K-State Returns Home to Host Sixth-Ranked TCU

**GAMEDAY ALERT: Severe weather in Manhattan delayed the start of Saturday's game. Kickoff is now slated for 2 p.m.**

Coming off a heartbreaking double-overtime loss at Texas last week, Kansas State will look to rebound in the first of two-straight home games against ranked opponents when the Wildcats host sixth-ranked TCU on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The contest, which kicks at 11 a.m., will be shown nationally on FS1 with Joe Davis (play-by-play), Brady Quinn (analyst) and Bruce Feldman (sideline) on the call. The game can also be heard across the 40-station K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play), former K-State quarterback Stan Weber (analyst) and Matt Walters (sidelines) calling the action. Coverage will also be available on SiriusXM channel 81 in addition to the TuneIn app. Live stats are available at kstatesports.com, while Twitter updates (@ kstate_gameday, @KStateFB) will all be a part of the coverage.

A LOOK AT K-STATE
• Guided by Hall of Famer Bill Snyder, who is in his 26th year at the helm, the Wildcats are looking to defeat a top-10 team at home for the first time since 2006.
• Senior Jesse Ertz enters the game tops in the nation in yards per completion (16.91) and 10th in yards per attempt (9.30).
• Ertz also leads the team with 336 rushing yards and has 1,399 in his career to rank third in school history in career rushing yards by quarterbacks.
• Six different Wildcats have scored on the ground this year, while four different receivers have carded a touchdown catch, led by Dalton Schoen's three.
• Schoen is coming off a career day at Texas when he hauled in five catches for 128 yards and touchdowns of 82 and 12 yards.
• K-State's defense continues to put in solid work as the Wildcats head into the weekend with the league's No. 2 unit in total defense and tops in pass defense and pass efficiency defense.
• K-State held its first four opponents to under 21 points for the sixth time under Snyder, joining the 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002 teams.
• K-State also enters the TCU game ranked 11th nationally in turnover margin (+6), 32nd in scoring defense (20.0 points per game) and 44th in total defense (356.0).
• The Wildcats are led by linebacker Trent Tanking, who is 14th in the Big 12 with 37 tackles, while defensive tackle Will Geary has a team-best 5.5 tackles for loss and three sacks, the latter tying for fifth in the Big 12.
• Kendall Adams became just the third Big 12 player ever to return an interception for a touchdown and a fumble for a score in the same game against Charlotte as he earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.
• Adams had another solid outing against Baylor with eight tackles, one for a loss, a pass breakup and an interception, giving him three picks over his last six games.

A LOOK AT THE SERIES
• The all-time series is tied, 5-5, with the Wildcats holding a 3-2 advantage since TCU joined the Big 12 in 2012. K-State is also 3-2 in games played in Manhattan.
• The road team has won each of the last two contests.
• It's the second-straight time TCU travels to Manhattan as a ranked team. In 2015, the second-ranked Horned Frogs earned a 52-45 win, a game in which the Wildcats led, 35-17, at halftime.

CATS VS THE LONE STAR STATE
• K-State is riding a recent streak of success against teams from the state of Texas.
• The Cats have won six of their last seven games against teams from Texas, including defeating all five major FBS programs in the state last season (Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Texas Tech, Baylor).

TEXAS CATS
• The Wildcats boast 23 players from the state of Texas on their current roster, nearly 20-percent of the roster.
• Of the 56 players on K-State's two-deep, nine are from the Lone Star State, including starters Abdul Beecham (OL; Judson), Jayd Kirby (LB; Blooming Grove) and Matthew McCrane (PK; Brownwood).

CONFERENCE CALL
• With Big 12 play now underway for the 22nd season, Kansas State is one of just three Big 12 teams with 100 league wins as the Wildcats picked up their 106th Big 12 win against Baylor.
• Additionally, K-State ranks third in the conference in winning percentage since the start of 2011 at .661 (37-19), trailing only Oklahoma (.786; 44-12) and Oklahoma State (.696; 39-17).
• During that stretch, the Wildcats are 21-7 (.750) at home in Big 12 play.

THE HALL OF FAMER
• The architect of the "greatest turnaround in the history of college football," Bill Snyder was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
• Snyder is just the fourth person in the history of college football to be inducted as an active coach.
• Snyder has compiled an amazing 205-107-1 (.658) record in 26 seasons at K-State as he is one of just six coaches to reach the 200-win mark and coach at only one school.
• Holding 166 more victories than any other coach in K-State history, Snyder ranks first in the FBS in wins among coaches at their current schools and second in total wins among active coaches.
• Additionally, Snyder has 119 conference wins to stand as one of four coaches with 100 Big 8/12 victories (Tom Osborne [153], Bob Stoops [121], Barry Switzer [100]).

