Kansas State Wildcats vs. UTSA Roadrunners: Kickoff time, TV, five things to know
The Kansas State Wildcats will play their final tune-up game before the start of Big 12 play against the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners on Saturday.
K-State could use a drama-free victory after its first two games — a lackluster win over South Dakota and a disheartening loss against Mississippi State.
The opportunity is there. K-State is favored by three touchdowns against UTSA, which is coming off a pair of blowout losses. On paper, this is K-State’s easiest game on the schedule. The Wildcats need to take advantage before they head to West Virginia on Sept. 22 for the start of Big 12 games.
The details
Kickoff: 3 p.m. Saturday
Where: Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan
TV: Fox Sports KC
Radio: KQAM (1480 AM) in Wichita, KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City
The line: K-State by 21 1/2
Five things to know
- The Roadrunners are off to a slow start and without a win two games into the season. UTSA opened with a 49-7 loss at Arizona State and followed that up with a 37-20 home loss to Baylor. It will open the year with three straight games against power-conference opponents before settling into Conference USA action.
- K-State’s defense should be able to stop the run in this game. UTSA is one of the nation’s worst teams on the ground. It managed 2 rushing yards against Arizona State and 98 against Baylor. That’s good news for the Wildcats after they allowed Mississippi State to run for 384 yards and two touchdowns.
- The Wildcats rarely lose multiple nonconference games. As hard as it was for fans to swallow a 31-10 loss to Mississippi State last week, a defeat which marked K-State’s fifth nonconference loss in the past six seasons, they can breathe easy knowing history is on their side against the Roadrunners. The Wildcats normally bounce back after an early loss. They haven’t lost multiple games before the start of Big 12 play since 2009, Snyder’s first year out of retirement.
- This seems like a great opportunity for K-State to get right on offense. The Roadrunners haven’t been very competitive on either side of the football in their first two games, but they have been porous on defense. Arizona State churned out 503 yards against them and Baylor followed with 494. K-State’s offense has struggled mightily in its first two games and amassed just 213 yards against Mississippi State. Andre Coleman’s unit should be able to fix some things in Week 3.
- K-State and UTSA have some history. The Wildcats defeated the Roadrunners 30-3 on the road in 2015. That was supposed to be the second game of a three-game series between the teams. But scheduling conflicts forced the schools to scrub the first matchup, scheduled for Manhattan. UTSA has switched coaches from Larry Coker to Frank Wilson since their last meeting. Wilson has won six games in each of his first two seasons.
This story was originally published September 10, 2018 at 10:56 AM.