GAMEDAYGUIDEwww.kstatecollegian.com | Friday, September 23, 2011 | K-State vs. Miami

PAGE 2: TEAM BREAKDOWNS | PAGE 3: HEISMAN WATCH | PAGE 4: GAMES TO WATCH

1 -The ranking of the Wildcats defense entering the game against Miami.

The Wildcats lead the country in total defense, pass defense and points allowed per game. The de-fense, one of last year’s weaknesses, is now among this year’s strengths. The Wildcats will be challenged by an explosive off ense in Miami that has a lot of playmakers capable of going the distance at any time. The Wildcats must limit the number of big plays to give themselves a chance for the win.

19-Tackles by Arthur Brown

The 19 tackles Brown has leads the team. Safety Ty Zimmerman is second with 13 tackles. Brown has been all over the fi eld for the Wildcats defense and is a big reason why the Wildcats defense has looked so good in the fi rst two games. With the upcoming game against the Hurricanes, look for Brown to add to these tackle numbers as he is going up against his old team.

45-Yards on David Garrett’s interception for a touchdown last week

Last week against Kent State in the opening quarter, Garrett intercepted a pass and took it 45 yards for the opening touchdown. Garrett will be matched up against either Allen Hurns or Travis Benjamin. Both of the receivers have big play ability and will present Garrett with a tough challenge. Something else to look for is Hurricanes quarterback Jacory Harris, who is prone to inter-ceptions. As long as Garrett plays good defense and sticks with the receivers, he should have an oppor-tunity to get another interception.

184-Yards that Miami running back Lamar Miller rushed for last week

The sophomore running back burst onto the scene last week as he helped lead the Hurricanes get the victory against Ohio State. The Buckeyes have had their problems on off ense, but are very good on the defensive side of the ball. Miller did a great job of being patient and letting the play set up. The Wildcats will have to play solid fundamental defense and make sure that they do not over-pursue if they are going to be able to contain Miller.

209-Total yards gained by Ohio State against the Miami defense last week

The K-State off ense will need to carry the momentum from last week into this game against the Hurricane defense. The Miami defense has speed all over the fi eld and the capabilities to make big plays. Look for K-State to try and use that speed and aggressiveness against Miami with some screens as well as some draws.

75,192-The number of fans that Sun Life Stadium holds

The Hurricanes, coming off an emo-tional victory against Ohio State last week, once again have fans believ-ing that this team has the potential to have a very good year. It will be pivotal for K-State to be on the same page and take the Hurricane crowd out of the game early. The off ensive line has had problems in the fi rst two games with silly false start penalties, and if that starts to happen, the crowd is only going to get louder. If the off ense is able to play a smart football game, the opportunity is there to leave Miami with a 3-0 record.

BY THE NUMBERS

Stats to consider when K-State takes on Miami tomorrow

Jonathan Knight | Collegian

Mark Kernassistant sports writer

Aft er the scary week one performance in their opener, many fans were nervous about the off ense going into the Kent-State game. However with the performance last week, many of those fans have relaxed about the off ense. Th e K-State off ense is hoping to continue the suc-cess as they travel to Miami to take on the Hurricanes. When asked about whether the of-fense is ready for a test like this, quarterback Collin Klein ac-knowledged that Miami would be a lot more diffi cult to score on..

“We will fi nd out. We have made and are making improve-ments. We just have to keep it up. Miami is a great defense with great team speed. We are going to have to execute our plan well. We are working on it now and we will just have to see what happens.”

Last week, Klein had a solid game as he combined 213 total yards of off ense as well as three touchdowns. Th e majority of his yards were on the ground, which will force him to throw the ball more. Coach Snyder believes that the Hurricane de-fense will try and force him to throw the ball more. However, Snyder is not worried if they

and force him to become more of a passer.

