The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Kansas State
No. 18/22 Football preview: at Kansas State [Sept. 29, 2018]
09.24.2018 | Football
The Longhorns travel to Manhattan to take on the Wildcats Saturday afternoon.
No. 18/22 Texas (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) at Kansas State (2-2, 0-1 Big 12)
September 29, 2018
Where: Manhattan, Kansas
Stadium: Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium
Time: 2:30 p.m. CT
TV: FS1 (Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman, Holly Sonders)
Radio: Longhorn IMG Radio Network (Craig Way, Roger Wallace, Quan Cosby)
Spanish Radio: Longhorn IMG Radio Network (Dr. Rubén Pizarro-Silva, Jesus Mendoza)
Live stats: hookem.at/FootballLiveStats
All-time series: K-State leads 10-8
COMPLETE GAME NOTES
The Opening Kickoff
• The University of Texas heads on the road for the first time since the season opener for a showdown in Manhattan with the Kansas State University Wildcats on Saturday.
• The game will kickoff at 2:30 CT inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium and will be televised on FS1. Tim Brando (play-by-play), Spencer Tillman (analyst) and Holly Sonders (sideline) will have the call.
• The University of Texas will pay tribute to Julius Whittier this weekend in Manhattan. The Longhorn Football program lost one of its historical figures, trailblazers, and true Longhorns Legend with the passing of Whittier on Tuesday morning. A San Antonio native and 1969 Highland High School graduate, Whittier was the Longhorns' first African-American athlete to letter in football and among the first African-Americans to receive a football scholarship when he came to UT in 1969. A three-year letterman and member of three straight Southwest Conference Championship teams (1970-72), Whittier played offensive tackle for the National Champion Longhorns in 1970 and 1971 before moving to tight end for his senior season in 1972. Following an undergraduate degree in philosophy, Whittier went on to earn a graduate degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs in 1976, and later completed his law degree at Texas. For much of his career, he worked as a senior prosecutor in the Dallas County District Attorney's office before retiring in 2012. He earned a spot in the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 2013 and, this past August, was inducted into the San Antonio Independent School District Hall of Fame.
• The Longhorn IMG Radio Network broadcast with Craig Way (play-by-play), Roger Wallace (analyst) and Quan Cosby (sideline) can be heard on Sirius channel 135, XM channel 210 and app channel 971 in addition to the local affiliates listed on page two.
• The Longhorns' Spanish language radio broadcast, Cadena Deportiva, can be heard in Austin and Dallas, or online at TexasSports.com. Dr. Rubén Pizarro-Silva (play-by-play) and Jesus Mendoza (analyst) are on the call.
• Longhorn Network's broadcast begins at 12:30 with Texas GameDay. The two-hour pregame show will feature interviews, stories and analysis surrounding Saturday's game. After the game, LHN broadcasts Texas GameDay Final, with postgame interviews, analysis and highlights.
• The Longhorns enter the game at 3-1 overall, coming off a 31-16 win to open Big 12 Conference play against TCU. UT has won three straight for the first time since 2014 and defeated the Horned Frogs for the first time since 2013. It is the first time since 2012 that UT is 3-1 to begin a season.
• The Wildcats come in with a 2-2 overall record. They are 0-1 in the Big 12 Conference after a 35-6 setback at West Virginia on Saturday. KSU's other loss came at home to Mississippi State.
• Saturday's win over TCU marks the first time since the 2008 season that UT has defeated ranked foes in back-to-back games. The Longhorns beat No. 22 USC the week prior.
• Texas is one of just three programs in FBS history with 900 victories. The Longhorns own an all-time record of 901-367-33 (.705).
• UT improved to 18-5 (.783) all-time in Big 12 opening games with its win over TCU. The Longhorns are 17-5 (.773) all-time in Big 12 road openers. The Longhorns won at Iowa State last season to open Big 12 play on the road.
