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Kansas State vs. Kansas
Thursday Night Football
Betting Line: Kansas State -2.5 o/u 51
10/14/10
This is the instate rivalry where Kansas State looks better than Kansas. Yes, this is football, not basketball. The Wildcats jumped out to a perfect 4-0 start before getting smashed 48-13 by the Nebraska Cornhuskers. They were clearly overmatched there, but they will look to get back on track on the road against a Kansas Jayhawks team that is 2-3. The Jayhawks are entering this Game off a 55-7 beatdown at the hands of Baylor. This showdown of instate Big 12 rivals will take place on Thursday night at 7:30 PM. The Wildcats of Kansas State won last year’s meeting 17-10. Look for a hard fought battle and an exciting gridiron matchup in this Game!
The Kansas Jayhawks are experieNCing growing pains under HC Turner Gill. They were embarrassed in the season opener losing to North Dakota State. Yes, you read that correctly, they lost to North Dakota State. They followed that loss up by showing a little pride and downing a good Georgia Tech team 28-25. since then they have lost on the road against Southern Miss and Baylor, and they beat lowly New Mexico State at home. It’s clear this team doesn’t travel well, and they are still learning Gill’s system. They will improve as time goes on, but 2010 will probably continue to be rough.
Kansas’s offense is guided by freshman QB Jordan Webb. He’s learning well on the job, posting 796 yards and 6 TDs thus far in 2010. His best Game came against Georgia Tech when he tossed 3 TD passes. Fellow freshman RB James Sims is doing the bulk of the work on the ground. He has 67 carries for 329 yards and 3 TDs. The offensive line isn’t carrying their weight. Webb has been sacked 15 times this year. If they could get their act together then the Jayhawks would have some poteNCy on offense.
The Jayhawks defense is allowing an exceptionally large 377 yards per Game in total yards. They allowed Baylor to rack up 678 yards in total offense in their last Game. They won’t win many, if any Games, with a repeat of that effort. since this is a rivalry Game we can expect them to play much better, but will it be good enough to stop the Wildcats?
The Kansas State Wildcats started off red hot going 4-0 with wins over UCLA, Missouri State, Iowa State, and UCF. After those wins they hosted Nebraska at home and got steamrolled. The nations #5 ranked team showed no mercy in a 48-13 victory. Don’t lose hope KSU fans, the season is far from lost.
Senior Carson Coffman leads the offense. The QB has been subpar this year with 730 yards and 6 TD passes. Hardly electrifying numbers, right? He is largely a caretaker QB and hasn’t had much success against top defenses. However, he should find the porous Jayhawks defense to his liking. It’s not out of the question for him to find the end zone a couple of times in this Game. Senior RB Daniel Thomas has racked up 691 yards and 6 TDs. Look for him to do most of the offensive damage for this team. The offensive line has to step up here. They have been just as bad as their Kansas counterparts allowing 15 sacks in 2010.
The Wildcats defense has racked up 8 sacks this year. Getting to freshman QB Webb could be a key part of winning this Game. Sooner or later they will need to provide their team with some turnovers. So far in 2010 they have only won the turnover war twice. Expect them to step their play up in this rivalry Game.
What adds to the interest in this Game is that both of these squads were blown off the field last time out. You’d expect a huge improvement from both teams this time out. In a Game like this we have to stick with Our numbers. Our numbers on this Game tell us Kansas State wins comfortably. The Game opened Kansas State -3 and as been bet down to -2.5. We’ll lay it. Kansas State -2.5 – Final Score31-17