K-State Wildcats vs. Iowa State Cyclones: Five things to know about Farmageddon game
The Kansas State Wildcats and the Iowa State Cyclones are both coming off open weeks, which should leave both teams eager to return to the field for their annual Farmageddon rivalry at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium.
It will be an important game for both teams.
K-State (4-3, 4-2 Big 12) is looking for a victory that will keep it in the hunt for a conference championship and No. 17 Iowa State (5-2, 5-1 Big 12) is hoping to stay on top of the league standings with a win.
Here is everything you need to know to prepare for the game.
THE DETAILS
Kickoff: 3 p.m. Saturday
Where: Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, Iowa
TV: Fox
Radio: KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita, KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City
The line: Iowa State by 10 1/2
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
This has been a one-sided rivalry of late, but the games are almost always nail-biters. K-State has won 12 of the past 13 games in this series, but only two of those victories came by double digits. It’s hard to find a more exciting conference football rivalry that has been dominated by one team than Farmageddon.
Will Chris Klieman’s trends continue? Though it’s too early to draw any conclusions on his brief time as K-State’s coach, a few interesting trends are beginning to form. Both work in K-State’s favor this week. Klieman has never lost three straight games with the Wildcats. He has also never split a series against a conference opponent, going 2-0 against Kansas, Oklahoma, TCU and Texas Tech but 0-2 against West Virginia and Oklahoma State. The Wildcats have lost their last two games but defeated Iowa State 27-17 a year ago.
Breece Hall is the nation’s leading rusher. The sophomore running back has been unstoppable for the Cyclones this season, rushing for 1,034 yards and 13 touchdowns. He has been incredibly consistent all year, as he has rushed for at least 100 yards and one touchdown in all seven of Iowa State’s games. A former Wichita Northwest standout, he chose Iowa State over both KU and K-State.
Getting Vaughn back on track. Opposing defenses could do little to stop K-State running back Deuce Vaughn in his first five games with the Wildcats, but he has fallen back to earth with back-to-back duds. He amassed a total of just 68 yards of offense during recent losses against West Virginia and Oklahoma State. Finding new ways to get him open in space will be important for K-State coaches this week.
Brock Purdy is a talented, but turnover prone, quarterback. It’s been an interesting stretch for Iowa State’s veteran passer. The 6-foot-1 junior has thrown at least one interception in each of his past three games. He tossed three against Baylor, which forced the Cyclones to kick their offense into high gear late and come from behind for a 38-31 victory. For the season, Purdy has thrown 10 touchdowns and six interceptions. As good as the Cyclones are on the ground, the Wildcats may try to force Purdy to throw and hope for a few more mistakes Saturday.