Yes, I am one of those crazy few making the drive from Auburn to Manhattan this week for the showdown between No. 5 Auburn and No. 20 Kansas State.
All week I heard about how terrible of a drive it was, but honestly, it’s been a smooth trip so far.
Sure, I’m 11 hours in and just now making my way into Missouri, but when else would I have an excuse to drive specifically to Kansas?
The Ozarks are a beautiful region of Arkansas and Missouri that I hadn’t heard much of, and its rolling hills have made this quite the scenic trip.
All this free time in the car has given me plenty of time to think about the upcoming showdown between Gus Malzahn and Bill Snyder. The two really are quite the antithesis.
Snyder is a legend in the coaching ranks who found a way to bring consistent success to a program at which few others have won — not to mention he’s 74 years young.
While Malzahn isn’t exactly a youngster, he’s certainly new in terms of head coaching experience. A look at his record doesn’t show it though, as he’s experienced remarkable success in his two seasons and a couple games as head coach.
As Snyder likely coaches the last few teams of his career, Malzahn is moving into his prime, challenging for SEC and National Championships.
The coaching matchup between Malzahn and Snyder is just one of many intriguing storylines surrounding this non-conference showdown, so we’re surely in for a memorable non-conference matchup on these never-ending plains of Kansas.
1. Sammie Coates
Auburn’s dynamic wide receiver should be ready to go for Thursday night’s matchup after a left leg injury held him out of Auburn’s victory over San Jose State.
It hasn’t been a flying start to the season for Coates, who caught just one pass in the Tigers’ opener against Arkansas.
The emergence of Duke Williams has taken some targets away from the junior wide receiver, but it should also have the added benefit of relieving some of the coverage.
Stephen F. Austin and Iowa State found twice as much success through the air than on the ground (439 passing yards to just 174 rushing) in Kansas State’s openers, so it will be interesting to see how often Malzahn takes to the air in Manhattan.
Nick Marshall’s completion percentage is also down a couple percentage points from last year, but the return of Coates may be just what the senior quarterback needs to get back on track.
2. Tyler Lockett vs. the Auburn secondary
The Wildcats’ most dangerous weapon in the air comes in the form of the diminutive Lockett, who measures up at just 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds.
Don’t let his size fool you, however. Lockett is the real deal.
After recording 1,262 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior, Lockett broke out against Iowa State last week for 136 yards.
This could spell trouble for an Auburn secondary that, with the exception of Jonathon Mincy, has struggled with mental mistakes and explosive plays so far this season.
Mistakes such as this one against San Jose State, where Josh Holsey gets sucked in by the screen look, opening the door for a 75-yard touchdown, could be dooming against Kansas State.
Additionally, at the time of this writing, the status of Jermaine Whitehead, who has two interceptions in the first two games of this season, is still up in the air. Rumors have circulated on Twitter and message boards that the senior did not travel with the team.
And that’s where we move to the next point…
3. Talent vs. Discipline
58. That’s the number of walk-ons or former walk-ons currently suiting up in Royal Purple for the Wildcats (full credit to CBSSports.com’s Dennis Dodd for his look at Kansas State’s walk-on culture).
Meanwhile Auburn’s roster is lined with a host of five-star talent, such as D’haquille Williams, Montravius Adams and Elijah Daniel, while other playmakers, such as Nick Marshall, Cameron Artis-Payne and Cassanova McKinzy, were merely four stars.
Kansas State may not feature the top talent from around the nation, but they’ll be well-drilled by Snyder and are unlikely to beat themselves.
Avoiding mental mistakes will be critical for a team that, despite what Kansas St OL Boston Stiverson may believe (see tweet below), holds a significant talent edge.
Kansas St OL Boston Stiverson on Auburn DL:
"There are teams in the Big 12 that are just as big and as good as these guys." Mentions TCU, OU
— James Crepea (@JamesCrepea) September 16, 2014
4. Atmosphere
Perhaps the most pressing concern for Malzahn and his coaching staff will be dealing with the atmosphere of Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Thursday’s game is projected to be the most highly attended home game in the program’s history, but considering the current record is just 53,811, it’s not the attendance that should be concerning. Those are the kind of numbers Auburn sees at a lightly attended spring game.
No, it’s likely the hype and unknown of the environment that could most affect the Tigers.
The national spotlight will shine bright upon Manhattan Thursday night, and much of the nation will form their early opinion of the 2014 Auburn Tigers from this matchup, and for good reason.
Walking out of Bill Snyder Family Stadium with a ranked win will push the Tigers to their limits. While their strengths will certainly be on display, you can bet Snyder will have a game plan formulated to test Auburn’s weaknesses in the secondary and at pass rush.
And as we all know, if it’s still a game in the fourth quarter, just about anything can happen on Thursday night.
Follow Eric on Twitter @EWall14
