The Kansas State Wildcats go for their first bowl win since 2002 when they play the Michigan Wolverines Saturday night in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
The game kicks off at 9:15 p.m. CT in Tempe, AZ.
K-State quarterback Daniel Sams made it clear this week. The game is a top priority for the Wildcats. “Coach Snyder has been stressing this is a business trip before we even left Manhattan. Just stay focused on the task at hand, which is winning the bowl game. ” Sams added Arizona is a beautiful place and sometimes they can lose focus. “But when we are on that practice field it’s all about beating Michigan. ”
Both teams finished the regular season with records of 7-5.
Michigan coach Brady Hoke addressed the play of the Kansas State special teams. “Tyler Lockett impresses you an awful lot when you look at the returns that he’s been able to have. They blocked five kicks this year. I think three of them were PAT’s, one of them a field goal, and one of them a punt against Baylor. Very sound and aggressive in what they do.”
Hoke noted Michigan has a lot of respect for the Wildcats, and always have for a Bill Snyder coached team. “I know Coach is 17-0 when they’ve scored a non-offensive touchdown some way, some how, so that’s a big part of it.”
As for Snyder he is preparing his team to face a new starting quarterback for Michigan, freshman Shane Morris. He is filling in for injured starter Devin Gardiner.
Concerning any tendencies Morris might have Snyder said, “I don’t know that we could define tendencies based on any of the information that we have. Just the fact that he’s left-handed as opposed to being right-handed. That alters some things for us to a certain degree.” Snyder added there is now way he could guess how Morris might be used by Michigan. “You have to prepare for their offense. He is a part of it, but there’s ten other guys that are pretty effective players that will certainly be actively involved in their offensive plan.”
Kansas State’s last bowl victory came over Arizona State in the 2002 Holiday Bowl.
The Wildcats and Wolverines have never met in football.
The ballgame Saturday night can be heard on KJCK AM, The Talk of JC.