Kansas State (4-2, 1-2 Big 12) at Arizona State (3-3). Saturday, Oct. 24, 3:45 p.m. ET (12:45 p.m. in Arizona), Mountain America Stadium, Tempe, ESPN2.
Your hosts are Hattie Brandvold, a Kansas State fan with an agronomy degree who names every drive after a crop, and Skylar Vanterpool, an Arizona State fan whose motto is "Hydrate and Dominate."
Hattie: I'll bring the shade hat and the water jug, darlin'. Hydrate all you like. You still can't rush a harvest.
Skylar: Bring sunscreen, Hattie. It's a Blackout, and the desert doesn't do sweater weather.
Players to watch
K-State quarterback Avery Johnson leads the team with 1,301 passing yards and 462 rushing yards. Against Kansas he became the school's all-time leader in combined passing and rushing yards. Running back Joe Jackson ran for a season-high 159 yards and a touchdown against the Jayhawks. Jaron Tibbs leads the receivers with 268 yards. Kicker Luis Rodriguez made four field goals last week, including a 51-yarder.
Arizona State has two quarterbacks to think about. Cutter Boley started last week, and backup Mikey Keene threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns in the second half. Receiver Reed Harris is the deep threat Skylar watches first.
Skylar: Harris catches deep balls like I catch rays. Effortlessly.
What happened last week
K-State trailed Kansas 17-7 in the first quarter, then won 35-24. The Wildcats piled up 568 yards, 359 of them on the ground. Logan Bartley made an end-zone interception. The win extended K-State's run over Kansas to 18 straight.
Arizona State lost 53-25 at Texas Tech. Kenny Dillingham replaced Boley with Keene at halftime. Texas Tech gained 7.8 yards a play, and ASU allowed a season-high six sacks.
Hattie: Three hundred fifty-nine rushing yards. That's a bumper crop.
Injuries and availability
The official Big 12 availability report for this game hasn't been published yet. Johnson went down after a 59-yard run against Kansas and pointed to his right shoulder, but he returned, and he said afterward he had just had the wind knocked out of him. Dillingham hasn't named a starting quarterback for this game.
What the coaches are up to
Collin Klein is in his first season as K-State's 36th head coach. He was a 2012 Heisman Trophy finalist and Johnny Unitas Award winner as the Wildcats' quarterback. He's the first K-State alum to lead the program since Ellis Rainsberger in 1975-77.
Dillingham became ASU's 26th head coach on Nov. 27, 2022, and won the Big 12 title in 2024. This week brings his quarterback decision.
Player storylines
K-State's running game meets an ASU defense allowing 4.80 yards a carry and 32.0 points a game. ASU throws for 276.7 yards a game, but its blockers have allowed 15 sacks. K-State has 13 sacks of its own. The Big 12's top two teams meet in the championship game, so a 1-2 league start means every week matters for K-State.
What's happening on campus
This is ASU's Blackout game, so wear black. Homecoming comes later, on Nov. 21 against Oklahoma State. K-State hasn't played in Tempe since the 1989 season opener. Its last game in this stadium was a 31-14 bowl win over Michigan in 2013.
Anything else fun and true
Arizona State leads the series 6-1 and won the last meeting 24-14 in Manhattan in 2024. K-State's only win came 34-27 on Dec. 27, 2002. One famous Sun Devil day came in Pasadena, when ASU beat Michigan 22-15 in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1987.
Skylar: Six and one, Hattie. Hydrate and dominate.
Hattie: Farmers are patient, sugar. One year we'll get two. Plant in the spring, harvest in the fall, and Saturday's forecast says sunny with a chance of Avery Johnson.
The Cover Window
My call: Kansas State Wildcats 32, Arizona State Sun Devils 27.