Jaron Tibbs had been knocking on the door all season. Against Tulane, he kicked it open.
Kansas State’s wideout turned in the kind of performance that can change the conversation around a receiving room, hauling in nine passes for 114 yards in the Wildcats’ 31-20 win over the Green Wave last Saturday. Through three games, Tibbs has 15 catches for 162 yards and a touchdown, and he’s starting to look like Avery Johnson’s go-to option when the offense needs a play.
For a Kansas State team that has spent much of the early season talking about Johnson and running back Rodney Fields, Tibbs’ rise gives the Wildcats another weapon worth tracking. The same goes for Josh Manning, who has formed a promising partnership with Tibbs and could help Kansas State develop one of the Big 12’s better receiver tandems.
The two have been asked to help replace Jayce Brown, last year’s leading receiver before he transferred to LSU. And Tibbs said Manning’s confidence before the Tulane game helped set the tone for his breakout afternoon.
"Josh is actually my roommate," Tibbs said. "So we're kind of talking about that last game, and he was kind of telling me that I'm just due for a big game, and so you know, last week I was super proud of him because I know how hard he works, and this week he was just super proud of me. He just gave me motivation on the sideline and told me to keep going.”
Manning has already done plenty of damage himself, catching 13 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Now the Wildcats get a chance to keep that momentum going on the road against Cincinnati in a Big 12 opener for both teams.
Kansas State is also chasing a 4-0 start, something it hasn’t done since 2012. That season, current coach Collin Klein was the quarterback, and the Wildcats finished 11-2 with a Big 12 championship.
In Other News...
Kansas State Just Raised The Stakes For Its Big 12 Opener
Kansas State has spent the first three weeks building a pretty convincing case that it belongs in the conversation beyond September. The Wildcats are 3-0 after wins over Nicholls, Washington State and Tulane, and those results have been enough to earn them a few votes in the Associated Press poll while they head toward the part of the schedule that really defines a season.
Avery Johnson has been a big reason for the positive start, giving Kansas State the kind of quarterback play that can make an underdog dangerous in league play. Now the attention shifts to Cincinnati and the Wildcats' Big 12 opener, where the early momentum will matter a lot less than how they handle the first real conference test. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas State Faces A Defensive Question At The Worst Time
Kansas State heads into its Big 12 opener against Cincinnati with a familiar September concern: the health of its defense. Collin Klein said defensive starters Logan Bartley and Jordan Allen are both day-to-day, and while Bartley is trending the right way and expected to play, the Wildcats are still waiting for more clarity on Allen as the week unfolds.
The timing is less than ideal for a team trying to settle in for conference play, especially with official injury reports still to come later in the week. Some other injured Wildcats are also unlikely to be back for this game, leaving Kansas State to manage its depth carefully while it tries to keep the defense intact for a matchup that already carries early Big 12 weight. [Read more 🡒]
Collin Klein Knows What Kansas State Must Clean Up Fast
Kansas State is heading into conference play with a few clear takeaways from Collin Kleins latest media session, and the biggest one is that the Wildcats know there is still work to do. Klein pointed to special teams as a bright spot and said the offense showed efficiency in its recent performance, but he also made it clear the defense has issues to sort through before the competition tightens up.
Cincinnati offers an immediate test, especially with an offense Klein described as a strength and a defense that has shifted into a new scheme. The good news for Kansas State is that Klein sounded confident the group is ready for the opener in league play, but the next step is figuring out how quickly those adjustments can be made once the ball is kicked off. [Read more 🡒]