Once the 2014 Auburn football schedule was released last year, fans underlined Kansas State as a road game to watch out for.
Then once the matchup was rescheduled to a Thursday night game, fans underlined and circled the game as the early exam for this year's team.
Next Thursday night's SEC vs. Big 12 clash on national television was sold out months ago and is expected to be the biggest crowd in Bill Snyder Family Stadium history.
According to offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, the Tigers are lucky that this year's team has had plenty of experience playing in front of large crowds in tough environments on the road.
"[That atmosphere] definitely effects you," Lashlee said. "Fortunately for us Nick (Marshall) has played and a lot of our guys have played, we don't have a young team. It's like going into any hostile SEC environment. All I've heard is that Manhattan is the toughest place to play in the Big 12. We know we've really got to be focused."
The Tigers have not had any false start penalties through their first two games. But Lashlee said that a game on the road in a hostile environment is when the offense must raise its attention to detail and awareness level.
"I think it will be a really good measuring stick to see where we're at because now we're on the road in a place where they sold out because you're the one they want to knock off," Lashlee said. "And boy they have a good football team. It's not the situation we were in last year."
Both the No. 5 team and No. 20 team in the country have bye weeks before they square off with one another.
Lashlee said having a bye week now is "huge."
Auburn's bye week last year came after their road loss to LSU. But according to Lashlee, that was the week last season where they made a lot of progress and started to get better each week.
"That's what we're preaching right now," Lashlee said. "This is the week we've got to win. We don't play anyone so we've got to win each day at practice and get much much better at the details and execution to where it not only helps next week but also helps with games down the road."
Lashlee said that a couple of things stand out to him when it comes to Kansas State's defense. The first aspect he pointed out is that when teams that have been performing well on offense come into Manhattan, they end up putting up significantly less points on the scoreboard than they did before that game. The second factor he said about their defense has a lot to do with the simple but sound way the Wildcats are coached.
"They're not out of position and they play as hard as any defense I've seen play on film since we've been here," Lashlee said. "They've got 11 guys who are completely crazy going for the football and that makes up for a lot of things. They want to make you drive the whole field. They really limit the explosive plays and make you earn everything you get."
Lashlee said that his offense has a big challenge ahead in a game that will answer his question, "How mature are our guys and how do we handle it?"
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