, the Wildcats played 62 regular-season nonconference games. Only 10 were scheduled against opponents currently in BCS conferences.

His record against Top 25 opponents was 16-31-1. But Bill Snyder popularized the Kansas State way of scheduling for success. You see it every September in college football.

 

[LDB]

thanks for the write up.. GO Kansas ST!!!