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Kansas St. Wildcats 2006 Preview

Kansas St. Wildcats Football Preview By: Matt Fargo
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college football previews :#66 – Kansas St. Wildcats Preview

by: Matt Fargo

Spring practices are in the books and fall camps will be here before you know it so that means getting an early jump on the 2006 NCAA football season. Knowing the teams now will save you time in August and Matt Fargo is here to help you get a grasp of what to expect this upcoming year. We go from worst to first in this 2006 College Football Preview.

#66 – Kansas St. Wildcats 5-6 SU; 6-5 ATS

Fargo’s Take - Kansas St. will have something new for the first time in 17 seasons and that is a new head coach roaming the sidelines. Bill Snyder, who completely turned around the Wildcats football program, retired and Ron Prince, formerly the Virginia offensive coordinator, takes over. Prince will not be starting from scratch however as 17 returning starters are back following a 5-6 campaign in 2005. The Wildcats could easily have been as good as 8-3 but three losses by a combined seven points kept them from the postseason for a second consecutive year. Playing in the weaker Big XII North gives Kansas St. a better chance of a winning record as does scheduling eight home games in 2006. This team won at least 10 games in six of seven years between 1997 and 2003 but it has won only nine games combined over the last two seasons. It is up to Prince to bring back that dominating team.

Returning Starters on Offense – 9 The offense was hit or miss last year and the main reason for that was the quarterback situation. Projected starter Dylan Meier went down with a shoulder injury and missed the entire season forcing the Wildcats to platoon between freshman Allan Evridge and junior Allen Webb. Webb entered the doghouse at the end of the season and has since left school leaving the job to Meier, Evridge or highly touted freshman Josh Freeman. A new West Coast offense will be implemented and that should increase production since the majority of the talent lies at wide receiver with five experienced wideouts. The running game will be better as the top four backs from last season are returning and the offensive line, which struggled with consistency because of injuries, will be improved as well. The Wildcats were only 83rd in the nation in total offense last year but with nine players back, it should be a much better unit this season.

Returning Starters on Defense – 8 It’s hard to believe that this defense yielded just 11.8 ppg only four short seasons ago and now it is up to new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, who came over from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense, to get the Wildcats back to that defensive dominance. He has plenty to work with as eight starters are back on a defense that finished 45th in the country in total defense despite returning only three starters a season ago. The biggest priority is getting pressure on the quarterback as Kansas St. had only 21 sacks, 10th in the conference, and that led to the secondary getting eaten up. The unit allowed an unbelievable 669 yards passing against Texas Tech and that is inexcusable. Morris was the defensive backs coach with the Buccaneers so his entrance should help right away.

Schedule - With eight home games, the schedule cannot get any better. Actually it can seeing that the Wildcats miss Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Texas A&M from the North Division and get Texas at home. It almost seems unfair that a team can get to play 2/3 of its games at home but it’s nothing new at Kansas St. as it has had only four road games in four of the last five years. All four of the Wildcats non-conference games are at home with a game against Louisville being the only difficult one. The other three come against Illinois St., Florida Atlantic and Marshall. Of the top three teams in the South Division, two of them, Nebraska and Iowa St., must travel to Manhattan while the game at Colorado is the toughest road contest on the entire slate.

You can bet on… If Kansas St. doesn’t get invited to a bowl game this season, it may never get back to the postseason. Everything is in favor of the Wildcats including returning players, a favorable schedule, a renovated stadium and new life on the sidelines. Close losses have dogged this team the past two seasons and it’s about time those losses turn into wins. Efficiency at quarterback is the key. The Wildcats used to consistently pound up on the non-conference competition but they are just 1-7 ATS over the last three seasons against out of conference teams. Three of those games will be lined this year, Illinois St. the exception, but the question is whether or not Kansas St. will be ready that early in the season with the new systems to be able to put down a pounding. The early guess is no.