“I do not have a concern about it. It does not mean that something could not happen, but he is a very composed young man. Th at remains to be seen. I do not have concerns about that. I think he has im-proved. I think he was better in the fi rst game. He was better than he was last year and better in the second game than in the fi rst game. I think he is gradual-ly doing what we anticipate and hope for with all of our players.”

Another key for the of-fense is going to be the play of John Hubert. Hubert rushed for 91 yards on 17 carries in

the opener against Eastern Kentucky, but against a better Kent State struggled as he only gained 28 yards on 12 carries. If Hubert can have the type of he game he had in the opener, this will help open up the of-fense for Klein and give the off ense more options. Hubert will look to the off ensive line to help clear a path for him to run through.

If Miami does go and tried to forced the Wildcats to throw the ball more, Collin Klein will look to be more effi cient than the Ohio State Buckeyes’ quar-terbacks were last week. one-dimensional though as they will look to make Klein into a

passer. Th e Hurricanes forced Ohio

State to only complete four passes for thirty fi ve yards. However, the Buckeyes were able to rush for 174 total yards. If Kansas State is able to have this kind of success, than the Klein will have a good game.

Th is is going to be the tough-est test that K-State has faced this year. K-State will look to use Miami’s fast aggressive de-fense against them. Th e zone read that the Wildcats have been using could be a key play as the linebackers and defensive ends for the Hurricanes have a tendency to go for the big play and not keep their assignment.

Wildcats look to build off last week’s success

Sean Fryestaff writer

The Wildcats are traveling to Miami to take on the Hurricanes Saturday afternoon for their most highly anticipated non-conference matchup of the season. For junior linebacker Arthur Brown, the game will mean a little more than usual as he is returning to face the school he played for two years ago.

“I’m excited,” Brown said in the press conference following the Wildcats’ 37-0 victory over the Kent State Golden Flashes. “I’m just really looking forward to it, you know, just being in a familiar environment and able to see some of the players on the team.”

So far, Brown has been a staple in a defense that has made a com-plete turnaround from last season. Last year, the Wildcats ranked 106 in total defense. This year, behind Brown’s team-leading 19 tack-les, including a game-leading 12 against Kent State, the Wildcats are currently ranked as the No. 1 overall team in the country in total team defense.

“He is great,” said K-State safety Ty Zimmerman in regards to Brown. “He just plays at a way dif-ferent level.”

While Brown is the leader of a new-look defense in Manhattan, his days at Miami were not nearly as headline-deserving. While he was the top-rated recruit of his class his freshman year with the Hurricanes, most of his playing time came on special teams and he only recorded four tackles. He stepped it up to 13 tackles his sophomore year, but his struggles ultimately led to his departure from the Hurricanes and return to his home state of Kansas.

“When he was at Miami, [Brown] was very young,” head coach Bill Snyder said. “He is a very, very fine player, but I think they had a lot of very, very fine players over there as well. I don’t think he lacked success there, I think he was just a young pup, like we have a lot of young pups here that aren’t on the field yet. It was still early in his career.”

Brown was transferred to K-State with his brother, running back Bryce Brown, whose trans-fer from Tennessee made national headlines. While Bryce is strug-gling to make the field, Arthur al-ready has registered more tackles as a Wildcat than as a Hurricane. Snyder credits the added expe-

rience of Arthur, among other things, to his success at K-State thus far.

“With us, having a year during his redshirt year to understand and learn the system, to be able to mature both mentally and physi-cally — I think all of those things come with time as long as you’re really into it,” Snyder said. “The growth has come for him.”

People around Miami and Manhattan are making a big deal about Brown’s return to his former school. The person making the least amount of noise about the topic seems to be Brown himself.

“Arthur is just going about his business like he does every other day,” said K-State wide receiv-er Curry Sexton. “Nothing has changed for Arthur ... He does not change his demeanor no matter the circumstances. Arthur is just

going to go out and play his game like he does every week. We are not worried about Arthur or any distractions that he might have and that is just the type of guy that he is.”

