As we will try to do with the other SB Nation blogs of opponents we face this year, we exchanged questions with Bring On The Cats, the Kansas St Wildcats blog here on SB Nation. Thanks to TB for answering our questions.

1. Who will be your starting QB on Saturday? Should we expect to see Gregory start, as he has against Iowa State and Texas Tech, or do you think Coffman will get the nod?

Your guess is as good as mine.  As usual, Bill Snyder is playing it close to the vest.  It will probably depend on who has a better week of practice, and with K-State practices closed to the public as per the usual routine, we won't know unless word leaks.  My gut tells me Carson Coffman will start, but that's nothing more than a hunch based on the fact that he replaced Grant Gregory last week and didn't fall flat on his face.

2. Is there a hotshot QB recruit headed to Manhattan who will take over next year? I realize the desire to win now, but I'm kind of surprised that Snyder isn't building for the future by going with Coffman.

There are several targets.  Every K-State fan has junior college prospect Cam Newton on the top of their wish list for next season.  Ordinarily I would agree that it doesn't make sense to play a sixth-year senior (Gregory) when you have a guy in Coffman who will be around a few more years.  However, I don't think Coffman is our long-term answer, either, so we need to hope to land a good recruit.  We thought we were in good shape when Wichita native Chris Harper transferred back, but the rumor now is that he will be moved to wide receiver rather than playing quarterback.

3. Brandon Banks and Daniel Thomas seem to be your biggest gamebreakers on offense. Is there someone else on offense we should watch out for?

I hope to see our 4-2-5 back on the field.  For some unknown reason, we basically switched to a 3-4 attack last week against Tech, with predictably disastrous results.  Vic Koenning and Chris Cosh switched the defensive alignment to the 4-2-5 this season specifically to counter spread offenses.  I'm not sure why they went away from it against Tech, but I would expect to see it back the rest of the year after the debacle in Lubbock.

5. Jeff Fitzgerald looks like your best pass rusher, and with our issues at LT, looks like we should be concerned about him. Who else should we watch for on your defense?

If he's healthy, Brandon Harold at defensive end.  He saw his first action of the season last week against Tech, although his time was limited and he may have reinjured himself.  If both Fitzgerald and Harold are playing, I have some confidence that we can take advantage of Texas A&M's biggest weakness, which is obviously offensive line play.  It's really our only hope at winning this game.

6. Whenever Snyder decides to retire again, can you see him taking a job as athletic director, ala Tom Osborne at Nebraska? It would seem to be a good move to regain the trust in your athletic department lost in the Ron Prince secret agreement snafu.

I don't really see that happening.  The new athletic director, John Currie, has been a resounding success thus far with the K-State faithful.  We will probably see Snyder stick around Manhattan like he did last time in somewhat of an advisory role, but unless things go south with Currie, I doubt we'll see Snyder as A.D.

7. Long term, what is your projection for a rebuilding schedule for your program? Winning season and bowl next year? Compete for the North division title in '11?

If we thought this year was tough, we could be in for a real wakeup call next year.  At the end of this season, we lose 30+ players thanks to the great Ron Prince juco experiment two years ago.  It's going to take a big recruiting class this year to make progress toward healing that wound.  Plus, if we don't land a big-time quarterback prospect, we're not going to be in any better shape on offense than we are this year.

Farther down the road, I can see things starting to look up in 2011 or 2012, if this coaching staff stays intact and makes the incremental improvements that have been Snyder's hallmark over the years.  Of course, that all assumes that Snyder sticks around for three, four, or five years, which isn't a given.

It's hard to say.  If our defense recovers from last week's faceplant against Tech, and our defensive line can get pressure on Jerrod Johnson, I could see us hanging in there and winning a 24-21 type of game.  Of course, if none of that happens and Texas A&M goes up two scores in the first quarter, it could be ugly like last week.  I'm not too optimistic about this one.

 

Aggies 35, Wildcats 21

Go look at Bring On The Cats to see my answers to their questions about Texas A&M.