K-State Wildcats vs. Stanford Cardinal: Five things to know about Big 12/Pac-12 game
The Kansas State Wildcats will begin the 2021 football season on a neutral field against the Stanford Cardinal at 11 a.m. on Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Here is everything you need to know to start preparing for the game.
The details
Kickoff: 11 a.m. Saturday
Where: AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas
TV: FS1
Radio: KCSP 610 AM in Kansas City; KKGQ 92.3 FM in Wichita
The Line: K-State by 2
Five things to know
1. K-State will open at a neutral site for the first time since 2003. It’s been a long time since the Wildcats began the 2003 season against California at Arrowhead Stadium. That’s the last time K-State traveled to a neutral venue for a season opener. K-State was originally scheduled to host Stanford this year at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, but athletics director Gene Taylor decided to move the game to the home of the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for $2.8 million. Despite the game’s location, it will be treated as a K-State home game and the Wildcats will have a significant fan advantage.
2. The Wildcats don’t have good history against the Pac-12. K-State enters this game with an all-time record of 29-63-2 against teams from the Pac-12. However, most of those losses came against former Big 12 rival Colorado. Without those games, K-State is 11-19-1 against the Pac-12, including a 26-13 loss at Stanford in 2016.
3. Stanford will be breaking in a new quarterback this week. But we don’t know who that quarterback is just yet. The Cardinal are looking to replace talented passer Davis Mills, a third-round draft pick by the Houston Texans. Jack West and Tanner McKee are the two candidates who will take over for him against K-State.
4. Skylar Thompson is ready to make his 31st start. On the opposite end of the spectrum, K-State is welcoming back a “super senior” quarterback who ranks ninth nationally among active passers with 30 career starts. Thompson has been starting games since he was a redshirt freshman in Manhattan, but he missed most of last season with an injury. He is back and healthy now, hoping to give the Wildcats an edge with his experience.
5. Few teams ended last season hotter than Stanford. The Cardinal only played six games last year and went 4-2. But all of their victories came at the end of a season that was seriously altered by the coronavirus pandemic. They won their final four games against California, Washington, Oregon State and UCLA. Will that momentum carry over? That’s a fascinating question, especially when you add in the fact that K-State ended last season on a five-game losing streak.