Chris Klieman previews final non-conference matchup with No. 20 Arizona

MANHATTAN (KSNT) - Kansas State football has a short week to prepared for a ranked opponent to come to town.

The No. 14 Wildcats escaped week two in New Orleans with a 34-27 win over Tulane on Saturday, and are gearing up to host No. 20 Arizona on Friday. Head coach Chris Klieman said culture won K-State the game in Tulane, adding there's several areas the 'Cats need to fine-tune ahead of Friday.

He said things need to be better in all three phases, but one thing Coach wants to solve is giving the offense more opportunities.

"We're not on the field enough offensively," Klieman said. "We've had 55 plays in the first two games and in the first game we had basically 40 because we had our backups in. So we've got to get drives started so we can have 70-75 plays and then we've go to get off the field on defense."

For K-State's offense, it'll have to face what Klieman calls a 'disruptive' defensive front. He added Arizona brings a slue of talented and experienced linebackers and safeties.

As for K-State's defense, Klieman wasn't impressed the pass defense against Tulane, something he knows will have to be adjusted to stop Arizona's offense.

"He's phenomenal, you watch him last year makes plays," Klieman said of Arizona's top wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan. "The first game against New Mexico, he exploited them every time they had a chance to go with him one-on-one. Those two are in sync. The quarterback and wide receiver are as in-tune and have as good a chemistry as any two people I've faced."

K-State and Arizona kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13. Though Arizona is now in the Big 12, this game was scheduled prior to that move, making it a non-conference game.