Joe Jackson may not be listed as Kansas State’s starting running back anymore, but his production is telling a very different story.
Through two games, the senior from Haines City, Florida has piled up 106 rushing yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, while also making noise as a receiver with six catches for 96 yards and two scores. Both his 6.2 yards per rush and 16 yards per catch are career highs, and he’s doing it while sharing the backfield with Rodney Fields.
That was enough for K-State coach Collin Klein to push back when Jackson was described as having “taken a step back” in the offense during his weekly news conference.
“He’s absolutely crushing it,” Klein said. “He’s doing a vital, main role on our team and on our offense, I mean, he didn’t take the first snap, but that’s the only thing.
He’s been extremely productive in the run game and the pass game. He is running with a ton of violence and I love every second of it, because there’s an edge to him and a mentality that even continues to grow, which is absolutely outstanding.”
Jackson was Kansas State’s lead back last season and made the most of it, delivering huge outings against Utah and Colorado. He ran for 293 yards and three touchdowns against Utah, then followed with 142 yards and three more scores against Colorado.
This season, though, the Wildcats have more answers in the backfield. Fields, who transferred in from Oklahoma State, has topped 100 rushing yards in both of his first two games, going for 101 yards and a touchdown against Nicholls and 105 yards and a touchdown against Washington State.
That combination has given Kansas State plenty of balance on the ground, with either back - or both - capable of carrying the offense. And for now, Jackson says the arrangement hasn’t changed how he feels about his role.
“It’s been fun seeing everybody have success in different ways,” Jackson said. “That’s what a guy like me looks for, other guys to have success and not just me.
I love it. It’s just been so much fun.”
In Other News...
Kansas States Fast Start Faces Its First Real Test Under Collin Klein
Kansas State has spent the opening stretch of the season looking like a team comfortable in its own skin under Collin Klein, which is no small thing this early in a new era. The Wildcats have started fast, and in a Big 12 landscape already crowded with statement wins and early-season questions, that matters. BYU has already made noise with its win over Arizona, Oklahoma State has shown it can hang defensively with Oregon, and Utah has kept rolling, so Kansas States clean start has fit right in with a conference that seems eager to sort itself out quickly.
The real challenge now is whether that momentum holds once the schedule starts asking harder questions. Early September can flatter a lot of teams, but it also reveals which ones have the depth, discipline and adaptability to keep building instead of just collecting good first impressions. For Kansas State, the coming weeks will be about proving that Kleins fast start is more than a September snapshot, especially with the rest of the Big 12 already offering plenty of evidence that the top tier wont stay crowded for long. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas State Fans Just Got An Early Look At Casey Alexanders Big 12 Test
Kansas State fans got an early glimpse at what the 2026-27 Big 12 grind will look like, as the university released its conference schedule for Casey Alexanders first season in the league. The Wildcats will play every Big 12 opponent home and away, giving the new coach a full dose of the challenge that comes with navigating one of the countrys deepest conferences.
The slate brings several eye-catching home dates to Manhattan, including Arizona, Cincinnati, Colorado, Kansas and TCU, while the league opener sends Kansas State to Baylor on Jan. 2. Tickets for both conference and non-conference games are already on sale, with additional single-game opportunities set to roll out on specific dates as the season approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas States New Big 12 Reality Starts Showing Up On The Schedule
Kansas States next basketball chapter is starting to take shape, and the schedule now gives a clearer view of what awaits in 2026-27. The school has released the full mens and womens slates, setting up a season that will test both programs from the opening nonconference stretch through the grind of Big 12 play.
For the men, it will be the first conference run under new head coach Casey Alexander, with Baylor and rival Kansas among the most eye-catching dates on the calendar. The women, meanwhile, enter another full season under Jeff Mittie with their own complete lineup of league and nonleague games in place, giving both programs a firm roadmap long before the opening tip. [Read more 🡒]