GAMEDAY: Kansas State
Texas Longhorns 3-3 (1-2) at Kansas State Wildcats 3-3 (1-2)
Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium
Capacity: 50,000
Manhattan, Kansas
Saturday, October 22nd 2016
11:00am Central kickoff
Television: ESPN2
Beth Mowins (PXP)
Anthony Becht (Color)
Rocky Balman (Sideline)
Local Radio: 104.9FM The Horn
National Radio: Sirius 119, XM 200 or online channel 954.
Craig Way (PXP)
Roger Wallace (Color)
Quan Cosby (Sideline)
Vegas
Line: Texas -1.5
Open: Texas +3.5
Over/Under: 54
Sharp Money: Impossible to tell with complete certainty, but it appears to be strongly on Texas. 65% of public bets are for Texas per the Spread.com, but that has been the approximate case all week. At some point Friday, there was cause for a large line shift from the Texas +2-range all the way to Texas being a 1.5-point favorite. The line shift happened to correspond with the percentage of public bets, but was clearly not caused by it.
Texas storylines
- Can this Horns team take out the purple wizard? Everyone knows that Manhattan, Kansas is the Horns’ Twilight Zone, presided over by the most pesky and dangerous of nuisances in Bill Snyder. Texas has not won in Manhattan since 2002 and is 1-6 all-time away versus the Wildcats. A win at KSU, however, would put Texas in the all-time lead versus the Wildcats at 9-8 historically. (It’s a little hard to believe these two programs have only played 17 times in their histories).
- D’Onta Foreman is rolling along to national notoriety — can he keep it up versus a physical, kick-your-ass-with-JUCO-leftovers defensive front? Foreman has nine 100-yard games in has last 11 and one in each of his last seven to lead the nation. He’s scored in all five 2016 games he’s started, including three multi-TD affairs.
- Will there be any changes of personnel on the offensive line? We reported on Tuesday that RT Brandon Hodges was back at practice after suffering an injury versus Oklahoma and missing the Iowa State contest. Previously pencilled-in ‘starter’ Tristan Nickelson, who is now healthy, started in Hodges’ place versus ISU. Both players took reps with the first unit during the practice week, but it’s anyone’s guess as to who actually gets the start at this time. Another thing to monitor will be if senior RG Kent Perkins gives up any playing time to backup Alex Anderson. Perkins has been beyond disappointing in his senior season.
- Will we get to witness Zach Shackelford revenge? The sweet smell of Zach Shackelford revenge? The Texas freshman center was originally committed to KSU before flipping to Texas at the last second. From all we’ve heard, he missed practices this week and seems like a longshot to go. Shack missing time would mean Jake McMillon would continue to fill in, as he’s done very well so far — in fact, performing better than Shackelford in every measurable way per the Deep Dig on Orangebloods.
- Can John Burt work his way back onto the football field this week or is he in the long-term doghouse? Junior WR Dorian Leonard has stepped up and taken a job away from Burt, who has regressed badly coming into his sophomore season. Burt, last season’s leading snap-participant on offense, didn’t play a single one versus the Cyclones last week. It’s hard to put a finger on what it is that happened with Burt exactly, but he hasn’t been right. There have been rumors of a hand injury here or a little thing there, but these are cockamamie excuses and I don’t trust a word OC Sterlin Gilbert says about any player injury publicly. Burt has been healthy and awful.
- Could things be lining up for the Jeffery McCulloch breakout? One thing we know for certain after seeing two years of this matchup under Charlie Strong is that he’s not going to attack KSU with any nickel or dime packages outside of pure, obvious, down-and-distance plays. 3rd and 18, you might see PJ Locke run out there. Otherwise, there will be an extra linebacker/box-overhang-player in the game. It will be Breckyn Hager who’s deployed in this role most, but we’ve seen that even early in games, the staff looks to get McCulloch involved in this sort of role, and his snap counts have been ticking up with each game. With so many flashes of big play ability, additional volume for McCulloch could lead to more big plays like we started to see against ISU.
Local Flair: What the hell is there to do in the Little Apple?
Besides cooking up meth and shooting your cousin
1) There is a crappy looking zoo.
- The advertisements show either a leopard or a spray-painted bobcat.
2) The first thing that pops up on TripAdvisor is “Room Escape Games.”
- These are strategy games where a group of people gets locked in a room and they all have to work together to become freed. My question is, why pay for this? You’re in Manhattan, Kansas. You’re already basically locked in a creepy box and should be working with people around you to think of creative ways to get the hell out ASAP.
3) There is a brewpub called Tallgrass Taphouse, ranked as the No. 11 “thing to do” in Manhattan by TripAdvisor.
- That page generates such glowing reviews as … “I ate here with my two kids and wife. I ordered a flight of 4 beers. The beers were pretty typical. The Buffalo Sweat beer was the only beer that stands out. The Buffalo Wings were good, but small. The drinks weren't priced on the menu and probably for a reason. The 4 beer flight was very expensive (I think $11) and my wife's drink wasn't much better. I will say that our server was excellent,” and “meh, gorgeous tap room, but below average beer that leans heavily toward over-hopped varieties, with practically no other decent offerings.”
