The Collin Klein era gets rolling tonight at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, and K-State walks into the opener with every sign pointing toward a comfortable night. The Wildcats are favored by 41.5, and ESPN’s SP+ has them taking this one 45-6. The matchup gives K-State a chance to set the tone right away against a Nicholls team that already has one game under its belt.
Nicholls opened its season last Thursday with a 44-10 win over Mississippi Valley State, but that result comes with a giant asterisk. Mississippi Valley State has won two games or fewer in all but one season since 2013, and the Colonels beat that same program 66-0 in 2024 before finishing 4-8. Nicholls was picked seventh in the 10-team Southland Conference entering 2026 after back-to-back 4-8 seasons, and Tommy Rybacki is in his second year as head coach after serving as the defensive coordinator from 2015-24.
Rybacki’s first Nicholls defense had one clear strength: the secondary, which ranked 15th in the FCS in pass efficiency defense. Even so, the Colonels have major turnover to manage, with their top six tacklers gone from last season and only three defensive players who logged 200 or more snaps returning.
Offensively, the picture was rough too. Nicholls ranked 94th in passing efficiency and averaged under 4 yards per carry.
Senior quarterback Ean Rodrigue is back after playing in nine games last season and starting the final five. He threw for 916 yards and six touchdowns in 2025, then went 16-of-25 for 264 yards and three touchdowns against Mississippi Valley State last week, with scoring strikes of 59 and 74 yards.
Still, this one looks like it gets away from Nicholls quickly. Since 2009, K-State has had six games against FCS opponents decided by one score, including last season’s 38-35 comeback against North Dakota.
This won’t be one of those nights. The Wildcats are the pick to cruise to a 52-3 win.
One of the bigger swing factors could be special teams, where K-State is expected to start looking a lot more like its old self. The program built its identity under Bill Snyder with elite special teams play and earned the “Special Teams U” label, but that phase has slipped the last couple of years. Tonight feels like the beginning of a turnaround.
Stanton Weber is back at his alma mater as special teams coordinator, and the track record is there. In 2019, when Weber was K-State’s special teams quality control coach, the Wildcats led the nation with 29.5 yards per kick return and four kick return touchdowns.
He spent the last three seasons as Toledo’s special teams coach, where the Rockets consistently piled up explosive returns. From 2023-25, Toledo produced 22 kickoffs of 30-plus yards, ranked top six nationally in returns of 30 or more yards in every season, and led the country with five kick returns of 40-plus yards in 2024.
The Rockets were tied for No. 3 nationally in 2023 with three such returns and tied for 19th with two in 2025. Toledo also blocked three punts in 2025, tied for No. 4 nationally, and blocked five total kicks to share the national lead.
Across Weber’s three seasons there, Toledo had nine blocked kicks.
Nicholls gave K-State some opportunities to attack on special teams last week. The average depth of its seven kickoffs was the 6.5-yard line against Mississippi Valley State, and the Colonels also allowed a 22-yard punt return.
Even if K-State doesn’t get a ton of return chances because of how one-sided the game should be, the expectation is that Weber’s group makes one count. Jay Harris or Brandon White is projected to break a return score, and K-State should also get a blocked punt.
The Wildcats should also have a field day defensively. Mississippi Valley State recorded two sacks against Nicholls in the opener, and the Colonels are replacing three starters on the offensive line.
That sets the stage for K-State’s pass rush to make noise. The expectation is plenty of third-and-long situations, which would allow defensive coordinator Jordan Peterson to unleash the edge pressure.
By the end of the night, the names Wendell Gregory and Darien Whitaker should be familiar to more K-State fans, with Jayden Bryant, Jordan Allen and Elijah Hill also expected to be in the mix. The forecast here is five or more sacks for the Wildcats.
On the ground, K-State has options, and that makes the rushing leader prediction tricky. Avery Johnson gives the offense a dual-threat element, and the backfield includes Joe Jackson, Rodney Fields and Jay Harris.
Jackson finished 2025 on a tear, going for 435 yards on 50 carries over the final two games, which makes him an obvious candidate. But the pick here is Fields, the Oklahoma State transfer who rushed for 614 yards and averaged 5 yards per carry as a redshirt freshman last season.
After an impressive fall camp, he could be the first back out there tonight.
K-State’s offensive line is still a question mark in game one, but this matchup should help. Nicholls gave up 5 yards per carry and 149 rushing yards to Mississippi Valley State last week, so the Wildcats should be able to move people up front.
The other expectation is turnovers. K-State’s defense should keep forcing mistakes all night long, and Avery Johnson is projected to respond with a clean outing. Pro Football Focus credited him with six turnover-worthy plays against North Dakota last season, but tonight the senior quarterback is expected to avoid those issues, throw for more than 200 yards and add over 50 on the ground.
In Other News...
Kansas State Already Has A Troubling O-Line Problem Before Week 1
Kansas States offensive line is already under strain before the season opener, and the depth chart keeps getting thinner by the day. The Wildcats announced that left tackle John Pastore and George Fitzpatrick are done for the year, while freshman Oliver Miller will miss the first few weeks and left guard Tanner Morley is listed day-to-day. It is not the kind of news any staff wants to absorb in late August, especially when the front five is supposed to be the foundation for settling an offense early.
The ripple effect goes beyond the left side, too, with Donovan McIntosh, Dillon Duff and Max Lovett all carrying injury statuses heading into the game against Nicholls. For Kansas State, the concern is no longer just about who starts in Week 1, but whether the Wildcats can keep enough bodies available to protect their quarterback and get through the early part of the schedule without improvising too much up front. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas State Is Betting Big On A Risky Blindside Plan
With both John Pastore and George Fitzpatrick sidelined by injury, Kansas State is turning to sophomore Ryan Howard to hold down the left tackle spot heading into the upcoming season. It is a significant ask for a player still early in his college career, but the move also shows how much trust Collin Klein and the staff are placing in Howards development.
Howard arrives with the kind of pedigree that makes the gamble easier to understand, since he was once regarded as one of the top offensive tackle prospects. Now the challenge is far less about projection and much more about protection, because he will be responsible for guarding Avery Johnsons blind side and helping steady an offensive line that has already taken a hit before the season even begins. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas State May Have Found Its Austin Romaine Replacement
An offseason storyline inside Kansas States linebacker room has been the search for a reliable next man up, and Mekhi Mason has pushed his way to the front of that conversation. The senior transfer from Louisiana Tech arrived with plenty of experience, having started 11 games last year and earned second-team All-Conference USA honors, and he backed that up with a strong spring and training camp that earned him a starting job.
First-year coach Collin Klein has been encouraged enough by what he has seen to highlight Masons physicality and instincts, even drawing a comparison to former K-State standout Arthur Brown. For a defense trying to replace production and keep its identity intact, Masons rise gives the Wildcats a proven, mature option at a spot where they needed one. [Read more 🡒]