If there was ever a game to circle on the Arizona football schedule, it's the one on Friday night in The Little Apple, when 20th-ranked UA battles 14th-ranked Kansas State in Manhattan, Kansas in the Tucson club's road opener.
It's Arizona's first nonconference road game facing another ranked team since 1999, when the UA played that infamous early-season matchup at Penn State.
"The players are fired up," first-year head coach Brent Brennan said. "Everyone is excited — and I'm sure Kansas State is, too."
When Arizona takes the field at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, the UA will get its first dose of a Big 12 football atmosphere, albeit the "nonconference" game will not count in the Big 12 standings. The home-and-home series, which will continue in Tucson in 2025, was scheduled in 2016, when the Pac-12 was considered a Power 5 conference.
Arizona football coach Brent Brennan exchanges high fives with fans on his first Wildcat Walk as the team heads into Arizona Stadium for the season opener against New Mexico on Aug. 31, 2024, in Tucson.
Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium, which seats 50,000 fans, is expecting a sellout crowd on Friday — and could be the rowdiest road environment for the UA since its road opener last season at Mississippi State.
Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman looks on during the first half of his team’s game against UT Martin on Aug. 31 in Manhattan, Kansas.
"It is a good environment to play in," said Arizona defensive coordinator Duane Akina, who visited Manhattan for matchups several times as an assistant coach at Texas, a Big 12 member itself until leaving for the SEC this season. "Like everywhere, there's a home-field advantage there. It's going to be a lot of fun; it's going to be loud and they're going to be excited."
Since the game is so early in the season and Kansas State and Arizona haven't played each other since 1978, KSU head coach Chris Klieman said he sort of likens Friday's tilt to an actual nonconference matchup, despite both teams now together as part of the Big 12.
"You kind of forget they just joined the league," Klieman said of Arizona. "I still see it as a nonconference game. If you told us we were playing Baylor in a nonconference game, I would say that sounds weird to us. We're all still figuring this out."
Klieman advocated for college football teams "to play eight conference games or 10 conference games," he said, "to have a lot more parity."
Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman answers questions from assembled media during Big 12 football Media Days in Las Vegas on July 9.
At Big 12 Media Days in Las Vegas in July, Klieman admitted his eagerness to play Arizona in Week 3.
"They got tremendous talent," said Klieman, who is in his fifth season at KSU. "They're really difficult to scheme, they're physical kids on defense, and I know the quarterback and wide receiver are really good players. ... They had a tremendous year last year and got after Oklahoma in (the Alamo Bowl)."
Added Klieman: "They're a terrific football program, and it's a great early-season game for the Big 12 to get on national TV on a Friday night. So that excites us, and I know it excites Arizona."
For the Wildcats, despite dealing with injuries on the offensive line and at safety with Gunner Maldonado and Dalton Johnson, this will be the first game that Arizona shows its playing hand and deploys certain defensive packages that counter Kansas State's rushing attack, which ranks 20th in college football and fourth in the Big 12. Kansas State, led by running backs DJ Giddens and Dylan Edwards and mobile quarterback Avery Johnson, average 7.8 rushing yards per attempt; KSU's opponents average 2.5.
Edwards had 114 rushing yards and 63 receiving yards and two touchdowns in Kansas State's win over Tulane last week in New Orleans.
"That's a great team," Arizona defensive end Tre Smith said. "They've got a lot of great assets, great pieces and they're fundamentally sound. We're looking forward to a great challenge. It's a great opponent."
Although both teams are ranked and undefeated, both teams have shown flaws from both sides through their first two games. Even though Arizona surrendered 470 yards of total offense and 39 points to rebuilding New Mexico, UA wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan set a program record with 304 yards and four touchdowns on 10 catches, and Arizona recorded the eighth-most yards (627) in program history.
"Those two are insane," Klieman said of McMillan and quarterback Noah Fifita. "The quarterback and wide receiver are as in tune and have as good of chemistry as any two people that I've faced as far as wide receiver-quarterback combination."
A week later against NAU, Fifita and McMillan had their two worst games as starters at Arizona, with McMillan making two catches for 11 yards. Arizona went 0-for-10 on third-down conversions for the first time since 2003, but many of the offensive struggles can be tied to a reshuffled offensive line with center Josh Baker held out and right tackle Jonah Savaiinaea at left tackle, while San Jose State transfer guard Ryan Stewart moved outside. Left guard Wendell Moe was the only starting offensive lineman last week that played the position they trained at during training camp.
Arizona coach Brent Brennan watches his team during the Wildcats’ opener against New Mexico on Aug. 31 at Arizona Stadium. The UA converted 8 of 12 third downs that night before going 0 of 10 vs. NAU.
Arizona gave up "some leakage and some penetration that we gotta shore up as well," Brennan said. "We've gotta shore up our pass protection, but I've been really pleased."
The offensive line was "really clean the first game and not so clean in the second game," Arizona offensive coordinator Dino Babers said.
"But I thought the effort was fantastic," he added. "The new guys were trying hard, playing hard. They didn't always do everything right, but they played hard."
The UA defense, however, showed significant growth in the first two games, decreasing yards allowed from 470 to 188 and points from 39 to 10.
Kansas State, in its own right, boat-raced UT Martin 41-6 and allowed 134 yards, then coughed up 491 to Tulane on the road, though those Wildcats forced two takeaways. Kansas State's offensive yardage wasn't as up-and-down as Arizona's in the first two games, but KSU had seven penalties for 55 yards on offense against Tulane.
"I think we're playing an excellent football team," said Brennan, who's looking to become the first UA head coach to win his road opener since Rich Rodriguez in 2012. "They're really good in all three phases. They had a nice win on the road last week against Tulane. Good players, extremely well coached, they play with real physicality. I've got a lot of respect for these guys. Obviously it's going to be a great game-day atmosphere in that venue. It's something that everyone is excited about and we're also aware of the challenge ahead."
Arizona head coach Brent Brennan answers questions from assembled media during Day 2 of Big 12 football Media Days back in July at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
After scraping by to some degree the last two games, Friday night will display both teams' strengths in a game featuring potential College Football Playoff teams. Arizona can put a stamp on its CFP résumé and extend the longest active winning streak in college football to 10 games, dating back to October of last season. Friday will mark 342 days since Arizona lost a football game.
"That's definitely cool, seeing we have the longest active winning streak right now," Arizona linebacker Taye Brown said. "We're just focused on this game and hopefully we can keep that going."
Three years ago, Arizona was amid a 20-game losing streak and was one of the nation's worst FBS programs. Following a three-year rebuild by former head coach Jedd Fisch, coupled with the player retention by Brennan, Arizona has plenty at stake on Friday before it enters a bye week leading up to the team's official Big 12 opener at Utah.
Arizona is out to prove that its offseason buzz wasn't all sizzle and no steak.
"I think we're now in a situation where we don't sneak up on anybody," Akina said.
"We'll get everybody's best shot."
