Wildcats host Montana State, hoping to go to 2-0

    With only the slightest effort, Rob Ash demonstrated to his staff and players that they’re stepping up in class by going from Adams State to Kansas State.
    “We turned off the projector of our game with Adams State and turned on the projector with Kansas State against North Texas State and it jumps off the tape at you,” said the Montana State coach. “It’s a whole different deal.”
    And so it promises to be when Ash’s Bobcats play the Wildcats on Saturday night in Manhattan.
    The Bobcats opened their season with a 59-3 trampling of Division II Adams State, rolling up 422 yards of total offense, including 278 on the ground. What they watched on the tape was Kansas State’s opening with a 45-6 whipping of North Texas. The Wildcats had 471 yards of total offense while Josh Freeman threw for three touchdowns and was named co-winner of the Big 12 offensive player of the week award.
    The Montana State players, in the NCAA’s Championship Subdivision, a notch below Kansas State’s Bowl Subdivision, had the same reaction as Ash’s staff when the lights went out and the projector flicked on.
    “They start watching the tape and they can see the caliber of the athletes. They can see the size, the strength, the schemes, the good coaching,” Ash said. “It doesn’t take but just a couple of minutes of watching that tape to get everyone’s attention, staff and players both.”
    The Bobcats of the Big Sky Conference held Adams State to only five first downs and 112 yards of total offense.
    But their biggest hurdle in Manhattan on Saturday night figures to be Freeman.
    After saying before the season he thought he was the best quarterback in the Big 12, the 6-foot-5 junior acts as though he’s bent on proving it.
    Against North Texas he was 18-for-24 and threw to nine different receivers.
    Brandon Banks had three catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns while Freeman became the first Kansas State quarterback since 1997 to account for five TDs. His quarterback rating was 197.5.
    “He’s an incredible player,” said Ash. “He’s a huge person. He’s a very, very skilled and talented athlete. He can run. He throws. He’s very poised. We had some video from last year and I see tremendous improvement from last year. His technique has gotten better. He’s just more polished, more poised.”