Espn On 2008 Opponent - Kansas State

[MeanGreen61]

Kansas State Wildcats

2008 Schedule

Aug. 30 North Texas

Sept. 6 Montana State

Sept. 17 @ Louisville

Sept. 27 Louisiana-Lafayette

Oct. 4 Texas Tech

Oct. 11 @ Texas A&M

Oct. 18 @ Colorado

Oct. 25 Oklahoma

Nov. 1 @ Kansas

Nov. 8 @ Missouri

Nov. 15 Nebraska

Nov. 22 Iowa State

2007 overall record:

5-7

2007 conference record:

3-5

Returning starters

Offense: 7, defense: 5, kicker/punter: 1

Spring answers

1. Ian is the man: After struggling at linebacker last season, Ian Campbell returned to defensive end and quickly showed the form that allowed him to notch 11 ½ sacks two years ago. "He'll probably play with his hand down more than he did last season," KSU defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar said. "We're going to move him around so teams can't zero in on him."

2. Valentine steps up: The departure of James Johnson left Coach Ron Prince scrambling for new running backs. The most intriguing was Keithen Valentine, a transfer from Mississippi Delta Community College who rushed for 104 yards in the spring game. "He's a kid who found us," Prince told the Manhattan Mercury. "We were in Mississippi recruiting other kids and he came to us and said, 'Hey I remember Darren Sproles. I used to watch Kansas State. I'd love to walk on.'"

3. Building a new identity: Prince wasn't happy with his team's late collapse last season, leading to adopting what he termed as a "Cold War" mentality during the spring. Most practices were closed and were held at night. "You don't go out and play the way we played at the end of last year and feel like things can go on status quo," Prince told the Topeka Capital-Journal. "I wasn't pleased with it all. It wasn't acceptable, and I'm not going to tolerate it."

Fall questions

1. JC contributions: Can the influx of junior college players help? Prince opted for immediate help with 19 junior-college transfers among his 32-member recruiting class. After yielding 198 points in his final four games, Prince knew he needed immediate assistance. It led to him signing a bumper crop of 11 defensive players and a punter for his defense. We'll see come September how this strategy will work.

2. Jordy Nelson's replacement: The former walk-on developed into the most productive single-season receiver in KSU's history. Holdovers Ernie Pierce, Cedric Wilson and Lamark Brown got most of the work as top returning receiver Deon Murphy sat out spring practice because of academics. But keep an eye out for heralded junior college transfer Adrian Hilburn, who was ranked as the fifth-best juco receiver in the nation last season at City College of San Francisco.

3. Where's the offense?:Kansas State's offense showed little life in a disappointing spring game where the two teams combined for three points and 204 total yards. Prince defended the struggles by saying his coordinators were playing the game close to the vest. "They were trying to win the game," he told reporters after the game. "There weren't a lot of balls in the air. It might not have been aesthetically pleasing to some, but I understand it.".

[GreenAlums]

Maybe I am overly optomistic but I smell an upset here!

[FirefightnRick]

Maybe I am overly optomistic but I smell an upset here!

And I'll be there to see it!

Rick

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Maybe I am overly optomistic but I smell an upset here!

--I doubt it... North Texas will win......LOL... ( you have to think like someone from West Texas, every loss is an upset )

Edited May 14, 2008 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[Guest JohnDenver]

This will be a great road trip..

The JohnDenver home is moving to OKC. I love that my first away game will be closer due to my move.