TURNOVER TURNAROUND
• A year after finishing minus-3 in the turnover battle, K-State tied for fourth in the nation with a plus-13 turnover margin in 2016.
• It was the Wildcats' best national finish in turnover margin since ranking third in 2012, while it marked an 84-spot jump from a tie for 88th the year prior.
• K-State enters this week tied for 11th nationally in turnover margin at plus-6.
• The Wildcats have gained 10 turnovers – five fumbles and five interceptions – while only committing four.

DRAWING FIRST BLOOD
• Since 1990, K-State is 163-32 (.836) when scoring first.
• K-State finished the 2016 season with a 5-2 mark when scoring first and is 18-4 in that department over the last four seasons.
• Under Bill Snyder, K-State is 150-25 (.857) when scoring first, including a 3-1 mark this season.

QUICK OUT OF THE GATE
• Kansas State started games on the right side of the scoreboard in 2016, outscoring opponents 95-54 in the opening 15 minutes.
• That mark improved to 248-137 through the first half and 336-184 after three quarters.
•Through five games in 2017, K-State has outscored opponents 120-54 in the first half, including a 79-27 margin in the second quarter alone.

LEADING AT THE HALF
• K-State earned an 8-1 record in 2016 when taking a lead into halftime with its only blemish being a loss at West Virginia.
• Under Bill Snyder, the Wildcats are 175-10 (.948) when leading at halftime, including a 56-3 (.950) mark in Snyder's second tenure, which began in 2009.
• The Wildcats are 3-0 this season when leading at halftime and are riding a nine-game winning streak when leading at the break.

FILLING THE BILL
• Attendance at K-State games has been at an all-time high over the last five years as K-State has recorded 36-straight sellouts.
• K-State finished second in the nation in percentage of capacity filled in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and fourth in 2016 at 103.84-percent (more on page 44).
• Twenty-one of the largest 25 crowds in stadium history have come since 2013.

CATS TOPS IN NON-OFFENSIVE TDs
• K-State is the nation's best in non-offensive touchdowns over the last 19 seasons as it has 109 since 1999, including D.J. Reed's punt return score in the season opener and two by Kendall Adams against Charlotte via a 30-yard interception return and a 46-yard fumble return.
• K-State's two defensive touchdowns currently rank 13th in the nation.
• Since 1990, the Wildcats are 60-17 when scoring on special teams and 20-1 when scoring on special teams and defense, including an 18-0 mark under Bill Snyder.
• The Cats have had at least five non-offensive touchdowns in five of the last six years and in 16 of the 18 seasons since 1999.

NON-OFFENSIVE TD RECORDS
• Under head coach Bill Snyder, K-State is 72-21 (.774) when scoring a non-offensive touchdown, while the Cats are 53-14 (.789) since 1999 in that department.
• Since Snyder returned to the sideline in 2009, K-State is 28-7 (.800) in this same category.

OFFENSIVE NOTES
GROUND ATTACK
• K-State leaned heavily on its running game throughout 2016, particularly during the second half of the year.
• The Cats broke the school record in yards per carry (5.27) and ranked third in rushing yards per game (231.8).
• Dating back to last season, K-State has hit the 200-yard mark on the ground in 11 of its last 14 games, including each of the final seven contests of 2016.
• K-State also had four 300-yard games in 2016, the most by the Wildcats since 2003.
• This year, K-State rushed for 304 yards against Charlotte, another 201 yards at Vanderbilt and 225 yards against Baylor.
• K-State enters the weekend third in the conference and 32nd nationally in rushing offense.

AERIAL ASSAULT
• While the Cats are known to have a powerful rushing attack, the 2017 squad has some weapons through the air as the unit works to achieve balance.
• In the 2017 opener, Jesse Ertz threw for a career-high 333 yards and tied the school record with four passing touchdowns against UCA.
• His passer rating of 319.8 was a new school record and the highest in the nation in week one, while he also became the first player under Bill Snyder to throw three 50-plus yard touchdown passes in the same game.
• K-State enters this week ranked fourth nationally in yards per completion (14.74).

