Kansas State heads to Boulder on Saturday carrying a quarterback question that could shape everything the Wildcats do against Colorado.
Avery Johnson will miss his second straight game because of an undisclosed injury, and Kansas State still hasn’t officially named a starter. The signs, though, are pointing toward sophomore Dillon Duff getting the nod.
Last week’s starter, Jacob Knuthe, is listed as doubtful, while Blake Barnett is also dealing with an injury. If the Wildcats need another wrinkle, running back Joe Jackson is the emergency quarterback - and he even lined up in the Wildcat package against Arizona State last week.
The matchup is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. CT at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo.
TNT will carry the game. The expected weather calls for 58 degrees, cloudy skies and a 44 percent chance of rain.
Kansas State is a 1.5-point underdog.
The Wildcats are coming off a 28-17 loss to Arizona State, and that defeat fits a rough stretch that has seen them lose three of their last four games. Their lone win in that span came against Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown two weeks ago. With Kansas State sitting at 1-3 in Big 12 play, the path to a league-title chase appears closed.
It has been a roller-coaster first season for coach Collin Klein, and the biggest issues remain the same: the run game and run defense. Both have been problems in all three of the Wildcats’ losses, and the offense’s ground attack becomes even more important with the quarterback room banged up.
Colorado is dealing with its own noise. Deion Sanders is in his fourth season, but the Buffaloes are the only winless team left in the conference, and the criticism around him has picked up from fans and the media.
One local headline this week even raised the question of whether he was coaching for his job against Kansas State. There are also rumors linking Sanders to the Florida State opening if that job becomes available.
Sanders starred for the Seminoles in the late 1980s before his Hall of Fame NFL career.
Klein had praise for Colorado’s versatility on both sides of the ball: "They do a lot of different things schematically on both sides of the football. Both coordinators are very creative and do a lot.
They have talent. They've got guys that can run on both sides of the ball.
Their D-tackles are extremely twitchy and fire off the football. They're a talented football team."
Sanders, meanwhile, pointed to the same recurring problems dogging his team. “But defensively, offensively, running the ball, throwing the ball, creating turnovers, eliminating the penalties, we gotta have some kind of consistency,” Sanders said.
“That’s the only thing we’re consistent in, is getting penalties. And that don’t make sense to me.”
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