No. 20 Arizona enters prove-it game as underdogs vs. No. 14 Kansas State

The Arizona Wildcats football team had not one but two tune-up games on the schedule, and that was still not enough time for it to find a rhythm before the competition levels up.

They are now out of time, traveling to face No. 14 Kansas State on Friday in a ranked matchup for No. 20 Arizona in the start of a two-game slate that will determine how the Wildcats’ season goes.

The Tucson squad will have a week off after the trip before challenging No. 12 Utah in Salt Lake City. If Arizona loses both games, the trendy College Football Playoff pick almost certainly is out of it already.

Split ’em and it’s still a possibility. Win ’em and it has defeated its two toughest on-paper conference foes this season with a clear path toward winning the Big 12.

It’s all on the line for Arizona vs. Kansas State

It is a strange coincidence of a meeting, as this was a nonconference series scheduled before Arizona’s move to the Big 12 and both schools had to settle on keeping the matchup after being unable to find suitable replacement games.

Arizona was favored by five touchdowns against both New Mexico and Northern Arizona before sleepwalking through both affairs. New Mexico was within three points at halftime before things got out of hand to a 61-39 final score. NAU actually led 10-6 at halftime in a 22-10 Arizona win it has its defense to thank for.

Outside of the generally sluggish execution, the biggest concern heading into facing Kansas State was receiver Tetairoa McMillan following up 10 catches for 304 yards and four touchdowns in the opener with two catches for 15 yards.

McMillan is the best wideout in the country and could very well go as far as proving himself as the best offensive player too, so any single-game performance like that is perplexing already — let alone after what he did to begin the year.

This would make sense if McMillan was new to the team or Arizona had a new quarterback. But as Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman put it, McMillan’s chemistry with Noah Fifita is as good as any QB-WR combination he’s ever seen.

Kansas State hasn’t been on point, either

Klieman’s team also had recent issues defending the pass, making this even more of an ultimate get-right game for McMillan.

Tulane mustered 342 yards through the air on just 19 completions against Kansas State in a game that went down to the wire last week. Kansas State outscored Tulane 24-7 in the second half to pull off a 34-27 victory.

The positive for Arizona’s offense last week was running back Quali Conley, who rushed for 17 carries and 112 yards versus NAU. The San Jose State transfer has been in a bit of a position battle with Jacory Croskey-Merritt, and Croskey-Merritt after 13 carries for 106 yards against New Mexico didn’t play due to eligibility concerns, concerns that still have his status as an unknown heading into Friday.

That puts an emphasis on the ground game. On the other side of the football, that’s where it lies for Kansas State. Running back DJ Giddens has 32 carries for 238 yards in two games, a yards per carry average of 7.4. His backup, Dylan Edwards, is at 10.8 on his nine carries for 97 yards.

As a whole, Kansas State’s 498 rushing yards far surpass its 347 passing at this point in the season.

Arizona junior linebacker Jacob Manu will have to be a focal point. He racked up a career-high 14 tackles against the Lumberjacks and takes on a good amount of the responsibility in meeting that duo in the gaps on Friday.

On the other side of the ball, KSU allowed Tulane’s top back, Makhi Hughes, to rush 21 times for 128 yards and a score last week.

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