Texas Tech (2-2) at Kansas State (3-1) Oct. 4, 7:0, ESPNU 

Here’s The Deal: Always the interesting contrast in styles, it’s the sleek and slick offense with its pretty head coach, and there’s Texas Tech. 

Kansas State’s style and substance almost worked against Auburn, but it couldn’t seem to make the easy putt with big missed field goals keeping Bill Snyder’s team from pulling off the massive upset. The Wildcats came back to thump UTEP, and now it has to get through one of the easier Big 12 games to get to 2-0 before getting two weeks off to prepare for Oklahoma. Can the stodgy, disciplined team handle the Texas Tech passing game, and will this finally be the time the Red Raider O works too well to overcome? 

Kliff Kingsbury’s high-octane squad hasn’t been bad in losses to Arkansas and Oklahoma State, but the defense couldn’t hold up and the offense wasn’t unstoppable. You know what you’re getting in the Red Raiders, just like you know what you’re getting in Kansas State. It just depends on which style works this week. 

This hasn’t been a fun game over the years, with Kansas State winning three straight after Texas Tech won five straight before that. This is just the 16th time the two played – it should be more explosive than the 6-0 Texas Tech win in the first meeting in 1933. 

Why Texas Tech Might Win: The overall Kansas State pass defense numbers aren’t awful, but the secondary can be picked apart. So far it’s allowed 200 yards or more in every game with eight touchdown and just two interceptions, and while it did a decent job at times against Auburn, and it hasn’t allowed a slew of big plays, you can dink and dunk on this D all you want – hello, Texas Tech. The Red Raider machine hasn’t gotten rolling quite yet, but Davis Webb and the offense should be able to put up huge numbers in a bend-but-don’t-break sort of way for the Kansas State defense. 

Why Kansas State Might Win: UTEP threw without a problem against Kansas State, and it ran at will against the Red Raiders. So did Arkansas. Kansas State doesn’t have the Arkansas ground attack, and Tech did a great job of keeping the speedy Oklahoma State backs from breaking out, but the ability pound away and grind out the clock should be a really big deal. Time of possession is the biggest key in the contrast of styles, with Texas Tech holding on to the ball for 24:39 a game and Kansas State keeping it over 31 minutes. In this game, that matters.

Who To Watch Out For: Texas Tech linebackers, get ready to ball. Sam Eguavoen and Pete Robertson are tied for the team lead with 29 tackles each, and Robertson is the only one who’s generating any pressure with three sacks including two against Oklahoma State last week. They’re both active and they’re steady, but against the Kansas State ground game they need to keep the big plays to a minimum and combine for at least 20 stops. 

What’s Going To Happen: The pounder will overcome the pretty. It happened when Arkansas took out the Red Raiders, and Kansas State will shorten the game with is ball control attack on the way to a typical Kansas State win. 

Prediction: Kansas State 40 … Texas Tech 27 
Line: Kansas State -14 o/u: 68 
Must Watch Factor: 5: Gone Girl – 1: Mulaney … 3