Previewing Kansas State - Ask a Blogger

Big Red Network continues to bring you wall-to-wall coverage of NU's 2008 opponents. This includes interviews with people who really know their teams - bloggers. We're asking our blogging brethren to get you in the good information and opinion that you won't find in papers or on web sites with a national focus.

Today, the emphasis is on the Kansas State Wildcats. We asked Bring On the Cats to bring on the good information, and they didn't disappoint. Here are their detailed answers to my five questions about KSU's 2008 outlook.

What are the expectations for KSU this year? Is the seat at all warm if coach Prince doesn't take the Wildcats to a bowl?

Bring on the Cats -- To me, the expectations are that we have no idea what to expect. With all the new faces coming in, both on the field and on the sidelines, it's hard to say what we're going to get. From what I've heard from Nebraska fans, they see a wide range of possibilities, good and bad, for their team. It's pretty much the same thing with K-State. I can see a possibility that we could significantly improve and have a pretty nice season, but I can also see things falling apart.

As for Prince, for the full version of my thoughts check out this post at BOTC. In essence, I don't believe that Prince's seat gets warm this season unless we see another meltdown like we saw at the end of last year. Even if we were to go, say, 5-7 again this year, as long as we saw a team that was out there fighting until the whistle every play, I could live with that because our schedule is much more difficult this season. But if we go 5-7 and the team quits at the end of the year and gets blown out a lot, I'm going to be moving strongly toward the "Prince must go" camp. However, our athletic director seems to be a big Prince supporter, and our University President is retiring this year, so we may not want to also be tossing a third-year coach to the curb amidst all that turmoil.

Much has been said about the influx of JC talent in the most recent recruiting class. Where do you see that having the most impact on the roster right away?

BOTC - We're hoping the biggest impact comes along the defensive front seven. We were putrid at stopping the run last season, especially late in the season after nose tackle Steve Cline and linebacker Antwon Moore had been injured. We really need guys like Daniel Calvin and Ulla Pomele, among others, to be significant contributors on the defensive line and at linebacker.

Other than that, I'm going to be very interested to see what wide receiver transfers Aubrey Quarles and Attrail Snipes (I love that name) can do. Deon Murphy should be the main deep threat, but we're going to have to replace Jordy Nelson by committee, so we will need some help from both those guys.

What are the relative strengths and weaknesses of the 2008 Wildcats, in your opinion?

BOTC - We should be pretty strong at quarterback. Josh Freeman made significant improvement last year over his true freshman season. True, he didn't lead the league in anything, but he put up some pretty solid numbers. If he continues to improve, he should move from being merely a solid quarterback to a difference-maker on offense.

Another possible strength is the offensive line. That comes with the caveat that they stay healthy. But we have a lot of experience and depth along the o-line, and with guys like Jordan Bedore and Gerard Spexarth, we're hoping that this group can finally kick-start the offense by establishing a running game and giving Freeman some protection.

The primary weakness seems to be the defensive secondary. We get Joshua Moore back at cornerback, and Gary Chandler is pretty good at safety, but there are a lot of unknowns. Blair Irvin, yet another transfer, could be a contributor back there. Somebody needs to step up.

I'm also concerned about the defensive line, at least as far as stopping the run. With Ian Campbell moving back to defensive end, we should have a solid pass rush. But unless guys like Daniel Calvin and Xzavier Stewart can bottle up the run, or at least slow some teams down, we're going to have troubles with running teams. Oh wait, nobody runs the ball anymore. What was I thinking? Next question...

We're a Nebraska blog, so I am contractually obligated to ask about Josh Freeman. During media days, he got a little bit brash concerning his place among the best QB's in the conference. Care to defend your guy?

BOTC - Here's the thing with what Freeman said. I wish he hadn't said it, because now it's all that he will hear about all season. "Great game today, Josh, do you feel like you're validating your preseason statement that you're the best QB in the Big 12?" -- or -- "You really sucked today Josh, what happened to those big preseason predictions?" It's going to be like the Michael Beasley guarantee that we would beat KU in Manhattan, Lawrence, and Africa. It's going to end up being irritating for Freeman because once a reporter gets something he can ask questions about with minimal effort, he's going to run with it.

But all that said, I don't think Freeman went very far out on a limb. I realize that sounds insane given his modest production thus far and the numbers guys like Graham Harrell, Chase Daniel, and others (including Joe Ganz) have put up. But I talked to a former K-State football player a couple weeks ago, and this guy said he thinks Freeman is right that he's the best QB in the league, but he's not sure if he'll ever have the offensive line to prove it. That's why offensive line play is so critical this year. If those guys can give Freeman the time to throw downfield a little more often, I think we're going to see some big numbers from #1 this year.

The schedule: which games are you pointing to as the most important or vital to team success?

BOTC - The first very important game is at Louisville. While I don't think they'll be worse than last year, the Cardinals weren't very good last year and I haven't seen much to indicate they'll be significantly better this year. If we can go on the road and pick up a win there, it would be a big confidence booster.

With difficult home games against South teams such as Oklahoma and Texas Tech, we really need to pick up some wins against beatable teams on the road. That means games at Texas A&M and Colorado will be important. With A&M going through a coaching change, and the way we've owned Colorado the last two years, those two games could go a long way toward determining whether we make a bowl game.

I'm probably starting to sound like I'm picking every game as important, but we also really need to work on getting a win over one of the three division rivals, those being you guys, KU and Mizzou. I can pretty much scratch Mizzou off the list because they're really good and we're playing in Columbia. So I guess that leaves you guys and KU. Winning one of those games would go a long way toward fans feeling better about what Prince is doing in Manhattan.

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This is where our little interview ends. For more about Kansas State throughout the season, check out Bring On the Cats...available at your finest Internet provider. Sure, I know many of you hate KSU. But blogger TB is from Nebraska, so cut him some slack already.