KANSAS STATE WILDCATS O:9 D:8

Last season marked the end of an era for the Wildcat football program, as it was the final year in Head Coach Bill Snyder’s fine tenure in Manhattan. What he did for Wildcat football was simply amazing turning them from a perennial doormat to a National Championship contender. His 17 years as the top dog saw him post 136 victories, which is three times higher than the second winningest coach at K-State. Needless to say, his departure will be felt throughout the program and around town since he was a very beloved coach. In comes new HC Ron Prince who was the offensive coordinator at Virginia the last few seasons. His offense returns nine starters overall, and they’ll have to adapt to his new passing game philosophies. The QB position is loaded with talent and is very deep, and back is shifty RB Thomas Clayton for his senior campaign. The Wildcats O-Line returns nine of 10 from last season, but will have to learn new blocking techniques. Defensively, the Wildcats have been down the last few seasons but get eight returning starters back, which is the most since 2002 when they gave up a shade under 12 PPG. Special teams returns completely intact and should improve upon last year’s numbers provided HC Prince puts as much emphasis on this unit as HC Snyder used to.