Despite Brown’s low-key atti-tude about taking his talents back to South Beach, the team does not deny the fact that it is at least on the back of his mind.

“I am sure that he has got a little fire inside of him that is burning a little harder this week, but other than that Arthur is just an even keel guy,” Sexton said.

Brown’s return to Miami is one of the biggest storylines going into the game and will be one of the biggest leaving it whether he plays well or not.

Ultimately, though, the biggest thing on everybody’s mind is the task of simply beating the Hurri-canes.

“He’s excited, but at the end of it you’ve got to treat it like another opponent and just focus in on our-selves,” senior safety Tysyn Hart-man said. “It doesn’t really matter who you play as long as you get better.”

Arthur Brown returns to where career started

“Arthur is just going to go out and play

his game like he does every week.”

Curry SextonK-State wide receiver

-Compiled by Mark Kern

K-State linebacker Arthur Brown attempts to sack the Kent State quarterback on Sept. 22 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Brown leads the team with 19 tackles through two games.

Jonathan Knight | Collegian

K-State senior quarterback Collin Klein runs the ball against the Kent State Golden Flashes. Klein leads the team in rushing with 217 yards in the season.

Quarterback Collin Klein had a breakthrough game against Kent State last Saturday when he led the Wildcats with 152 yards rushing. Despite using three diff erent running backs, none were able to manage any signifi cant success. K-State will have to fi nd other ways to move the ball on Saturday if they hope to have a chance. Th e Uni-versity of Miami defense is fi lled with experienced players, nine of which have recorded seven or more tackles in a single game including two sacks, one of which was against Ohio State. One of K-State’s four running backs will have to step up in a major way on Saturday, or the Wildcats could be in for a long night.

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MATCHING UPK-STATE RUN OFFENSE VS. MIAMI RUN DEFENSE

Led by senior quarterback Jacory Harris and sophomore running back Lamar Miller, the Hurricanes pres-ent a potent off ensive running game. Th e Wildcats have looked impressive on defense so far this season, allow-ing an average of only 64 total yards on the ground; however, they have yet to face an off ense this dangerous. For K-State, the defensive line will have to step up and make more tackles at the line of scrimmage. With K-State junior linebacker Arthur Brown lead-ing the defense into this matchup with his former school, the Wildcats have all the motivation they need to prove themselves on defense.

MIAMI RUN OFFENSE VS. K-STATE RUN DEFENSE

ADVANTAGE: MIAMI ADVANTAGE: NEITHER

So far this season, the Wild-cats have struggled the most when trying to fi nd success through the air. Aft er the fi rst two games of the season, they have only one receiver with over 30 yards and none with 100 or more. If the off ense was that stagnant against Eastern Kentucky and Kent State, it’s hard to imagine how things will be against Miami. Led by senior defensive back JoJo Nicolas, the Hurricanes secondary is loaded with experience. Expect Miami’s solid coverage to make throwing the ball a challenging en-deavor for the Wildcats.

K-STATE PASS OFFENSE VS. MIAMI PASS DEFENSE

ADVANTAGE: MIAMI

Th ough the Hurricanes have had more success throwing the ball than K-State, it is unlikely that Miami has faced a more talent-ed backfi eld so far. Led by defensive backs David Garrett and Ty Zimmerman, the Wildcats have allowed opponents an aver-age of only 100 yards through the air. Jacory Harris will likely look to receivers Tommy Streeter and Allen Hurns as his primary tar-gets, who have a combined total of 14 recep-tions for 178 yards and demonstrate both size and speed at the receiver position. Th e Wildcats still hold the upper hand, with an arsenal of experienced and talented defen-sive backs looking to throw a blanket over the Miami receivers.

