College Football Predictions – Kansas St Wildcats 2020 College Football Preview
2019 Recap
Record – 8-5
ATS – 9-4
That’s a good start.
Kansas St bagged eight wins in Chris Klieman’s first season in Manhattan and they even managed to pull one of the biggest upsets of the college football season when they took down the mighty Sooners (W 48-41). They beat the Cyclones by ten points and lost to Texas by a mere three points on the road. Not bad.
The Cats roll into this year feeling confident but know they need to work in a lot of new faces.
2020 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
Big 12 – #7
Kansas St Wildcats 2020 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Wildcats did most of their damage on the ground last season (#4 Big 12 rushing offense) and it was a wise strategy. Play smart. Shorten the game. Rely on your defense. QB Skylar Thompson wasn’t asked to be spectacular but he had a good campaign LY (59.6%, 12-5 TD to INT, 11 rushing TDs) and he’s back for his senior year. Kansas St will need to find replacements for their top-two RBs (James Gilbert, Jordon Brown) and will almost certainly roll with a committee approach and keep guys fresh. Leading WR Dalton Schoen departs and it’ll be up to sophomore WR Malik Knowles to be the #1 threat they can use to open things up a bit. Knowles was 2nd on the team LY in receiving yards (397) and averaged 14.7 YPC. Northern Iowa transfer TE Briley Moore could be a SURPRISE PACKAGE in the THROW GAME (39-536, 13.7, 4 TD LY). The offensive line has, wait for it, zero returning starters and is the biggest concern on offense.
It’s hard to see the offense improving (#8 scoring offense, 29.6 PPG) unless the offensive line is able to come together in short order.
DEFENSE
The Wildcats played strong defense a season ago and allowed a mere 21.4 PPG (#2 Big 12) whilst being especially stingy vs the pass (Big 12 best 12 TD passes allowed, #3 pass efficiency D). They were a bit soft vs the run (#8 Big 12 run defense) and only tallied 22 sacks. Seven starters return on defense this season but the defensive line needs to retool. The only returning starter up front is DE Wyatt Hubert but note that he led the team (by far) in sacks LY (7). Three key seniors from last year’s squad will be missing from the DL so it’ll be interesting to what they can cobble together. They look rock solid at LB and the secondary should be one of the best in the Big 12. One important defection to mention is last season’s DC Scottie Hazelton who is off to Michigan St.
They’ll almost certainly take a step back this year given the new faces on the DL and at DC. They’ll still be an above-average Big 12 stop unit, just not a “killer”. Let’s hope they can find a pass rush.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Blake Lynch is back to handle FGs and he was a fine 19/21 in that department LY (46/46 XP). They also boast one of the most devastating return men in college football in Joshua Youngblood who averaged an impossible 35.9 (!) yards per kickoff return whilst bagging THREE TDs (14 attempts). Fun fact. WR Malik Knowles also had a KR TD LY and Phillip Brooks booked a HOUSE CALL on a punt return. All these dudes are back. It’s not ideal that their excellent punter Devin Anctil has run out of eligibility.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – The schedule was reworked and their non-conference test is a tricky home game with an Arkansas St team that can SCORE THE FOOTBALL. Two of their first Big 12 games are nasty road affairs with the Sooners (revenge, yo) and Horned Frogs. Overall, they have five conference road tilts including road dates with Iowa St and Oklahoma St in November.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Nothing heinous noted.
Season Win Total
Over 5.5 -170
Under 5.5 +145
MEGALOCKS says:
Quote from the summer – “Tricky number to set. We’d open something like Over 5 -130 Under 5 +110.” Update – we’ll take a pass on this price.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Kansas St has won 11 consecutive SUNFLOWER SHOWDOWNS vs their hated rival (Kansas) but note that those wacky Jayhawks hold a 64-48-5 all-time edge in head-to-head action. Fun fact. Kansas and Kansas St have played each other every year since 1902, except for 1910.
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
It’s gonna be really tough to challenge for the Big 12 title this year. They’re undergoing a lot of changes on offense and their fine defense will be under the tutelage of a new DC. We love the Chris Klieman hire and truly believe he’s worth at least one extra win at some point this season. A bowl game seems like a reasonable goal, maybe find your QB of the future in garbage time, and get ready to make a big push in 2021.
Want more Kansas St football ?
WEBSITE
https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/football
FORUM
http://goemaw.com/forum/index.php?board=3.0
https://kansasstate.forums.rivals.com/
NEWS
http://www.bringonthecats.com/
http://themercury.com/k_state_sports/football/
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/kansas-state/
https://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/2306/kansas-state-wildcats
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