Manhattan ? Kansas State doesn’t need anyone to introduce Seneca Wallace.

The 12th-ranked Wildcats already know Iowa State’s versatile quarterback well.

Just because Kansas State stopped him a year ago, linebacker Terry Pierce said, doesn’t mean the job will be easy when No. 21 Iowa State visits KSU Stadium today.

“As a defensive player, this is our time to stand out against a Heisman candidate,” Pierce said. “I’d rank him up there with Josh Heupel in 2000. But he does a lot of things others quarterbacks can’t do.”

Heupel won the Heisman Trophy for Oklahoma, and Wallace has been mentioned as a candidate for that award this season. He has ignited a young Iowa State team with his ability to both pass effectively and beat defenses with his mobility.

Wallace has thrown for 2,495 yards :quot; an average of 270.2 yards per game, 18th in the nation :quot; and completed 59 percent of his passes.

He also has rushed for 207 yards and seven touchdowns this season.

“He’s still as quick as he ever was,” Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said. “I think he’s playing with tremendous confidence right now. Seneca was always an accurate passer. He had those unbelievable numbers. He’s just good. He’s really good.”

In last week’s 42-35 win against Missouri, Wallace set school records with 31 completions and 493 total yards, including 425 yards passing.

Iowa State's Seneca Wallce (15) evades Missouri's Russ Bell during last Saturday's game at Ames, Iowa. Wallace set a school record with 493 yards of total offense in a 42-35 victory.

“He’s the most accurate passer we’ll face,” Pierce said.

Last season, though, Wallace wasn’t effective at all in Kansas State’s 42-3 win. The Wildcats held him to just 129 yards passing with one interception and didn’t let him run out of the pocket all day.

“I think he just had a bad day,” Snyder said.

Pierce said Kansas State, which ranks first nationally in scoring defense, had a lot to do with Wallace’s bad day :quot; and the team hopes to do more of the same this year.

“We got on him fast,” Pierce said. “Every time he had the ball, we put a hit on him. As long as we get started fast, keep him off the field and intimidate him, we’ll be OK.”

Bobby Elliot, the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator, was on Iowa State’s staff last season :quot; but any inside information he might have won’t give Kansas State an extra edge against Wallace, Snyder said.

“You could probably bring the whole defensive staff down here and it still would be difficult to defend him,” Snyder said.