A First Look at the Wildcats' Next Opponent: Kansas State
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The tune-up games are over and it is time for the Arizona Wildcats football team to face its first true Big 12 test in Kansas State, a battle of the Wildcats this Friday. The game will be televised live on Fox at 6 p.m.
Arizona showed its skills and improvements on the ground against the Rainbow Warriors, gaining 183 rushing yards with three running backs getting at least six carries and also scoring a touchdown.
The Wildcats then showed just how dominating they can be through the air against Weber State the next week, with Noah Fifita going 17-22 with 373 yards and five touchdowns.
- "When you go into a game like this, I thought our team did an incredible job throughout the week with their intentionality, living red line in the practice environment and attacking every phase of it," Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said. "I think that showed up tonight, which was really, really exciting. You guys have heard me talk about redline, but I think the effort and the execution and the accountability showed up."
The Arizona defense has been suffocating throughout the first two weeks under Danny Gonzales, not allowing a single touchdown and just nine points and forcing seven turnovers.
Arizona will now be facing a tough Kansas State football team that beat it last year 31-7 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, snapping a nine-game winning streak that spanned back to 2023.
Kansas State is coming off a 24-21 loss to the Army Black Knights this past Saturday in Manhattan and lost to Iowa State in Ireland two weeks prior, putting it at 1-2 to start off its season.
Player swap
Safety Gunner Maldonado will be making his homecoming after transferring away from the Wildcats in the offseason and choosing to sign with Kansas State. In four years with Arizona, Maldonado had 175 tackles, four interceptions, eight pass deflections and six forced fumbles.
Wide receiver Tre Spivey transferred to Arizona after two seasons at Kansas State. He redshirted in 2023 and appeared in 12 games as a redshirt freshman in 2024. Spivey made 14 receptions for 160 yards and one touchdown,
K-State's first three games
K-State is looking to turn its season around from an underwhelming 1-2 start that saw it drop a close loss to Iowa State in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, narrowly beat Idaho 38-35 and suffer another loss to Army in upset fashion.
The K-State defense had a tough time stopping the run in a rainy and messy game. 130 rushing yards were allowed on the defense.
Once the weather cleared, Rocco Becht really began slinging the ball around and finished 14 for 28 with 185 yards and two touchdowns.
K-State then found itself in a shootout between Johnson and North Dakota quarterback Jerry Kaminski in the 38-35 win in week two. Johnson went 28 for 43, 318 yards and three touchdowns compared to Kaminski's 23 for 38, 231 yards and one touchdown.
The Fighting Hawks also had four touchdowns on the ground, which aided in keeping them in the game all the way to the end.
Army was able to beat K-State with a heavy rushing attack, running the ball 70 times for 232 yards and passing it just 11 times and completing seven receptions.
What really kept Army in the game and helped it grind out a win was going for it seven times on fourth down and converting it six times to keep it on the field. The name of the game was also time of possession as K-State led Army in that category in the first half, 16:15-13:45, but only had the ball for less than four minutes in the second.
Extra points
Seventh-year head coach Chris Kleiman is looking to lead his team to a sixth eight-plus win season. His five eight-plus-win seasons are the most of any coach in K-State football's history.
One of the keys for Arizona to come out with a victory on Friday is to nullify the big playmaking ability of Johnson, who has shown that he can be a serious difference maker on the field and has struggled at others.
K-State has four new starters on the offensive line; establishing a dominant pass rush would disrupt the scheme of K-State. Arizona has the right players and defensive scheme to do just that with the amount of disguised blitzes and drop-backs that Danny Gonzales likes to run.
Overall, Friday's game will be a true test to see just how much Arizona has improved over the offseason and will be a catalyst for how the season will go in Brennan's second year.
How do you see Arizona's game with K-State going? Let us know by commenting on our X account and be sure to give us a follow.
Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.