Player to Watch: Tarique Milton

Tarique “The Freak” Milton has come on as one of the freshmen on this team to make an immediate impact. Milton is second on the team in receiving yards, with 288 yards. He’s caught 25 balls for an average of 11.5 yards per catch to go along with one touchdown. His lone touchdown is one of the most important of the season, showing off his top-notch speed.

Most importantly, Milton has been targeted 26 times and has caught 25 of those. His consistency has been vital to the offense.

Despite being ranked towards the bottom in nearly every defensive category, Kansas has a lot of really solid upperclassmen on that side of the ball. A senior linebacker by the name of Joe Dineen leads the league in tackles per game with 12.0. They also have four players in the top 30 in the same category, Joe Dineen (1st), Bryce Tomeden (6th), Keith Lonker (18th), Mike Lee (28th). These players are all linebackers and safeties, so they will all be very involved with stopping the speedy Milton.

One category that Kansas leads the league in, in turnovers forced. They have forced 23 (10 fumbles and 13 interceptions), which is far away the most in the league. In order to avoid interceptions, Brock Purdy will probably have to limit the down field throws. This means a lot of throws in the flats which is right up Tarique Milton’s alley.

If Milton continues his crazy consistency over the middle of the field, he will have a very good game. Last week, he caught seven balls for 89 yards, that performance might be topped against Kansas.

Prediction: 9 catches, 101 yards, 1 TD