Stanford and 2004 K-State

[KsuWildcatsXII]

Maybe I'm being overly optimistic about K-State's defense, but I don't have much reason to think McCaffrey will run wild in the opener. Was thinking about it this morning and Stanford's offense seems really similar to K-State's in 2004. Both were coming off conference championship seasons and had Heisman hopeful RBs, but had very few returning starters elsewhere. Sproles had decent numbers in '04, but he was basically K-State's entire offense that season. Stanford is breaking in a new QB, four new offensive linemen and at least one new receiver. That's not to imply they'll be nearly as bad as that K-State team (maybe Snyder's worst team post-1992). I know Stanford's recruiting classes are light years ahead of K-State's every season. But with it being the first game for so many guys, am I crazy to say it won't shock me if K-State keeps McCaffrey relatively quiet?

[Cartierfor3]

[Art Vandelay]

They actually recruit well though, something we stopped doing at that time. Just hoping we can rattle their new starting QB and just hope to contain that white devil.

[420seriouscat69]

They actually recruit well though, something we stopped doing at that time. Just hoping we can rattle their new starting QB and just hope to contain that white devil.

Some of our best recruiting classes were around that time. We went away from the way Bill recruited. There's tons of articles on this.

[ChiComCat]

They actually recruit well though, something we stopped doing at that time. Just hoping we can rattle their new starting QB and just hope to contain that white devil.

Some of our best recruiting classes were around that time. We went away from the way Bill recruited. There's tons of articles on this.

IIRC, the articles were about how classes got worse because Bill went after higher profile players that we didn't get.

[KsuWildcatsXII]

They actually recruit well though, something we stopped doing at that time. Just hoping we can rattle their new starting QB and just hope to contain that white devil.

Some of our best recruiting classes were around that time. We went away from the way Bill recruited. There's tons of articles on this.

IIRC, the articles were about how classes got worse because Bill went after higher profile players that we didn't get.

And the few he actually landed were complete headcases. One even quit the team and stole stuff from Bill's house, if I remember correctly.

[420seriouscat69]

You guys are right

[ChiComCat]

If we know we are going to be big underdogs, I like playing a game like this off the bat.  Sometimes you can catch a good team flat in their first game of the season.

[420seriouscat69]

2002 was a great class tho. Probably our best of all time. By stars at least.

https://kansasstate.rivals.com/commitments/football/2002

[Art Vandelay]

If we know we are going to be big underdogs, I like playing a game like this off the bat.  Sometimes you can catch a good team flat in their first game of the season.

I'd agree with that. Kind of like the Auburn game in 07 where we outplayed them for 3 1/2 quarters and a sack fumble TD clinched them the game at the end.

[KsuWildcatsXII]

If we know we are going to be big underdogs, I like playing a game like this off the bat.  Sometimes you can catch a good team flat in their first game of the season.

I'd agree with that. Kind of like the Auburn game in 07 where we outplayed them for 3 1/2 quarters and a sack fumble TD clinched them the game at the end.

That Auburn game is basically how I see this one going, for some reason. We'll do enough to stay within a score in the fourth quarter, then a stupid mistake or two will make it look more lopsided than it really was.

[ELL3]

2004 team, did lose a lot (KU, A&M, CU, ISU) of games that we were in a position to win in fourth quarter, so the talent was not super crappy

[scottwildcat]

If we know we are going to be big underdogs, I like playing a game like this off the bat.  Sometimes you can catch a good team flat in their first game of the season.

I would maybe agree if the team we were going to play didn't get upset in the opener last year vs a team they were favored big time over.

[cfbandyman]

Well, I guess on the hope side we don't really know what we're about to throw at Stanford anymore than they know what we're about to.

[KsuWildcatsXII]

2004 team, did lose a lot (KU, A&M, CU, ISU) of games that we were in a position to win in fourth quarter, so the talent was not super crappy

Fair enough. Now that I think about it, 2004 and 2005 were basically just a giant "what if." The games I remember the most are the last-second Hail Mary at Colorado, Mason Crosby's game winner against Colorado the next year (after a STUPID muffed punt return by Jermaine Moreira), then the loss in Lincoln just before Bill announced his retirement. Guess I forgot how annoying those two seasons really were.