It will be a battle of two unbeatens this Saturday in Manhattan, when Tulane (2-0) visits Kansas State (2-0) for a 2 p.m. CT, 3 p.m. ET kickoff inside of Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

The Green Wave and Wildcats have only met once before, with Tulane coming out on top in a 20-16 victory on September 17, 1988. Before you race to check the two-deep, I already did; no one from those teams 35 years ago are still on the rosters.

While both teams are undefeated, it's hard to ignore the fact that the Wildcats and Green Wave have faced ... "different levels" of competition so far this season. K-State is coming off of a dominating win over former conference foe Missouri. Meanwhile, Tulane trounced FCS Alcorn State. And while Tulane's other win was a 42-10 stomping of FBS Independent UMass, the reality is that Willie Fritz's team has done what's been asked of it so far - including shutting down opponents' trying to pass.

"We have a really good Tulane team coming in here, who is 2-0 and playing well," said K-State head coach Chris Klieman. "They have really good players and I think they have a really good quarterback. They can really run and have good athletes on both sides of the ball."

Through two games, Tulane has only allowed 66 total passing yards, with the Wave's opponents only managing to complete 36% of their pass attempts. What does that mean against Kansas State, a program whose water boy could have 100 rushing yards by the end of the season? (K-State gets most of its work done on the ground, if you didn't know.) It might not mean much.

The Wildcats are going to pound Tulane on the ground early, giving Collin Klein another week to mask Adrian Martinez's inabilities in the air. The Wave defense hasn't faced an offensive line or running back group like Kansas State has in 2022. If Tulane can create turnovers and get a lead early, it could cause Kansas State to pass more than it would like, creating more mistakes. But that's a big "if."

Let's take a quick look at the teams:

Tulane Green Wave (2-0) | American | Head Coach: Willie Fritz, 33-43 in Year 7
The Tulane offense is led by quarterback Michael Pratt, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior. Pratt has completed 29 of 41 passes for 482 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions for the Green Wave. He also has nine carries for 52 yards and one score on the ground. Pratt went 17 of 21 for a career-high 318 yards and three touchdowns against Alcorn State. He's used to scoring, having tossed a touchdown in 22 of his 23 career games.

Tulane is no stranger to the Big 12 either. Then-No. 2 Oklahoma had its hands full during a 40-35 win over the Green Wave in the season opener in 2021. Tulane's head coach has built a winning tradition in a short amount of time too. The first two wins of 2022 moved Willie Fritz to No. 5 on Tulane's list of "Most Head Coaching Wins" at 33. He needs just three more victories to tie both Bernie Bierman (1927-31) and Red Dawson (1936-1941).

The last time out, the Wave looked good on both sides of the ball. The Tulane offense put up 558 yards in the game, while the defense pitched the first shutout for the program since 1997 in allowing just 109 total yards. The Green Wave offense finished a yard short of eclipsing 400 yards through the air, while recording 159 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

Kansas State Wildcats (2-0) | Big 12 | Head Coach: Chris Klieman, 22-16 in Year 4
K-State has opened the season with 532 rushing yards, as the Wildcats rank seventh nationally through two weeks. The team started 2022 with 297 yards on the ground against South Dakota, which included Malik Knowles' 75-yard touchdown run on the first play of the season. The 297 yards on the ground were the most by a Wildcat team since recording 342 in the 2019 KU game, while it is the first time they had at least 230 rushing yards in consecutive games since the final two games of 2020. Knowles' score 10 seconds into the game was the fastest score in school history. It topped an 11-second score against Louisiana Tech in 1988.

Collin Klein is in his first season as K-State's offensive coordinator. Klein is one of just four Power 5 offensive coordinators to play quarterback at the school in which they work. The other three are Brandon Streeter (Clemson), Tommy Rees (Notre Dame) and Tavita Pritchard (Stanford).

Aside from possessing one of the top rushing offenses in the FBS, the Wildcats have recorded a special teams touchdown in each of their first two games for the first time since 1998. Phillip Brooks earned Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors after his 76-yard punt-return touchdown against the Tigers.

TV and Kickoff Information
Kansas State and Tulane will kickoff inside of Bill Snyder Family Stadium on ESPN+, home of the Big 12 Network at 2 p.m. CT, 3 p.m. ET.