By ARNE GREEN

Salina Journal

MANHATTAN -- Offense, check. Defense, check. Special teams, check.

One well-rounded effort -- even against overmatched North Texas -- was all it took for the Kansas State Wildcats to put last year's dismal finish behind them.

Quarterback Josh Freeman guided the Wildcats to touchdowns on six of seven possessions in just 21âÑ2 quarters of work, the much-maligned defense held North Texas in check even longer and the result was a dominating 45-6 season-opening thrashing of the Mean Green in front of 45,150 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

"I thought we had a lot to build on tonight," K-State coach Ron Prince said. "We got a win and it's been a long time since we've won -- we're really happy about that.

"We've got things we'd like to improve on, but we're happy to win and we'll come back next week and try to do the same thing."

The victory snapped a four-game skid to end last season, and so complete was K-State's mastery that new punter George Pierson didn't make his debut until late in the third quarter. By that time the Wildcats led 42-0 and Freeman was cooling his heels on the bench.

North Texas didn't score until the 5-second mark of the third period, and that on a 15-yard drive thanks to John Shorter's interception of backup quarterback Carson Coffman.

"We were just trying to do our job," nose tackle Brandon Balkcom said of the defense's performance after holding North Texas to 205 yards total offense. "What we wanted to do was be aggressive and that should be our nature all night."

North Texas did not eclipse 200 yards until the final play of the game and did not pick up a first down until late in the first quarter, by which time K-State had a comfortable 14-0 lead.

"Our objective was for everybody to just do our jobs=2 0and I think we did pretty well," said outside linebacker Olu Hall.

While the defense locked down North Texas's wide open attack, the Wildcats' offense clicked most of the night. It finished with 471 total yards - 306 passing and 165 on the ground.

The Wildcats enjoyed a 28-0 cushion at halftime.

Freeman, now K-State's second-most prolific career passer one game into his junior season, completed 18 of 24 passes for 232 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also threw in 23 yards and two scores rushing for good measure.

"I thought Josh was fantastic tonight," Prince said.

Freeman wasn't quite as effusive.

"I'd say decent," he said. "We met our goal of scoring one more point than the other team.

"There's still some things I could have done better, but for the most part I tried to do my job of managing the game and get the ball to our playmakers and help them do their job."

The offensive playmakers came in all shapes and sizes, from the 6-foot-6 Freeman to 5-7, 142-pound receiver Brandon Banks, who grabbed three passes for 88 yards, including touchdowns of 30 and 43. Aubrey Quarles, another junior college transfer, caught six passes for 57 yards and set up a touchdown with a 50-yard kickoff return to open the second half.

"I feel really good about what our receiving20corps did," said junior Deon Murphy, the Wildcats' top returning receiver, who was limited to returning punts by a minor injury.

Even Murphy made a splash, returning a punt 30 yards to set up a 4-yard Keithen Valentine touchdown run on the Wildcats' first play from scrimmage.

Valentine, the former walk-on from Mississippi Delta Community College, led the Wildcats in rushing with 65 yards on 13 carries while true freshman Logan Dold had 53 on nine attempts.

"I got the first one out of the way," a smiling Valentine said. "Now I've had the game experience I needed."

K-State scored twice in each of the first two quarters - the one exception was Valentine's fumble at the end of a 16-yard run on the game's second possession - and after completing a 43-yard touchdown pass to Banks 59 seconds into the second half, then scoring on an 8-yard run with 9:17 left in the third quarter, Freeman called it a night.

Coffman came off the bench to complete 9 of 18 passes for 74 yards with one pick, but engineered a 12-play drive that led to a 28-yard Brooks Rossman field goal to wrap up the scoring with six seconds left.

Sophomore receiver Lamark Brown, who had just three catches for 33 yards last year, grabbed four for 45, including a 6-yard touchdown with 2:03 left in the first half that made it 28-0.

For North Texas, Giovanni Vizza completed 16 of 29 passes for 100 yards, including a 9-yarder for a touchdown to Alex Lott. Cam Montgomery had 62 yards rushing and Micah Mosley 56, while Casey Fitzgerald caught six passes for 31 yards.

"I'm very proud of the way we played today," North Texas coach Todd Dodge said. "We didn't play well enough early on with the put return

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