Wherein we attempt to vicariously enjoy playoff football.
The all-time leader in touchdown passes for the Kansas State Wildcats attempts to move one step closer to winning a national championship. He’s not wearing the purple and white anymore, but that’s not important right now. What’s important is that a true Wildcats has the opportunity to beat Texas.
The Game
Will Howard (12-2, 7-2 Big 10) meets the Texas Longhorns (13-2, 6-2 SEC).
This will be the fifth time that Howard has seen the burnt orange villains. One one occasion, he saw no action; the other three games, all of which Howard started, resulted in Texas victories. Yet in each of those three games, the Longhorn margin of victory decreased. In 2020, Howard started in place of an injured Skylar Thompson in a brutal 69-31 loss during K-State’s COVID meltdown. He also started in place of Thompson in 2021, losing 22-17. After watching Adrian Martinez lose to the Horns by a touchdown in 2022, Howard again started in 2023 and took the game to overtime before the Wildcats succumbed 33-30.
Howard has played one game in this stadium, leading K-State to the 2022 Big 12 Championship over TCU, also in overtime.
Last week Howard was electric, going 17-26 for 319 yards and three touchdowns to eliminate undefeated and top-ranked Oregon in a 41-20 rout. In doing so, he atoned for a one-point loss in which time expired when he slid in-bounds rather than getting to the sideline.
Kickoff
Friday, January 10, 6:45pm CT at AT&T Stadium (80,000) in Arlington, Texas. (Coverage will begin at 6:30.)
Tickets
Third-party tickets for the game range from $103 to thousands; the average get is $270. Obviously, with the game in Texas, Longhorn fans are keeping the prices high.
Weather
As of this writing, the southern tip of the major winter storm which blanketed Kansas over the weekend is just about to hit the DFW area. A wintry mix is expected to dump three inches of frozen stuff on the area on Thursday, but temperatures are expected to mostly remain above freezing.
However, the storm’s not expected to vacate the metro until just before dawn on Friday, meaning things will be treacherous in the morning and unpleasant throughout the day. Temperatures will slowly rise from freezing to 40° over the course of the day as the sky reverts from spitting ice to just cloudy. Those clouds are expected to start breaking up just before kickoff, when the temperature is expected to be about 37°, dropping back to the freezing point by game’s end.
In other words, if you’re going, bundle up and be careful. Be aware that the parking lots don’t open until 2:30pm if you’re intending to brave the weather and tailgate.
Odds
The line has wiggled slightly from its open, where Will Howard was favored by six, but per our friends at DraftKings it’s still -6 now. The over is 53.5, suggesting a 30-24 win for Howard. Oddsshark’s computer projection likes Will’s chances a good deal more, predicting a 44-28 win.
Television
ESPN, with Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit. Holly Rowe and Laura Rutledge will share the sideline duties. ESPN Deportes will have the Spanish-language call with Eduardo Varela, Pablo Viruega and Carlos Nava.
On ESPN2, Pat McAfee will be “calling” the game from the field alongside A.J. Hawk, Darius Butler, Connor Campbell, Ty Schmit and Tone Digs. ESPNU will have the “Command Center” feed, with four camera angles and the Fowler/Herbstreit audio.
On ESPNews, the SkyCam feed will be available, with no announcers and ambient stadium audio. That same feed will also be availble on the SEC Network with the Texas radio crew providing audio; on the ESPN App, the SkyCam will feature the Ohio State radio team while an All-22 feed with the ESPN radio crew will also be presented.
Radio
The ESPN Radio broadcast, available nationally and on SiriusXM channel 80, will be in the hands of Marc Kestecher, Kelly Stouffer, Ian Fitzsimmons and Quint Kessenich. If you have a Texas radio affiliate handy, you can hear the game called by Craig Way, Roger Wallace and Will Matthews, also on SiriusXM 84. Ohio State network recipients can listen to Paul Keels, Jim Lachey, Matt Andrews and Skip Mosic, also on SiriusXM 81.
Internet Streaming
The game will stream on the ESPN app (cable/satellite subscription required; link is to primary broadcast).
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