K-State Wildcats vs. SEMO Redhawks: Football game prediction, betting line, TV, time

Kansas State is set to begin its season on Saturday against SEMO. Here’s everything you need to know before kickoff...

Kansas State vs. SEMO game details

Kickoff: 6 p.m. Saturday

Where: Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan

TV: ESPN+ (streaming service, subscription required)

Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City, KFH (1240 AM and 97.5 FM) in Wichita

The line: Kansas State by 28 with an O/U of 56

Prediction

There are certain things everyone can count on at the start of college football season.

Hot temperatures, tailgating, marching bands ... and Chris Klieman beating the snot out of FCS competition.

Few coaches have been more dominant against teams from the FCS than Klieman. The K-State football coach has gone 70-6 against FCS foes dating back to his time at North Dakota State, starting in 2014. He has not lost to a FCS team since November 4 in 2017.

In Manhattan, he has guided the Wildcats to a 3-0 record against FCS teams, defeating Nicholls, Southern Illinois and South Dakota.

The scores in those three games were 49-14, 31-23 and 34-0. K-State did struggle to put away Southern Illinois two years ago, but then-starting quarterback Skylar Thompson suffered an injury early in that game and it was difficult for the Wildcats to focus, let alone execute at a high level, afterward.

Still, even with that outlier, K-State has beaten all three opponents by an average of nearly 26 points per game.

With that in mind, it’s fair to expect another lopsided score when K-State plays host to Southeast Missouri State on Saturday.

The Redhawks won nine games and qualified for the FCS playoffs last season. They are ranked No. 11 in the preseason FCS top 25. They also have veteran talent, including star running back Geno Hess, who has rushed for 4,112 yards and 53 touchdowns throughout his college career.

In other words, they are better than your typical cupcake opponent in Week 1.

But they also lost their only game against FBS competition last season 42-10 at Iowa State. That doesn’t instill much confidence in the Redhawks keeping this one close. This game will be a step up in competition for them.

Several K-State players will be stepping into big roles for the first time on Saturday. D.J. Giddens will want to put up an impressive stat line at running back. Iowa transfer Keagan Johnson will be eager to make lots of catches. And several new defensive backs will want to show what they can do in the secondary.

Quarterback Will Howard revealed earlier this week that the Wildcats would love to score 50 points for the first time under offensive coordinator Collin Klein right out of the chute. Can they eclipse that number? That might be the biggest question in this game.

I say they fall just short, as new clock rules have made games shorter. But the Wildcats will cover the spread and Klieman will add another easy FCS win to his resume.

Kansas State 49, SEMO 13.