MIAMI PASS OFFENSE VS. K-STATE PASS DEFENSE

ADVANTAGE: K-STATE

Place kicker Anthony Cantele showcased his abilities against Kent State aft er hitting three fi eld goals, including a career-long 49-yarder. Cantele has consistently placed kicks in the back of the end zone, prevent-ing the opportunity for teams to bring the ball out. Miami kicker Jake Wieclaw has also been successful for the Hurricanes this year and will make returning the ball a challenge for the Wildcats. Special teams will play a big part in this contest for K-State and the return teams will need to provide good fi eld position on punts and kicks.

K-STATE SPECIAL TEAMS VS. MIAMI SPECIAL TEAMS

ADVANTAGE: K-STATE

Th e Wildcats will be on the road for the fi rst time this season and will take on their most chal-lenging opponent thus far. With a young and inexperienced of-fensive line, the hostile Miami crowd will likely cause some issues up front. K-State’s fate against the Hurricanes will rely almost completely on its off ense continuing to improve. It is un-likely that the Wildcats will have the potency to put up enough points to win the game, but the defense should keep the fi nal score respectable.

INTANGIBLES

ADVANTAGE: K-STATE

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: 24-17 MIAMI

k-state sports blogFor info that doesn’t make the sports page. kstatecollegian.com/blogs

- compiled by Monty Thompson

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1. ANDREW LUCK, QUARTERBACK, STAN-FORD

Season: 57 of 85, 786 yards and eight touchdowns

Luck was outstanding in the team’s 37-10 victory over Pac-12 rival Arizona last Sat-urday night. Aft er a sluggish start, Luck took off and ended up throwing for 325 yards and two touchdowns. Even more impressive than his numbers was the poise he showed. Th e score was only 16-10 Stan-ford and the Arizona crowd was rocking, and then Luck led the Cardinal on scoring drives of 81, 80 and 91 yards to put the game out of reach. Th e Cardinal are off this week as they prepare for the UCLA Bruins on Oct. 1.

2. MARCUS LATTI-MORE, RUNNING BACK, SOUTH CAROLINA

Season: 87 rushes, 534 yards and seven touchdowns

Lattimore came to play when his team needed him the most. South Carolina was in a struggle with Navy, but Lattimore was not going to allow them to lose the game. Not only did Lattimore carry the ball 37 times for 246 yards, he was also respon-sible for all of the Gamecocks’ touchdowns with three rush-ing touchdowns. Lattimore looks to have another big game as South Carolina will host Vanderbilt in a battle of two 3-0 teams.

3. ROBERT GRIF-FIN, QUARTERBACK, BAYLOR

Season: 41 of 49, 624 yards and eight touchdowns, 18 carries for 116 yards

Griffi n built off his week one performance by com-pleting 91 percent of his passes in a 48-0 over Stephen F. Austin State University. Griffi n has 343 total yards of off ense in a game that was called before the fourth quarter due to inclement weather. Griffi n is giving Michigan’s Denard Robin-son a run as college foot-ball’s most exciting player. Th e Bears are in action in a game against Rice University, which should give Griffi n an opportunity for many more exciting plays.

4. KELLEN MOORE, QUARTERBACK, BOISE STATE

Season: 60 of 76, 716 yards and eight touchdowns

Moore entered the Heis-man Trophy race with a monster performance last Friday night against the Toledo Rockets. With the running game not doing any-thing, Moore decided to take over the game in the tune of 455 yards and fi ve touch-downs. Moore is one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the country and is great at putting the ball where his receivers can go and make plays aft er the catch. Th e Broncos will be in action on Saturday as they place host to Tulsa, who is coming off a blowout defeat at the hands of the Oklahoma State Cow-boys.

Mark Kern is a senior in mass communications and journalism. Please send comments to sports@spub.ksu.edu.

Sean FryeStaff Writer

Th e Miami Hurricanes will pose the biggest challenge for Bill Snyder’s Wildcats so far this season. And with this being the fi nal non-conference game before beginning Big 12 Conference play with a home matchup against the Baylor Bears, coming out of South Beach with a high-profi le win will be crucial for the Wildcats.