4) Ghost Adventures.
- Per Mysterious Heartland, Kansas State is haunted AF. “The Purple Masque Theater is believed to be haunted by the ghost of a Wildcat football player named Nick who was fatally injured during a game. According to Tom Ogden, author of Haunted Colleges and Universities, his footsteps have been heard throughout the theater, and he is known to cause all kinds of mischief, including rearranging chairs, playing loud music at night, setting off fire extinguishers, and spilling paint. There are two haunted fraternity houses on campus, the Pi Kappa Phi and Delta Sigma Phi houses. At Pi Kappa Phi, the angry spirit of a pledge named Duncan expresses his displeasure over removal of a paddle leftover from the days the house was used by Theta Xi. Delta Sigma Phi occupies a former hospital, and its ghosts are leftover from those days. One, a nurse, continues her rounds in the afterlife. The other, George, was the last patient to die at the hospital, and he makes himself known by rearranging furniture and generally making a nuisance of himself.”
Or how about this charming little spot, just blocks from the stadium!
The Wolf House Museum, per HauntedPlaces.com “Apparitions of men with canes in top hats have been reported here, as well as phantom conversations and dishes being violently thrown against the wall. Legend has it that the museum building was once a brothel, and one of its workers was murdered there… and fast-forward to several years later: The home belonged to the town doctor who committed suicide in the building. The site has been used for a Boy Scouts of America haunted house event.”
Anyone wanna get the hell out of Manhattan yet?
Well, not so fast.
There’s a beady-eyed, chapped-lipped, half-skeleton-half-grandpa who’s been waiting to give the Texas Longhorns the usual atomic wedgie they willingly accept in Manhattan, Kansas, time after time.
This backwards little town with a history of boredom and misery so well-chronicled that even its ghosts are still throwing pots and pans and calling one another names centuries later. This flyover city in a wind-whipped, tumbleweed pile of our country that has not one thing to hang its hat on other than the fact it is in this pitiful, soon-to-be-dead football conference with the Longhorns and this chant:
WE OWN TEXAS (Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap).
Oh boy, and do these idiots ever love that chant. And they love it because it has been true. So, this is the time to change that. Now is the moment to put a second-rate institution in its place and show it what “owning” someone really looks like. This means taking over the lead in the historical series record and getting the Manhattan monkey off of Texas’ back for now, and hopefully for good.
THIS. IS. GAME. DAY.
Texas Longhorns 3-3 (1-2) at Kansas State Wildcats 3-3 (1-2)
Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium
Capacity: 50,000
Manhattan, Kansas
Saturday, October 22nd 2016
11:00am Central kickoff
Television: ESPN2
Beth Mowins (PXP)
Anthony Becht (Color)
Rocky Balman (Sideline)
Local Radio: 104.9FM The Horn
National Radio: Sirius 119, XM 200 or online channel 954.
Craig Way (PXP)
Roger Wallace (Color)
Quan Cosby (Sideline)
Vegas
Line: Texas -1.5
Open: Texas +3.5
Over/Under: 54
Sharp Money: Impossible to tell with complete certainty, but it appears to be strongly on Texas. 65% of public bets are for Texas per the Spread.com, but that has been the approximate case all week. At some point Friday, there was cause for a large line shift from the Texas +2-range all the way to Texas being a 1.5-point favorite. The line shift happened to correspond with the percentage of public bets, but was clearly not caused by it.
Texas storylines
- Can this Horns team take out the purple wizard? Everyone knows that Manhattan, Kansas is the Horns’ Twilight Zone, presided over by the most pesky and dangerous of nuisances in Bill Snyder. Texas has not won in Manhattan since 2002 and is 1-6 all-time away versus the Wildcats. A win at KSU, however, would put Texas in the all-time lead versus the Wildcats at 9-8 historically. (It’s a little hard to believe these two programs have only played 17 times in their histories).
- D’Onta Foreman is rolling along to national notoriety — can he keep it up versus a physical, kick-your-ass-with-JUCO-leftovers defensive front? Foreman has nine 100-yard games in has last 11 and one in each of his last seven to lead the nation. He’s scored in all five 2016 games he’s started, including three multi-TD affairs.
- Will there be any changes of personnel on the offensive line? We reported on Tuesday that RT Brandon Hodges was back at practice after suffering an injury versus Oklahoma and missing the Iowa State contest. Previously pencilled-in ‘starter’ Tristan Nickelson, who is now healthy, started in Hodges’ place versus ISU. Both players took reps with the first unit during the practice week, but it’s anyone’s guess as to who actually gets the start at this time. Another thing to monitor will be if senior RG Kent Perkins gives up any playing time to backup Alex Anderson. Perkins has been beyond disappointing in his senior season.
