Five things to know about Kansas State vs. Rutgers football clash at the Rate Bowl
.jpg "Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Avery Johnson (2) waits during a timeout during the first half against the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field.")
There is nothing more nostalgic for a Kansas State football fan than watching the Wildcats play a bowl game in Arizona.
K-State is heading back to the Grand Canyon State to take on Rutgers in the Rate Bowl at Chase Field in Phoenix on Dec. 26.
This will be a familiar destination for anyone who has been following the Wildcats since former coach Bill Snyder led the team to a victory over Wyoming at the Copper Bowl in 1993. K-State has made seven previous trips to the desert for a bowl game. It feels like this particular bowl game invites the Wildcats back every time it gets a name change, from the Copper Bowl (1993) to the Insight.com Bowl (2001) to the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl (2013) to the Cactus Bowl (2017) and now the Rate Bowl.
There are many reasons why this should be an exciting matchup for both teams.
Here are five that stand out...
Rutgers vs. Kansas State: Game details
Kickoff: 4:30 p.m. (Central) on Dec. 26
Where: Chase Field in Phoenix
TV: ESPN
Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City and KFH (1240 AM and 97.5 FM) in Wichita
Betting line: K-State by 7.5 with an O/U of 59.5
K-State and Rutgers will take this game seriously
You can always count on Kansas State sending its varsity roster to a bowl game. The same can be said for Rutgers.
Sure, both teams will likely lose around a dozen players to the transfer portal before kickoff. A few players with NFL futures may also decide to “opt out” of the postseason. But the bulk of each roster should remain intact. And the players who travel to Phoenix will be looking to win.
Rutgers coach Greg Schiano didn’t mince words about how the Scarlet Knights are approaching this game.
“These are special,” he said. “Some people talk about, with the advent of the College Football Playoff, bowl games don’t mean as much. Don’t tell our guys that. It means a lot to us, and hopefully someday we’re in that College Football Playoff. But this is our College Football Playoff. We get a one game playoff, and it’s called the Rate Bowl. We’re very excited.”
K-State coach Chris Klieman feels the same way.
“The core of our football team will be ready to play and wants to play,” Klieman said. “We’re excited about this game.”
This is a rare Big Ten vs. Big 12 matchup
Believe it or not, this is the only bowl game that will take place between teams from the Big Ten and the Big 12.
That should add some excitement to the Rate Bowl, as this is the type of conference clash we rarely see.
K-State hasn’t played a Big Ten opponent since Michigan at the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl in 2013. The Wildcats won that game 35-17 behind Jake Waters and Tyler Lockett.
“It’s fresh and exciting for the coaches and the players to play somebody that you typically don’t play,” Klieman said. “I know that everybody’s doing that now with the changes of conferences and getting different opponents there, but I think that’s what’s fun is having another opportunity to play against somebody that you don’t have a lot of tape on.”
Are you ready for some football on a baseball field?
This game will take place at Chase Field, an iconic venue in downtown Phoenix that is not normally known for football.
The Arizona Diamondbacks play their home games in this stadium. It has a retractable roof and a swimming pool behind the outfield.
Game organizers transform the baseball stadium into a football venue by covering up the dirt infield with grass and bringing in temporary bleachers. The stadium holds 48,519 for baseball, but attendance is typically much lower than that at the Rate Bowl. Still, workers do nice job of creating an intimate football experience that feels different from other games in a good way.
Rutgers finished the regular season at 7-5
The Scarlet Knights were flying high when they began the year with four straight victories, but they were only able to win three games the rest of the way.
Their best victories came against Virginia Tech, Washington and Minnesota. They also closed out the regular season with an eye-opening blowout win at Michigan State.
Athan Kaliakmanis led the Scarlet Knights with 2,459 passing yards this season. Kyle Monangai rushed for 1,279 yards and 13 touchdowns out of the backfield. Linebacker Dariel Djabome led the defense with 102 tackles.
Greg Schiano has lots of respect of K-State
Rutgers won its only meeting against Kansas State 37-10 at the 2006 Texas Bowl.
Schiano was on the sideline with Rutgers for that game, so he has kept an eye on K-State ever since.
For that reason, he expects the Wildcats to be a difficult challenge for his team even though he hasn’t done much research for this game.
“I love the way they play,” Schiano said. “It’s a team that I like to watch, because they remind me the way we play. Not necessarily schematically, but just how hard their kids play. They do it the right way.”
This story was originally published December 9, 2024 at 11:42 AM.