41 Days Until Kansas Football – Kansas State Preview

The state of Kansas is in a strong position heading into the 2024 football season. Two teams with great coaches who are projected to be at the top of the conference and have some tremendous in-state talent on the roster.

This year, the Sunflower Showdown takes place in Manhattan on October 26, which on paper looks to be one of the most anticipated and potentially exciting games of the Big 12 season.

Pre-Game Notes

Kansas State is coming off a 9-4 season with a win in the Pop Tart Bowl, and the expectations are even higher in 2024. The Wildcats were picked second in the Big 12 Preseason Media Poll only behind Utah, while receiving 19 first-place votes (KU came in fourth). DraftKings also has KSU’s win total over/under at 9.5, which is tied for the top mark with Utah in the conference. Interestingly, despite the hype and talent, no KSU players were included on the Preseason All-Big 12 team.

The Mike Plank Four-Down Scouting Report

First Down

Will Howard is off to Ohio State and it’s Avery Johnson’s show in Manhattan this year. As a dynamic freshman, Johnson played in eight games, throwing for 479 yards and five touchdowns while completing 56% of his passes. But his biggest strength is his legs, which he showed averaging 5.7 yards per carry and seven TDs.

Something else to watch with Johnson is that his offensive coordinator last year, Colin Klein, is now at Texas A&M. Taking over is Conor Riley, who was KSU’s offensive line coach last year.

Second Down

Speaking of running the ball, this is a matchup of two elite backfields. DJ Giddens is with Devin Neal as one of the best backs in the country. Giddens ran for 1,226 yards and 10 touchdowns, while K-State as a team averaged 204 yards per game on the ground. Adding to the attack with Giddens and Johnson is Colorado transfer Dylan Edwards.

Third Down

As for the rest of the offense, there’s a lot of new pieces. K-State lost key members of the offensive line – including Cooper Beebe – as well as tight end and leading receiver Ben Sinnott and the leader in receptions Phillip Brooks. The Wildcats still have productive receivers in Jayce Brown and Keagan Johnson, and went to the portal to supplement the line. But it’s unclear who is going to step up and how this new group is going to jive together.

Fourth Down

K-State held opponents to just 21 points per game last year while forcing nearly two turnovers per game. And many of the key players are back. One to watch specifically is defensive back Marques Sigle, who not only tied for the team lead in tackles at 63, but also had nine pass deflections last season, which was fifth in the conference. Jacob Parish is also back at corner after leading the team with four interceptions and also having nine pass deflections in 2023.

Final Whistle

Something interesting that likely doesn’t have a major impact is the timing of this matchup. For just the second time since 2017 (the other being 2020), Kansas and K-State will not be playing during the month of November. Recent history has given us the Sunflower Showdown in one of the last couple weeks of the season, often in line with one team’s Senior Day.

But KU will have four games after this. So while the outcome of this game will likely have giant repercussions on the Big 12 title race in the long run, there’s going to be a lot of football still to happen after it takes place.