- Will we get to witness Zach Shackelford revenge? The sweet smell of Zach Shackelford revenge? The Texas freshman center was originally committed to KSU before flipping to Texas at the last second. From all we’ve heard, he missed practices this week and seems like a longshot to go. Shack missing time would mean Jake McMillon would continue to fill in, as he’s done very well so far — in fact, performing better than Shackelford in every measurable way per the Deep Dig on Orangebloods.
- Can John Burt work his way back onto the football field this week or is he in the long-term doghouse? Junior WR Dorian Leonard has stepped up and taken a job away from Burt, who has regressed badly coming into his sophomore season. Burt, last season’s leading snap-participant on offense, didn’t play a single one versus the Cyclones last week. It’s hard to put a finger on what it is that happened with Burt exactly, but he hasn’t been right. There have been rumors of a hand injury here or a little thing there, but these are cockamamie excuses and I don’t trust a word OC Sterlin Gilbert says about any player injury publicly. Burt has been healthy and awful.
- Could things be lining up for the Jeffery McCulloch breakout? One thing we know for certain after seeing two years of this matchup under Charlie Strong is that he’s not going to attack KSU with any nickel or dime packages outside of pure, obvious, down-and-distance plays. 3rd and 18, you might see PJ Locke run out there. Otherwise, there will be an extra linebacker/box-overhang-player in the game. It will be Breckyn Hager who’s deployed in this role most, but we’ve seen that even early in games, the staff looks to get McCulloch involved in this sort of role, and his snap counts have been ticking up with each game. With so many flashes of big play ability, additional volume for McCulloch could lead to more big plays like we started to see against ISU.
Local Flair: What the hell is there to do in the Little Apple?
Besides cooking up meth and shooting your cousin
1) There is a crappy looking zoo.
- The advertisements show either a leopard or a spray-painted bobcat.
2) The first thing that pops up on TripAdvisor is “Room Escape Games.”
- These are strategy games where a group of people gets locked in a room and they all have to work together to become freed. My question is, why pay for this? You’re in Manhattan, Kansas. You’re already basically locked in a creepy box and should be working with people around you to think of creative ways to get the hell out ASAP.
3) There is a brewpub called Tallgrass Taphouse, ranked as the No. 11 “thing to do” in Manhattan by TripAdvisor.
- That page generates such glowing reviews as … “I ate here with my two kids and wife. I ordered a flight of 4 beers. The beers were pretty typical. The Buffalo Sweat beer was the only beer that stands out. The Buffalo Wings were good, but small. The drinks weren't priced on the menu and probably for a reason. The 4 beer flight was very expensive (I think $11) and my wife's drink wasn't much better. I will say that our server was excellent,” and “meh, gorgeous tap room, but below average beer that leans heavily toward over-hopped varieties, with practically no other decent offerings.”
4) Ghost Adventures.
- Per Mysterious Heartland, Kansas State is haunted AF. “The Purple Masque Theater is believed to be haunted by the ghost of a Wildcat football player named Nick who was fatally injured during a game. According to Tom Ogden, author of Haunted Colleges and Universities, his footsteps have been heard throughout the theater, and he is known to cause all kinds of mischief, including rearranging chairs, playing loud music at night, setting off fire extinguishers, and spilling paint. There are two haunted fraternity houses on campus, the Pi Kappa Phi and Delta Sigma Phi houses. At Pi Kappa Phi, the angry spirit of a pledge named Duncan expresses his displeasure over removal of a paddle leftover from the days the house was used by Theta Xi. Delta Sigma Phi occupies a former hospital, and its ghosts are leftover from those days. One, a nurse, continues her rounds in the afterlife. The other, George, was the last patient to die at the hospital, and he makes himself known by rearranging furniture and generally making a nuisance of himself.”
Or how about this charming little spot, just blocks from the stadium!
The Wolf House Museum, per HauntedPlaces.com “Apparitions of men with canes in top hats have been reported here, as well as phantom conversations and dishes being violently thrown against the wall. Legend has it that the museum building was once a brothel, and one of its workers was murdered there… and fast-forward to several years later: The home belonged to the town doctor who committed suicide in the building. The site has been used for a Boy Scouts of America haunted house event.”
Anyone wanna get the hell out of Manhattan yet?
Well, not so fast.
There’s a beady-eyed, chapped-lipped, half-skeleton-half-grandpa who’s been waiting to give the Texas Longhorns the usual atomic wedgie they willingly accept in Manhattan, Kansas, time after time.
This backwards little town with a history of boredom and misery so well-chronicled that even its ghosts are still throwing pots and pans and calling one another names centuries later. This flyover city in a wind-whipped, tumbleweed pile of our country that has not one thing to hang its hat on other than the fact it is in this pitiful, soon-to-be-dead football conference with the Longhorns and this chant:
WE OWN TEXAS (Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap).
Oh boy, and do these idiots ever love that chant. And they love it because it has been true. So, this is the time to change that. Now is the moment to put a second-rate institution in its place and show it what “owning” someone really looks like. This means taking over the lead in the historical series record and getting the Manhattan monkey off of Texas’ back for now, and hopefully for good.
THIS. IS. GAME. DAY.
