Money doesn’t cover wounds like the ones Kansas State could inflict upon Eastern’s season Saturday.

The Panther athletic department stands to rake in $250,000 for playing the Division I-A Wildcats, who are ranked No. 26 in the latest Associated Press poll.

With an 0-2 start, even if Eastern wins out the rest of the season, it could drop out of the top of the rankings at the I-AA level and may never recover for a ranking high enough to warrant a home playoff game. The Panthers dropped to No. 9 in this week’s Sports Network Poll after losing to Hawaii two weeks ago.

The Wildcats have not lost a non-conference game at home in 36 contests. Here is how the teams stack up when they take the field at 1:10 p.m. Saturday (WHQQ-FM 98.9)

Offense

The Panthers quickly discovered what they were missing at the end of last season in junior tailback Andre Raymond and senior wide out Will Bumphus. Both were injured at the season’s conclusion last year, but were factors in Eastern’s 61-36 loss at Hawaii.

Raymond leads Division I-AA in all purpose running and passing receptions per game. He caught 14 passes – one short of the Eastern single game record – for 128 yards and ran 10 carries for 51 yards with one touchdown.

Bumphus had four catches for 29 yards and two touchdowns. He has caught nine TDs in his last five games and will be a main target of senior quarterback Tony Romo (30-for-53 with four TDs and two interceptions against Hawaii).

The Panther offensive line – which returns all five from last year’s 9-2 team – allowed four sacks against the Warriors.

Kansas State has no returning players at skilled positions on offense from its 6-6 team last year except for quaterback, but posted 48-3 and 68-0 wins in the season’s opening two weeks against Western Kentucky and Louisiana-Monroe at home.

Four of the five offensive line corps return from last season and have allowed only four sacks.

Junior quarterback Ell Roberson leads the Wildcats offense and is as big of a threat on the ground as he is in the air. He is the team’s second leading rusher with 13 carries for 124 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore running back Darren Sproles has 28 carries for 196 yards and two touchdowns to lead Kansas State’s ground attack. But there’s a bit of a quarterback controversy in Manhattan as senor Marc Dunn has also emerged as a formidable passer. He is 12-for-16 with 211 yards and three touchdowns.

“I’d like to say we have a very balanced attack,” Snyder said. “I’d take that as a compliment, but I don’t really think we are as balanced as I would like just yet.”

Advantage: Push

Defense

Both Panther head coach Bob Spoo and Snyder have said they believe Eastern’s defense is much better than allowing 61 points against a Run and Shoot offense would show.

“It’s much different out there on that field,” Snyder said. “We know they’re better than that. Hawaii has done that to many good I-A teams too.”

However, the team’s defensive line is one of the Panthers biggest question marks.

“Their speed is the main thing we’re concerned about, much like we we’re concerned about that against Hawaii,” Spoo said. “We can’t do anything to practice against it because we don’t have as much of it as they do. They’re a very powerful team and they are a more balanced team than Hawaii was. They can do a lot more than just passing. They’ll run the option and they’ll run the ball a lot more.”

The Wildcats own the nation’s No. 2 defense allowing 1.5 points and only 171.5 yards per game. Junior All-American hopeful Terry Pierce spearheads the defensive corps. The middle linebacker has 10 solo tackles. Senior Thorpe Award semifinalist cornerback Terence Newman already has two interceptions this season. Alongside Pierce is junior Josh Buhl who has 12 solo tackles from the weak side linebacker position.

Advantage: Kansas State

Special teams

Raymond picked up where he left off last season on kick returns. He averaged 26 yards per kickoff return in six against Hawaii.

Freshman punter Tim Schofield debuted with an average of 34.4 yards per kick in five attempts. Freshman kicker Steve Keuhn missed an extra point and a 36-yard field goal attempt before making a 39-yarder, the first of his collegiate career. Spoo identified the team’s kicking game as the Panthers biggest question mark at the beginning of the season and he said that status hasn’t changed much.

He doesn’t expect many fair catches from the Wildcats either.

“Hawaii really did us a favor from not returning a lot of punts,” Spoo said. “They’ve got some guys that can really run back and do some damage.”

Newman is one of the Kansas State kick returners Spoo is worried about. The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder averages 19 yards per return with one touchdown on five attempts.

Sophomore kicker Joe Rheem has made both of his two field goals attempted, each from inside 40 yards.

“We have to kick better and we certainly have to cover better,” Snyder said.

Advantage: Kansas State

KANSAS STATE 51, EASTERN 10