QB- Advantage Kansas State. While Stephen Morris passed for 38 more yards than Kansas State’s Collin Klein did last Saturday, Klein showed more consistency, completing 19 of 28 pass attempts at an average of 6 yards per completion, while Stephen Morris completed 28 of 45 pass attempts at an average of 4.6 yards per completion. In addition, Klein is older and has a full year under his belt as a Wildcats starting quarterback.
RB- Advantage Miami. True freshman Duke Johnson won ACC Rookie of the Week honors after a spectacular debut at Boston College, carrying the ball 7 times for 135 yards, and scoring two touchdowns along the way. Mike James also added 14 carries for 54 yards to contribute to the win. But defenses beware: Collin Klein is a jack of all trades, carrying the ball 13 times for 54 yards.
WR/TE- Advantage Miami. Kansas State’s junior wide receiver Tramaine Thompson had an impressive first game of the season, with 5 catches for 52 yards. The juggernaut ends there for the Wildcats, while Miami has two capable wide receivers in Allen Hurns and Malcolm Lewis. Allen Hurns recorded 8 catches for 81 yards, while Lewis recorded 4 catches for 42 yards, averaging out to 10.1 and 10.5 yards respectively.
OL- Advantage Kansas State. The success of the running game depends largely on the success of the offensive line, but while both teams had great running games last week, the line which allows its running back AND quarterback to carry the ball effectively wins the vote. Kansas State’s running back John Hubert carried the ball 12 times for 152 yards.
DL- Advantage Miami. The Boston College Eagles rushing attack was limited to only 2.8 yards a carry against Miami’s powerful defensive line, while Kansas State’s defensive line allowed 3.7 yards per carry for the Missouri State Bears.
Backfield- Advantage Kansas State. The Wildcats did not allow a single touchdown to Missouri State, winning 51-9, while Miami yielded 3 touchdowns, 2 of them coming on 15 and 19 yard passes from Eagles QB Chase Rettig. If you say, “Wait a second, Boston College is a little better than Missouri State”, consider that Missouri State’s top 3 wide outs received for 16.3, 16.0, and 13.7 yards each, and STILL didn’t get into the end-zone.
Special Teams- It’s a tie. In a head-to-head comparison of kick returns, punt returns, kicking and punting, Miami leads in 2 categories: kick returns and punting. The Hurricanes kick return team averaged 18.3 yards and punter Dalton Botts averaged 40.6 yards, compared to Kansas State’s 9.5 average kick return yards and punter Mark Krause’s 38.5 average yards. Kansas State’s punt return team averaged 44.3 yards to Miami’s 3, and kicker Anthony Cantele went 3 for 3; the long field goal being 25 yards to Jake Wieclaw’s 24 yarder.
Coaching- Advantage Kansas State. While Miami’s own Al Golden is still a young coach and could have many great years ahead of him, you can’t deny Bill Snyder, the 20-year coaching veteran at Kansas State, his due; especially playing in a stadium named after him.