The All-time Series
• Texas and Kansas State meet for the 19th time on Saturday afternoon in Manhattan. K-State holds a 10-8 edge in the all-time series.
• The Longhorns defeated the Wildcats 40-34 in double overtime last season in Austin.
• KSU owns an all-time edge of 7-1 against UT in games played in Manhattan, including five consecutive wins at home over the Longhorns. UT has not won on the road against K-State since 2002.
Three Straight
• Texas has won three consecutive ballgames for the first time in the same season since 2014. UT won its final game of 2015 and the first two of 2016, also.
• The Longhorns are looking for their first winning streak longer than three games since the 2013 season when Mack Brown and UT won six consecutive games after starting the year 1-2.
Ranked Foes
• UT has defeated Top 25 opponents in consecutive weeks for the first time since the 2008 season. The Longhorns defeated No. 22/21 USC 37-14 last week before beating No. 17/17 TCU 31-16 on Saturday.
• In that 2008 season, the Longhorns knocked off No. 1/1 Oklahoma, No. 11/12 Missouri and No. 7/8 Oklahoma State in three straight weeks.
Learning To Finish
• Over the last two weeks, Texas has outscored its opponents 42-3 after halftime. During the first two weeks, UT was outscored 31-14 after halftime.
• In fact, the Longhorns have outscored opponents 58-10 after the first quarter over the last two weeks.
Ehlinger By The Numbers
• True sophomore Sam Ehlinger passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another for the third straight week on Saturday against TCU.
• Ehlinger is the first Longhorn QB since Colt McCoy in 2008 to have at least two TD passes and one rushing TD in three consecutive games.
• He has passed for more than 200 yards in four-straight games to begin the season, becoming the first Longhorn QB since McCoy in 2009 to do so. McCoy (2007, '09), Major Applewhite (1999) and Peter Gardere (1992) are the only other Longhorn QBs to do so in school history.
• Ehlinger is the first Longhorn QB ever to pass for at least 200 yards and two touchdowns in each of the season's first four games.
• He has now passed for 2,893 yards in his career and surpassed his Westlake High School head coach, Todd Dodge (2,791 from 1982-85) for 15th on UT's all-time career passing yards list.
• With 107 more passing yards, Ehlinger would become the 15th player in school history to eclipse 3,000 career passing yards.
Sterns Starting Strong
• True freshman safety Caden Sterns had two interceptions Saturday against TCU and now has three on the season in just four games.
• He is the first true freshman at UT with two interceptions in a game since DeShon Elliott in 2015 and just the third ever.
• His three interceptions are tied for third-most among true freshmen in school history with Kyle Richardson (1994). Both Quandre Diggs (2011) and Chris Carter (1993) had four as true freshmen.
• Furthermore, Sterns' three interceptions are currently tied for second-most in the country. Just Syracuse's true freshman Andre Cisco has more interceptions (four) than Sterns.
• Sterns has started each of the first four games of his career at safety. He was the first Longhorn defensive back to start a game as a true freshman since the 2016 season when Brandon Jones got the start at safety at Oklahoma State.
• He's the first true freshman defensive back at Texas to start multiple games in a season since 2015 when Holton Hill started the final eight and Davante Davis the final five.
• Sterns is the first true freshman defensive back to start each of the first three games of his career since Blake Gideon started all 13 at safety in 2008.
Two-Headed Monster
• Junior wide receivers Lil'Jordan Humphrey and Collin Johnson have provided QB Sam Ehlinger with two dangerous targets so far this season.
• Humphrey leads the team with 21 catches for 352 yards and three TDs, while Johnson is close behind with 20 receptions for 299 yards and two scores.
• Fifty FBS teams have at least one receiver with 20-plus catches so far this season, but Texas is one of just eight to have two receivers with 20-or-more catches.
• The eight schools are TEXAS, Bowling Green, Colorado State, Hawaii, Minnesota, Southern California, Texas Tech and Washington State.