Th e Hurricanes, who are ranked 29th in the country by both Th e Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls, are 1-1 on the season. In week one, they dropped a close match to the Maryland Terrapins by a score of 32-24. Th at game was marred by the absence of eight suspended players, including starting quarterback Jacory Harris, due to a litany of alle-gations levied against the Hur-ricanes’ football program prior to the beginning of the season involving illegal benefi ts pro-vided to present and former players by a booster. Following a bye week in week two, the Hurricanes beat the then No. 17 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes 24-6.

Th e two primary off ensive threats for the Hurricanes are starting quarterback Jacory Harris and starting running

back Lamar Miller. In his only outing of the year, not only did Harris lead the Hurricanes to an upset over the Buckeyes, but he also tossed two touch-downs en route to the win.

“I think maybe leadership, the ability to move the ball around a little bit,” Snyder said in regards to Harris’ impact on the Hurricanes. “You watch the performance level, I think he has the ability to run with the ball. As you watch the ball game, there wasn’t a great deal of mistakes. It seemed to me like he made good choices the vast majority of the ball game.”

As for Miller, he has rushed for 303 yards so far this year, and his 151.5 yards-per-game average ranks fourth in the country. Last year, he put up 646 yards on 108 carries, av-eraging 6 yards per carry. Th e rushing attack, featuring both Harris and Miller as well as other backs, will provide the K-State defense with their big-gest challenge.

“Th ey’re experienced up front, and he’s a very talented player,” Snyder said. “He’s a pretty physical back and he has that excellent speed. If he can fi nd that crease, you’ve got some problems ahead of you. He can get the ball to the edge as well because of that speed.”

Overall, the off ensive prow-

ess of the Hurricanes will pro-vide the Wildcats’ biggest test on defense so far this year.

“Th is is a major step for our defense,” Snyder said. “It will be very defi nitive on where we are. Hopefully we play as well as we are capable of playing and continue to make some improvement and that will give us a good assessment of where we are, regardless of the outcome. It gives us a good assessment, if indeed we play well.”

As for the defense, the player that stands out the most looking at their roster is defensive lineman Darius Smith. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 360 pounds, Smith’s presence alone requires a huge amount of attention from off ensive linemen across the country. Smith has made fi ve tackles this season.

“Darius Smith is a big guy. He’s big, fast, strong and he’s going to be quite the chal-lenge,” said K-State starting center B.J. Finney.

Ramon Buchanan and James Gaines lead Miami in tackles with 13 apiece. Buchanan has eight solo tackles, fi ve more than Gaines’ three. Defensive backs Vaughn Telemaque and JoJo Nicolas each have an in-terception on the year and are third and fourth on the team’s

tackle leader list respectively. Overall, the biggest key to

the Hurricanes is their speed. Th ey are a fast team that will be tough to contain on both sides of the ball.

“Th at is the fi rst thing that jumps off of the fi lm when you watch it,” said K-State corner-back Nigel Malone. “Th ey also have very good running backs which is a strong point of their off ense. We just have to come out and play a balanced game.”

SCOUTING REPORT

o o o o o o o o ooo

XX X XXXX

X XXX

o = OffenseX = Defense

Breaking down the Hurricanes, speed is key

Sean spencelinebacker #31

The linebacker played in his fi rst game last week against Ohio State after being suspended for the fi rst game. Spence last week had six tackles and is the best linebacker on a team with great athletes at the postition.

Lamar MillerRunning Back #6

Miller is coming off a career high 184 yards in the victory over Ohio State. Miller took the fi rst carry of the game 54 yards and was the focal point of the off ense as Jacory Harris and the passing game struggled.

Travis benjamin Wide receiver #47

Benjamin is a deep threat capable of scoring a touchdown from anywhere on the fi eld. Benjamin a played in his fi rst game last week against the Buckeyes due to suspension. He was limited to 13 yards on three catches, but expect his role to expand this week .

