By ARNE GREEN

Special to the Hays Daily News

MANHATTAN -- Carson Coffman had just what Bill Snyder was looking for.

Well, at least he had more of it than his two competitors.

"I just think more consistency through the course of our preseason camp, and the perfor- mance level was better," Snyder said Monday in announcing that Coff- man will open the season as Kansas State's start- ing quarterback. "That probably comes from the consis- tency that he has, which has a lot to do with the experience - that he had more experience on the field than the other two guys."

The Wildcats play host to UCLA at 2:30 p.m. Sat- urday at Snyder Family Stadium.

Coffman, a fifth-year senior from Peculiar, Mo., held a slim advantage over sophomore Collin Klein and redshirt junior college transfer Sammuel Lamur coming out of spring practice and never relinquished it, though all three had their moments.

"There were days that Collin threw the ball well and days that Sammuel threw the ball well," Snyder said. "There were days that they didn't.

"And their management of the offense, I thought, was not as consistent as it was with Carson."

The final decision came sometime last week, said Snyder, who had set a target date of roughly 10 days before the opener.

"Just because we wanted to make sure that we had ample time as far as the quarterback fitting in with the group that he's going to play with," Snyder said of the time frame.

"But he had taken a substantial amount of reps with that would amount to the number one offense during that time as well."

Coffman has been down this road before. A year ago he beat out senior transfer Grant Gregory in camp and started the first four games, only to lose it by the Big 12 opener.

Still he remained confi- dent that his final season would be different.

"That's what I like to think in my mind," he

said during the Wildcats' media day. "But that's what Collin and Sam probably think in their minds, too.

"That's just the type of attitude you have to have if you want to win the job."

Coffman completed 60.7 percent of his passes last year for 860 yards and two touchdowns with four interceptions. But he made just two appear- ances after losing the

starting job. Snyder said he sus-

pected that last year's demotion drove Coffman to reclaim the job.

"I would hope that would be the case," Sny- der said. "He's a very team-oriented young guy, wants to do anything and everything he can to help his teammates and help this team.

"He's got a good under- standingofwhatouroffense is all about. He's somewhat of a quiet young guy, but by the same token there's a fire that burns there - there's a passion for it."

Coffman, who backed up Josh Freeman his first two years, also has a decided edge in experience over

Klein and Lamur. Klein was listed as the

third-string quarterback lastyearasaredshirtfresh- man but also played some wide receiver. He completed his only pass attempt.

Lamur, who saw limited action in junior college stops at Independence and Joliet, Ill., received K-State's Red Raider Award as the top scout team contributor last year.