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No. 20 Arizona Heads To Manhattan For A Big 12 Battle With The Kansas State Wildcats

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Football

The No. 20 Arizona Wildcats face their biggest test of the young 2024 season this Friday in Manhattan, Kansas as they take on the No. 14 Kansas State Wildcats at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. MST.

The Friday night primetime matchup will be nationally televised on Fox with Tim Brando (Play-by-Play), Devin Gardner (Analyst), and Josh Sims (Sideline) on the call.

The ranked matchup features a pair of unbeaten 2-0 teams squaring off for the first time since 1978. Arizona currently rides the longest active win streak in the nation and looks to extend it to double digits in Manhattan.

Arizona and Kansas State, newly conference foes in the Big 12, will play each other without conference title race implications on the line, as Friday night's matchup goes down as a non-conference tilt.

For more information on Friday night's game, continue reading below.

Arizona Notes and Numbers

  • The No. 20 Arizona Wildcats travel to No. 14 Kansas State for their first road game of the 2024 season at Bill Snyer Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. FOX will have the broadcast with Tim Brando (Play-by-play), Devin Gardner (Analyst), and Josh Sims (Sideline) on the call.
  • Arizona owns a 5-1-1 record all-time against Kansas State with the most recent matchup taking place on Sept. 9, 1978, a 31-0 win for Arizona in Tucson. Arizona has scored an average of 27.0 points per game against Kansas State. The largest margin of victory for Arizona in the series history was the most recent victory in 1978 (31-0).
  • These two teams have split the last two matchups with Kansas State taking the 1969 meeting 42-27 and Arizona earning a 31-0 shutout win in 1978. The longest winning streak in the series goes to Arizona, a two-game streak from 1960 to 1962.
  • This is the first trip to Manhattan in Arizona football program history. Friday's matchup is a nonconference game and will not count against Big 12 standings as Top-20 opponent’s clash. 
  • Arizona has won nine straight games dating back to October of 2023, the longest active win streak in the FBS following Michigan’s loss last Saturday. The streak matches Arizona’s record last set from 1997-98. Arizona is averaging 39.3 points per game over this win streak (fifth most in the FBS over this span).
  • In the season-opening win over New Mexico (8/31), wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan became the first player in FBS history to have a game with 10-plus receptions, 300-plus receiving yards, 30.0-plus yards per reception, and 4-plus receiving TD (per OptaSTATS).
  • The Big 12 Conference posted a record of 9-5 against other conferences in week two to give the league a combined non-conference record of 25-7 through the first two weeks of the season. 

CATS VS. CATS: The No. 20 Arizona Wildcats travel to No. 14 Kansas State Wildcats for their first road game of the 2024 season at Bill Snyer Family Stadium in Manhattan, KS. FOX will have the broadcast with Tim Brando (Play-by-play), Devin Gardner (Analyst), and Josh Sims (Sideline) providing the commentary. It is the first trip to Manhattan in program history. This game is a nonconference game and will not count against Big 12 standings. Arizona owns a 5-1-1 record all-time against Kansas State with the most recent matchup taking place on Sept. 9, 1978, a 31-0 win for Arizona in Tucson. Arizona has scored an average of 27.0 points per game against Kansas State. The largest margin of victory for Arizona in the series history was the most recent victory in 1978 (31-0).  These two teams have split the last two matchups with Kansas State taking the 1969 meeting 42-27 and the Big 12 foes renew their series history that hasn’t been played in 46 years. The longest winning streak in the series goes to Arizona, a two-game streak from 1960 to 1962. The Cats tied 26-26 in 1953, marking the only tie in series history.

ABOUT LAST WEEK: Arizona improved to 2-0 on the season with a 22-10 comeback win over Northern Arizona.  Quali Conley ran for 112 yards, Noah Fifita threw for 173 yards and a touchdown and No. 20 Arizona overcame a four-point halftime deficit to beat Northern Arizona 22-10 on Saturday night for its ninth consecutive win, tying the school record for consecutive victories. The Wildcats (2-0) extended the longest active win streak in FBS by outscoring the Lumberjacks 16-0 in the second half after trailing 10-6 at the break. The nine straight wins matches the school record set in 1974-75 and matched in 1997-98. Conley, a transfer from San Jose State, led the way as Arizona gained 188 yards on the ground. Receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who had a school-record 304 yards and four TDs in the 61-39 season-opening win over New Mexico, was limited to two catches for 11 yards. Northern Arizona (1-1) finished with only 198 yards of total offense, 91 after halftime. Quarterback Ty Pennington threw for 84 yards on 14 of 24 passing and added 39 on the ground. Arizona forced a turnover on downs in Northern Arizona territory to open the second half and converted that into points as Jeremiah Patterson scored on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Fifita for a 13-10 lead with 12:06 left in the third. The Wildcats' Chubba Ma'ae tackled running back Darvon Hubbard in the end zone for a safety with 11:33 left in the fourth, upping the lead to 15-10. And after getting the ball back, Arizona made it 22-10 on a 56-yard scoring run by Kedrick Reescano with 9:32 remaining. Arizona only led 3-0 after the first quarter after settling for a red zone field goal on its first drive and punting the next two. Northern Arizona took a 7-3 lead with 10:24 left in the half on a trick play, with receiver Isaiah Eastman throwing a 25-yard TD pass to tight end Xander Werner. A Fifita interception led to more points for the Lumberjacks, with Marcus Lye converting on a 38-yard field goal to make it 10-3 with 6:20 left in the first half. The Wildcats cut Northern Arizona's lead to 10-6 with 32 seconds left in the first half on a 48-yard field goal from Tyler Loop. Arizona has won 12 of their last 13 games against Northern Arizona since 2000 – with the Lumberjacks’ one win coming in 2021 (21-19 win). Arizona is averaging 41.2 points per game against Northern Arizona over their last five matchups.

GOING STREAKING: Arizona has won nine straight games dating back to October of 2023, the longest active win streak in the FBS following Michigan’s loss this morning. The streak matches Arizona’s program record, achieved twice and last set across the 1997 and 1998 seasons.

MATCHUP HISTORY: Arizona owns a 5-1-1 record all-time against Kansas State with the most recent matchup taking place on Sept. 9, 1978, a 31-0 win for Arizona in Tucson. Arizona has scored an average of 27.0 points per game against Kansas State. The largest margin of victory for Arizona in the series history was the most recent victory in 1978 (31-0).  These two teams have split the last two matchups with Kansas State taking the 1969 meeting 42-27 and the Big 12 foes renew their series history that hasn’t been played in 46 years. The longest winning streak in the series goes to Arizona, a two-game streak from 1960 to 1962. The Cats tied 26-26 in 1953, marking the only tie in series history.