PROECTING THE FOOTBALL
• Kansas State tied for fifth in the country last season in turnovers lost (12), while the Wildcats only threw five interceptions to rank fifth in the country.
• A year after tossing 13 picks, K-State's minus-8 interception differential from 2015 to 2016 ranked third nationally among Power 5 teams behind Maryland (minus-21) and Nebraska (minus-12).
• The Wildcats have only lost four turnovers this year, one of which came on a punt return, which is tied for 11th nationally entering play this week.

LONG DRIVES
• In the era of quick-strike offenses in college football, K-State remains a team that likes to possess the ball.
• Of K-State's 64 scoring drives in 2016, 39 were seven plays or longer, including 19 of 10 or more plays.
• Nineteen scoring drives a year ago lasted at least five minutes with a 17-play, 8:32 drive at Oklahoma being the longest.
• K-State had three scoring drives of 10 plays or more against Charlotte, but the Wildcats have been more of a quick-strike offense this year as nine of their 19 touchdown drives have been four plays or less.
• Against Central Arkansas, K-State tallied three touchdown drives of three plays or less.
• At Texas, the Wildcats covered long distances with touchdown drives of 97 and 75 yards – both of which came in seven plays or less.

RED ZONE EFFICIENCY
• K-State has been one of the best red zone teams over the past few years as the Wildcats are the only team to finish in the top-15 nationally in red zone offense in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
• The Cats finished the 2016 campaign 10th in the nation by converting on 91.9-percent (57-of-62) of red zone trips.
• Since the beginning of 2014, K-State has converted on 186-of-201 red zone attempts (.924) with 135 touchdowns. Included in that stretch was a nation-leading scoring streak of 56-straight trips that was snapped in 2016.
• In their last 56 wins since 2011, the Cats are 258-for-282 (.915) in red zone chances with 190 touchdowns, while four of their non-scoring trips have come via kneel downs to close out victories.

IN ELITE COMPANY
• Quarterback Jesse Ertz is one of four signal callers in school history to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a career, joining Michael Bishop (1997-98), Ell Roberson (2000-03) and Collin Klein (2009-12).
• Ertz, who has 1,399 career rushing yards, ranks third in school history in rushing yards among quarterbacks. He is also tied for third in career 100-yard rushing games by quarterbacks behind Klein (10) and Roberson (8).
• Ertz ranks third in school history among all players in career rushing yards per attempt at 5.46, only trailing running backs Darren Sproles (6.11; 2001-04) and James Johnson (5.55; 2006-07).

AIRING IT OUT
• Although he used his feet for a majority of 2016, Jesse Ertz is out to prove that he can sling it around the field in 2017.
• In the season opener against UCA, Ertz broke the school record for single-game passing efficiency at 319.8, bettering the previous mark of 300.9 by Allen Webb against North Texas in 2005. Included in his total was four passing touchdowns, which tied the school record.
• The Mediapolis, Iowa, native is 14th in school history in career passing yards at 2,685.
• Additionally, Ertz is ninth in K-State history in career passing efficiency (129.49).
• Ertz enters play this week as the national leader in yards per completion (16.91) and 10th in yards per attempt (24.45).

CLOSE TO 1,000
• Three Wildcats are closing in on hitting 1,000 career yards.
• Running back Justin Silmon has 880 career rushing yards as he is 120 yards shy of becoming the 29th player in school history to reach the 1,000-yard mark for a career.
• Wide receivers Dominique Heath and Byron Pringle have 830 and 805 career receiving yards, respectively. They are looking to join a list of 30 other 1,000-yard career receivers.
• Pringle is trying to join a list of six other former community-college receivers to hit the 1,000-yard mark for a career at K-State. The last to accomplish the feat was Brandon Banks, who had 1,754 yards between 2008 and 2009.

HE'S SCHOEN WHAT HE CAN DO
• A third-year member of the program who came to K-State as a walk-on, sophomore Dalton Schoen has been the Wildcats' most consistent receiver this year.
• The Overland Park, Kansas, native leads the team with 269 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 catches, good for a 24.5-yard average to rank sixth nationally.
• Of his 11 receptions, four have gone for at least 23 yards, including touchdown catches of 70 and 82 yards.
• His 70-yard touchdown came on his first-career catch against Central Arkansas, the longest by a Wildcat on their first-career catch since 2001.
• The best game of his young career was at Texas when he hauled in five catches for 128 yards and a pair of touchdowns, featured by the 82-yard strike in the second quarter, the ninth-longest pass play in school history.
• His two touchdown catches against the Longhorns were the most by a Wildcat in a single game since Kody Cook had a pair against Louisiana Tech in 2015.

