Kansas State’s Defensive Coordinator Offers Praise for Arizona Star

Two of the top-20 teams in the country will battle it out on Friday night as the Kansas State Wildcats host the Arizona Wildcats.

Both teams enter this contest at 2-0, and while this isn’t a conference game due to the programs agreeing to this matchup before Arizona joined the Big 12, it should have major College Football Playoff implications.

If Arizona were to win this game, their resume would drastically improve.

Winning the Big 12 championship is the focus because the victor gets an automatic bid to the CFP, but due to how tough that is, they need to build their resume in regular-season games as well.

Similar to Arizona, Kansas State hasn’t exactly been dominant.

They beat UT Martin 41-6 and snuck out a win against a good Tulane team on the road.

However, their game against the Green Wave saw them trailing for much of it, and a few questionable calls helped Kansas State escape with the much needed win.

Looking at that game, there’s reason for optimism as Arizona heads into the contest.

Tulane’s quarterback Darian Mensah threw for 342 yards on just 19 completions. He also added two touchdowns to his state line.

With Noah Fifita under center and an explosive wide receiver in Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona should be able to get going offensively if last week is any indication on the state Kansas State’s defense.

They gave up multiple big plays, and K-State’s defensive coordinator, Joe Klanderman, addressed that potential issue.

“I think the big thing for us is you can’t give up explosive plays,” he said according to Heather Dinich of ESPN. “We gave up a ridiculous amount of yards, and 80% of those yards – I think more than that, actually – came off of 10 explosive plays.”

When asked about McMillan, he has some high praise.

“He’s different, he’s special,” Klanderman said. “His catch radius is as good as I’ve ever seen.”

Klanderman told reporters that he wants to make Arizona’s offense “one-dimensional,” highlighting the need to keep them from having big plays.

Their focus will be on Arizona beating them on the ground.

If they execute that game plan, Arizona could be in for a long night. This team is at its best when they make explosive plays in the passing game.

However, with the McMillan and Fifita duo, it’s almost impossible to slow them down that much. Perhaps McMillan won’t have a 300-yard game, but he could still put up 150-plus yards and multiple touchdowns, no matter the defense he faces.

It’s a big week for the future first-round pick, as impressing against a top-20 opponent would not only raise his draft stock, but it would also help his current program in their goal of winning a national championship.