Heisman Watch

Mark Kern

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Games to watch: LSU, West Virginia top game to watch on Saturday

Both teams will be looking to get off to a 1-0 start in conference play as they meet in Tus-caloosa, Al. at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Last year, Arkansas had then-ranked No. 1 Alabama on the ropes with a 13 point lead, only to see Alabama come back and escape with a 24-20 victory. They are both diff erent teams, but the game is again important. Arkansas did not look very good in Saturday’s win over Troy University, much to the dismay of head coach Bobby Petrino. The Razorbacks know that type of performance will not cut it against the Crimson Tide. Alabama is coming off a dominating performance against an out-matched North Texas team, in which running backs Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy rushed for a combined 328 yards and fi ve touchdowns on only 20 carries. If those two are able to run like they did last Saturday, then it could be a long day for the Razorbacks.

In a rematch from last year’s game, the Mountaineers looks to emerge as a legitimate national title contender. West Virginia is led by quarterback Geno Smith, who last week threw for a career high 388 yards in the Mountaineers’ 37-31 win over Maryland. In their way is LSU, who has already put themselves on the map as a title contender. When Jordan Jeff erson was suspended, many critics thought that LSU’s season went with him. Jarrett Lee has stepped in admirably, completing 67 percent of his passes while throwing three touchdowns and only one interception. The key in this game is how West Virginia handles LSU’s vaunted defense. If Geno Smith is able to have time to throw, than there is a possibil-ity for an upset in Morgantown.

Mark Kernassistant sports editor

SAN DIEGO ST.@ MICHIGAN

Head coach Brady Hoke of Michigan gets to face his old school in the game against the San Diego Aztecs. Michigan has the most explosive player in the country in quarterback Denard Robinson. He can turn in a big play at any mo-ment from anywhere on the fi eld. The off ense is not the problem for the Wolverines, it has been their defense. Their defense has looked a lot better in the early part of the season, but they are still prone to the big play. San Diego State has a couple players capable of big games. Run-ning back Ronnie Hillman rushed for 191 yards and four touchdowns in the Aztecs win against Washington State. Quarterback Ryan Lindley was also eff ective as he passed for 273 yards and two touchdowns. If both of these players are able to make big plays, then Michigan will be in trouble. Look for the Aztecs to make enough big plays and for San Diego State to pull the upset of the week.

OKLAHOMA ST.@ TEXAS A&M

In the fi rst Big 12 game of the season, two top 10 teams will square off in College Station. Oklahoma State will bring in their high fl ying off ense led by the dynamic duo of quarter-back Brandon Weden and Heisman Trophy candidate wide receiver Justin Blackmon. The duo torched the Aggies defense last year to the tune of 127 yards and a touchdown in last year’s thriller when Oklahoma State prevailed at 38-35. Texas A&M will look for a little redemption and they will to their explosive off ense to do the job. Their trio of quarterback Ryan Tannehill, running back Cyrus Gray and receiver Jeff Fuller is one of the best in the country and will give Oklahoma State some problems. There is going to be plenty of scor-ing taking place in this game and the team that is able to get a couple of stops will be the one that gets the victory.

Arizona will look to bounce back from a very disappointing performance in their 17-14 loss to Illinois last Saturday. The off ensive line really struggled all day and it ended up costing them in the end. The defense played plenty well enough to get the win, and they must make sure that they bring that type of eff ort against the explosive off ense of USC. Matt Barkley tied a school record with fi ve touchdown passes in the Trojans 38-17 victory over the Syracuse Orange. The USC off ense has really been playing well as of late. If Arizo-na State can get their off ensive line to give their playmakers time, then this game can go either way. Also, the chess game between USC’s Matt Barkley and Arizona State linebacker Vontaze Burfi ct will be a very interesting match-up to watch as the game goes on.

LSU @ WEST VIRGINIA

ARKANSAS@ ALABAMA

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

@ ARIZONA ST.

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