DIMEL DOES IT ALL
• Although he plays fullback, Winston Dimel has turned into an offensive threat for the Wildcats.
• Dimel has 20 career rushing touchdowns, just three shy of entering K-State's top-10 list. He is one of only 15 players in school history with at least 20 rushing touchdowns.
• Additionally, he has 22 touchdowns overall in his career to sit four away from the top-10 in that category.
• The Manhattan product has averaged 20.5 yards on his 18 career receptions, tied for the fourth-highest mark in school history among players with 18 or more catches.
• Additionally, Dimel's 369 career receiving yards is tied for 13th in school history among running backs/fullbacks.

YOUNG TALENT
• Left tackle Scott Frantz has started all 18 career games, beginning with his redshirt freshman season of 2016.
• Frantz's 18 starts are the most by a Wildcat underclassman (Fr. or So.) left tackle since 1989, six more than Barrett Brooks (1992-93).
• Of the 350 total starts at left tackle since 1989, only 56 have been made by underclassmen (16.0-percent), but 32.1-percent of those starts are represented by Frantz.

DEFENSIVE NOTES
STOUT SCORING DEFENSE
• Kansas State enters the week allowing only 20.0 points per game, which is second in the Big 12.
• The Wildcats held each of their first four opponents under 21 points, marking the first time they have accomplished the feat in 15 years and just the sixth time since 1990.
• The other five times the Wildcats allowed 21 or less points in each of the first four games were 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002.

LIMITING THE PASSING GAME
• The Cats enter the TCU game leading the Big 12 in passing defense by allowing 226.4 yards per game.
• Additionally, K-State is tops in the league in pass efficiency defense (111.9).
• Kansas State surrendered only 58 passing yards against Charlotte, the fewest since Nebraska could only muster 39 yards on Nov. 18, 2000.

TOUGH AGAINST THE RUN
• Kansas State was stout in rushing defense in 2016, ranking 11th nationally and leading the Big 12 by allowing only 115.0 yards per game.
• The Wildcats finished in the top 15 in the country in run defense for the first time since 2002. They did so by limiting opponents to less than 125 yards on eight occasions, including five times in Big 12 play.
• The Wildcats have surrendered less than 125 rushing yards in three of the last four games, including 65 yards to a Vanderbilt team that was averaging 122.5 rushing yards per game entering the contest.

PICKING THEM APART
• After recording only five interceptions in 2015, K-State reversed the trend last year with a Big 12-leading 16 picks, a mark that tied for 14th in the nation.
• K-State's plus-11 up-tick in interceptions from 2015 to 2016 was the highest turnaround among Power 5 teams.
• The Wildcats have notched at least one interception in 32 of the last 43 games and have totaled five this year.
• K-State also had three pick-sixes last year, including ones by current Wildcats D.J. Reed (Texas Tech) and Duke Shelley (Oklahoma State), and another this year by Kendall Adams against Charlotte.
• Reed snagged the team's first interception of 2017 against Central Arkansas and had one on the first play at Texas. He became the first Wildcat with an interception on the first play of the game since Ty Zimmerman did so against Missouri in 2011.

LBs STEPPING UP
• Although it is a group that is deep with playmakers that shined on special teams in their careers, K-State did not return any starts at linebacker in 2016.
• The Wildcats were one of three teams in the nation – but the only one from a Power 5 school – to not return a single start at linebacker this year. The next closest among Power 5 schools was Florida, which returned 12 total starts.
• Although lacking experience, the linebackers have risen to the occasion as Trent Tanking leads the Wildcats and is ranks 14th in the Big 12 with 37 tackles, while Jayd Kirby is second on the team and tied for 15th in the league with 25.
• Tanking, a team captain and former in-state walk-on, entered the year with the most experience as he ended the 2016 regular season with five tackles at TCU, a game that also included an interception on the final play of the game.

BECOMING A LEADER
• Safety Kendall Adams has helped lead the stout Wildcat defense early this season as he is third on the team in tackles (33), ranks first in interceptions (2) and is third in passes defended (3).
• A product of Fort Worth, Texas, Adams' two interceptions are tied for third in the Big 12 as he has already equaled his total from last year.

