Kicking the Tires: Texas-El Paso

K-State has had nine days to recover from last Thursday's disappointing home loss to No. 5 Auburn. A fantastic defensive effort against one of the best offenses in the country went for naught in the face of three missed field goals and a hard-luck interception in the end zone.

Texas-El Paso arrives in Manhattan with a 2-1 record. The Miners are state champions of the state immediately to their west, having defeated New Mexico (31-24, in Albuquerque, N.M.) and New Mexico State (42-24, in El Paso). The Miners' sole loss on the year came to fellow West Texas inhabitants, the Big 12's own Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Tech required a late touchdown to defeat the Miners, and as you'll see below, there are some playmakers on this roster. Of course, the Miners are mostly unproven, having defeated two of the worst teams in the country (New Mexico is 105^th in F/+ 79^th in S&P+, while New Mexico is 126^th in F/+ and 124^th in S&P+).

Players to Watch

K-State

Passing: Jake Waters, 59-97-3, 707 yards, 7.3 yards/attempt, 2 TDs, 235.7 yards/game

Rushing: Charles Jones, 32 carries, 161 yards, 4.8 yards/carry, 5 TDs, 50.7 yards/game

Receiving: Tyler Lockett, 13 receptions, 190 yards, 14.6 yards/reception, 1 TD, 63.3 yards/game

Texas-El Paso

Passing: Jameill Showers, 33-63-1, 358 yards, 5.7 yards/attempt, 2 TDs, 119.3 yards/game

Rushing: Aaron Jones, 70 carries, 549 yards, 7.8 yards/carry, 7 TDs, 183.0 yards/game

Receiving: Jarrad Shaw, 10 receptions, 142 yards, 14.2 yards/reception, 1 TD, 47.3 yards/game

Aaron Jones is no joke toting the rock. The sophomore playing at his hometown school tallied 237 yards against New Mexico, 144 yards against Tech, and 168 yards against New Mexico State. And that's where UTEP does its damage, because the passing game, outside of some big-play ability shown by Jarrad Shaw, is pretty much non-existent.

K-State Advanced Stats

F/+: 29^th

S&P+: 37th

Offense

S&P+: 40^th

Offense Success Rate: 15th

IsoPPP: 88^th

Rushing: 21^st

Passing: 57^th

Standard Downs: 37^th

Passing Downs: 52^nd

Defense

S&P+: 42^nd

Defense Success Rate: 71^st

IsoPPP: 11^th

Rushing: 13^th

Passing: 87^th

Standard Downs: 27^th

Passing Downs: 59th

Texas El-Paso Advanced Stats

F/+: 95^th

S&P+: 99th

Offense

S&P+: 70th

Offense Success Rate: 14th

IsoPPP: 93rd

Rushing: 10th

Passing: 105th

Standard Downs: 15th

Passing Downs: 110th

Defense

S&P+: 113th

Defense Success Rate: 94th

IsoPPP: 114th

Rushing: 116th

Passing: 98th

Standard Downs: 127th

Passing Downs: 6th

The stats tell the story for K-State this year. Jake Waters and crew are above average at just about everything, very good at staying on schedule, but are generating next-to-nothing in the way of big plays. And you can't say it's because they've played a ton of great teams, because Iowa State is 105^th in defensive S&P+, while Auburn is 16^th.

Simply put, this offense has no big-play ability without Tyler Lockett taking the top off defenses. Lockett disappeared for a long stretch of the Iowa State game, and Auburn's physical corners and lack of respect for K-State's rushing game limited his production last Thursday.

That should change this week. Texas-El Paso is pretty bad at everything on defense, including defending the forward pass. Furthermore, K-State should be able to run to set up the pass, because UTEP is woeful at keeping opposing teams off schedule (94^th in defensive Success Rate), the second-worst team in the country on Standard Downs, and among the worst 15 teams in the country against the run. K-State's offense, one of the better units at staying on schedule this year, should find success against UTEP.

Texas-El Paso isn't an abomination on offense, and they're downright good at running the ball. But that matches up with K-State's strength, and if you can get the Miners off schedule, it's game over. They're one of the worst teams in the country on Passing Downs. While K-State isn't great on Passing Downs defensively, the Wildcats are above average.

Keep in mind also that UTEP scored only 26 points against Texas Tech (90^th defensive S&P+, and probably dropping after Thursday's 45-35 loss to Oklahoma State). The Miners gained 384 total yards against Texas Tech, with 268 rushing yards on 5.1 per carry and 116 passing yards on 4.5 per attempt.

Conclusion

Assuming K-State's players aren't still suffering a hangover from last Thursday, this one shouldn't be close. Texas-El Paso can run the ball, but can't do much else well. If K-State puts the Miners away early with a focused, workmanlike effort, Wildcat fans will feel a lot better about the rest of the year. I think it happens.

K-State 49, Texas-El Paso 17