Texas Tech Football Ready for Their Biggest Game of the Season at Kansas State

This week's Big 12 Game of the Week is the #15 (AP) Texas Tech Red Raiders match-up at #4 (AP) Kansas State. It will kickoff at 2:30p on Saturday and will be televised on FOX.

Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville says Kansas State will be a tough, physical opponent, "Kansas State is the best team we've played.  They're physical. They've got a great quarterback (Colin Klein), very good offensive line, physical, can run, can throw, most balanced team we'll see all year long, and a defense that's given us problems.  They don't do a whole lot, but what they do, they do well.  Very much a reminder of Iowa State and how they play."

The Red Raiders are tied for second place in the Big 12 Conference with a (6-1, 3-1) record. Tuberville said that practice before they played TCU wasn't great and they need to prepare better before Saturday's game at the Wildcats, "We've got to play our game.  We've got to get ready, play much better, prepare much better, focus, understand what we're getting ready to get into.  It will be a big‑time atmosphere, playing one of the top teams in the country."

Kansas State is in first place in the Big 12 Conference with a (7-0, 4-0) record and they are averaging 43 points per game. Meanwhile, K-State head coach Bill Snyder said his offense is playing okay, but they still have room to improve, "I think it is how their coaches prepare them. Schematically, what they put on the field, how the players execute, and we have, like defense, good young players. It is just a matter to do what you do as well as you can and do it the right way without the mental errors that take place from time to time. I thought our players responded well in this past ball game in that regard, but again, there is an awful lot of improvement that they need to make.”

Kansas State quarterback Colin Klein is confident his offense will be able to play well against Tech, "I think we are just at times able to execute with 11 guys on certain plays. I know every run play on paper, if you block it perfectly, it should have a chance to go the distance, and you would like to say that every pass play that you have, if you hit them on time in the open field, then you would like to be able to score. I think it just comes down to our coaches putting us in good position to succeed and players making plays when the time comes and doing that over a period of time.”

Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege also said that K-State's defense is disciplined, "But from last year, I know that they were so disciplined in what they did.  They play extremely hard, and they didn't give up a whole lot of big plays.  They kind of try to manipulate you into doing something you don't want to do, whether it would be like trying to make too much happen because you feel like maybe you're struggling when you're moving the ball, but you're not making big play after big plays.  They force you to make a mistake or turnover the ball, and I think that's what they thrive on doing."

The Fan's coverage of Texas Tech at Kansas State gets underway at 11:30a Saturday with Countdown to Kickoff. Then join Scott Fitzgerald and Allen Corbin at The Roof for FAN Feedback immediately after the game.