ADAMS WITH A RARE FEAT
• Kendall Adams recorded a 30-yard interception return touchdown and a 46-yard fumble return touchdown against Charlotte, a feat that hadn't been accomplished by a Wildcat in nearly 18 years.
• Adams was the first K-State player with touchdowns of both varieties in the same game since Dyshod Carter did so against Missouri in 1999.
• Additionally, he is just the third player in Big 12 history to accomplish the feat, joining Carter and Texas Tech's Paul McClendon, who did so against North Texas in 2001.
• For his effort against the 49ers, Adams picked up Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.

GEARY LEADS THE LINE
• A former in-state walk-on, Will Geary has recorded a team-best 35 career starts, which includes 30 of the last 31 games.
• Geary also has the most career tackles among active Wildcats with 137, a mark that is tied for 15th in program history among interior defensive linemen.
• A native of Topeka, Kansas, Geary has recorded 5.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks over the last three games.
• Geary enters play this week tied for fifth in the Big 12 in sacks and tied for eighth in tackles for loss.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
SCORING IN THE THIRD PHASE
• Kansas State has been far and away the best team among FBS programs over the last decade when it comes to scoring via a kickoff or punt return, and thus ranked as the top collective special teams unit in the nation entering the 2017 season according to Phil Steele.
• The Wildcats have a combined 43 kickoff- and punt-return touchdowns since 2005, 15 more than any other FBS school over the last 13 seasons.

DEFENSE IN THE THIRD PHASE
• On the flip side, K-State has been just as consistent in terms of kickoff and punt coverage as the Cats have not allowed a kickoff-return touchdown in the last 55 games (LAST: vs. Louisiana, 9/7/13) or a punt-return score in 42 games (LAST: at Iowa State, 9/6/14).
• Kansas State finished the 2016 season in the top 25 nationally in both punt-return defense (17th; 4.14) and kickoff-return defense (23rd; 18.4).
• The Cats have yielded just two punt-return attempts this season and rank 20th nationally in kickoff return defense.

KICKOFF-RETURN STREAKS
• Kansas State is currently riding a pair of streaks in terms of kickoff returns as the Wildcats have returned a kick for a touchdown in each of the last 12 seasons – the longest streak in the nation by five years.
• Byron Pringle extended the streak in 2016 when he returned a kickoff to paydirt 99 yards against Texas Tech.
• Since head coach Bill Snyder's return in 2009, K-State has returned 17 kickoffs for touchdowns as opposed to only four in his first tenure, which lasted 17 years.
• For his effort last season, Pringle earned First Team All-Big 12 honors as a kick returner, marking the 11th-straight year a Wildcat returner has earned all-conference accolades. Additionally, a K-State kick returner has earned first team honors six times in the last eight years.

A CAREER DAY
• Place kicker Matthew McCrane had one of the best games of his career against Baylor, connecting on all four field-goal attempts.
• McCrane's four field goals tied a career high, were the second most in school history and tied for the third most nationally this season. It was also the second-best perfect kicking day in school history.
• The senior collected 15 points in the game, one shy of the single-game school record by a kicker.
• McCrane's effort against the Bears earned him Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week accolades in addition to being named a Lou Groza Award "Star of the Week."

McCRANE IN THE RECORD BOOK
• Matthew McCrane will finish his career highly on many of K-State's career kicking lists.
• McCrane current ranks first in school history and sixth nationally by making 86.8-percent (46-of-54) of his career field goals.
• The two-time All-Big 12 place kicker also ranks first in school history in career field-goal percentage (99.1-percent) and is in K-State's top-10 in career field goals made (2nd; 46) and extra points made (5th; 106).
• He also ranks seventh overall in school history but fourth among kickers with 244 career points scored.
• Against Texas, McCrane drilled a career-long 54-yarder, which was tied for the eighth-longest made field goal in school history. It was McCrane's fourth-career field goal of 50 or more yards, which is tied for third in school history.

WALSH A DEPENDABLE PUNTER
• The Wildcats also have an experienced punter in Nick Walsh, as the 2015 All-Big 12 punter and two-time member of the Ray Guy Award watch list ranks sixth in school history in average (41.9), yards (7,372) and attempts (176).

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Players Mentioned

Kendall Adams

Abdul Beecham

Winston Dimel

Jesse Ertz

Scott Frantz

Will Geary

Dominique Heath

Jayd Kirby

Matthew McCrane

Byron Pringle

D.J. Reed

Dalton Schoen

Duke Shelley

Justin Silmon

Trent Tanking

Nick Walsh

Kansas State University Athletics