Kansas State had one of the toughest Division I-A schedules in the country last year, and head coach Bill Snyder believes Eastern makes it tougher.

“They’ve got an offense that can do all sorts of different formations and has a lot of flexibility,” Snyder said. “They’re a really well-coached team.”

But Snyder’s sugar coating stops there.

The Wildcats needed to play Eastern to get another home game. The school’s athletic department isn’t strapped for cash, but it is a lower class citizen when compared to wealthy Big 12 Conference foes Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas.

“When we scheduled USC on our schedule we lost a home game,” Snyder said. “That’s $1.2 million that we lose. So it’s worth it to us to spend the money to play a I-A team.”

For Snyder and the Wildcats, Eastern is another chance to prepare for the second season – the conference schedule.

“It doesn’t really matter who we’re playing that’s the approach we take,” he said. “Every week before (the conference schedule) is a chance to get ready like the preseason. We also use it as a chance to work our backups because it’s a long season and we have to have them ready. We’ll shuffle in plenty of players this weekend.”

The Wildcats, who have no returning on offense at the skilled positions from last year’s 6-6 season proved plenty in a 48-3 win over I-AA Western Kentucky two weeks ago and a 68-0 win over I-A Louisiana-Monroe.

The offense is one of the Wildcats’ few weaknesses – but like most I-A teams they have plenty of depth to pick up the slack.

Snyder said his offense won’t be as big of a challenge as Hawaii’s Run and Shoot formation.

“They are definitely a far better defense than the game against Hawaii showed,” Snyder said.

Simply by walking into KSU stadium the odds are stacked against Eastern. The Wildcats have won their last 36 games at home against non-conference foes.

“Playing at home is something that’s extremely important to us,” Snyder said. “So we want to play as many home games as we can each year.”

Ultimately the Wildcats will use the game as a stepping stone.

“It’s always our approach in every single ballgame to correct the mistakes that we’ve made in the previous week,” Snyder said. ” This game will be no different.”