All of college football will have their eyes on tonight's Big 12 versus SEC clash for a variety of reasons, whether that's fans who are interested in seeing a non-conference battle between two nationally-ranked teams or perhaps it's because of the many who simply are excited to watch how two of the most unique college football offenses match up with one another on a national stage where the college football playoff committee will be taking notes.
Besides both teams being led by talented dual-threat quarterbacks Jake Waters and Nick Marshall, each team's true leader lies in two men on opposite sidelines, head coaches Gus Malzahn and Bill Snyder, who both know a thing or two about turning around a football program.
As all Auburn fans know by now, Malzahn led the Tigers to an SEC Championship in one of the biggest turnaround seasons in college football history.
Snyder, on the other hand, is responsible for arguably the biggest turnaround in any program's history when he took over in 1989 as head coach of Kansas State, which was the only team in college football at the time with 500 losses in their program's history. Since then Snyder has racked up 180 victories, eight national coach of the year awards, two conference championships and even has their home stadium named after him and his family because of his role in revitalizing the football program in Manhattan, Kan.
Malzahn's first season as Auburn head coach not only earned the Tigers a conference championship but also gave Malzahn a national coach of the year award of his own while also producing three AP All-Americans and sending four of his players through the 2014 NFL Draft.
Although the two coaches are different in many obvious ways that are shown in their comparison with one another, such as the 26-year age difference, it's safe to say that tonight's matchup between No. 5 Auburn at No. 20 Kansas State will be nothing short of exciting with one of the most legendary college football coaches calling plays on the home side and one of college football's rising head coaching stars calling shots for the visiting team.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
