Kansas State got two very different kinds of performances from its defense against Tulane. On the edge, the Wildcats were relentless.
Inside, they were vulnerable. That split tells the story of the day as clearly as anything else.
The defensive end group was the headliner, and then some. Kansas State’s ends piled up 7.5 tackles for loss and 5 sacks, which is the kind of disruption that changes a game fast.
Gregory and Whitaker Jr. look like a true top-tier pairing, while Bryant and Hill give the Wildcats real depth behind them. Kansas State is already third in the nation in tackles for loss, and this group looks every bit like one of the best defensive end units in the country.
Jayden Bryant deserves a mention too. He added a little extra burst to the pass rush, and Tulane had trouble locating him once he was on the field. The edge pressure was constant, loud, and overwhelming.
The interior line, though, was a different story. If there’s a concern coming out of this game, it starts there.
Travis Bates had a rough outing, looking more like a defensive end forced to play tackle while struggling to get off blocks against the run. PFF gave him 2 QB hurries, but he also missed 2 tackles, and 52 snaps without a recorded stat line is not what you want from a defensive tackle.
Kamari Burns had his own issues. He was credited with 2 stops, but he also missed 2 tackles.
Burns did a better job anchoring than Bates, yet Tulane still found room in the A and B gaps. Eli Jackson showed some flashes in 21 snaps, but the bigger picture is hard to ignore: Burns needs to stay healthy, because a Jackson-Bates pairing would be asking for trouble against the run.
That’s the concern for Kansas State moving forward. The Wildcats are undersized and thin inside, and an opposing coordinator would have every reason to try to attack that spot.
Tulane got push in the middle, and its backs were able to hit holes at full speed, which made life harder on linebackers and safeties trying to clean things up at the second level. The coaching staff is going to have to manage that issue all season, and they badly need another run-stuffing tackle to emerge.
It’s notable that two of the top three defensive tackles on the roster are significantly under 300 pounds.
At linebacker, the Wildcats were solid in spots but still had the same size questions. Gabe Powers finished with 61 snaps, 4 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble.
As a duo, though, Powers and Mason are better moving sideline to sideline than taking on backs downhill in the hole. Powers was charged with 2 missed tackles, and while Mason didn’t miss any, he didn’t always seem to be in the right place to make the plays he should have against the run.
Rex Van Wyhe gave Kansas State something it needed. He looked like a functional run-stopper and made the most of his 22 snaps.
At 245 pounds, he’s built to meet offensive linemen head-on, and this was the best game of his Kansas State career. Against run-heavy opponents, he could earn more time.
Depth at linebacker remains a real issue, though.
The secondary had a cleaner night overall, even if the ball found some of the other corners. Rich was targeted three times and allowed three catches, but those receptions only went for 20 yards, with a long of 12. Tulane made the smart choice and mostly avoided challenging CB1.
That left Kaleb Patterson and JoJo Scott to absorb the workload. Patterson was targeted five times and allowed two catches, but those completions went for 41 yards.
Scott was targeted six times and gave up two catches for 52 yards, including a 41-yarder. Playing next to a true lockdown corner tends to send more traffic the other way, and Patterson and Scott are going to be tested all season.
Against Tulane, Rich, Patterson, and Scott basically handled the full load, and the offense never really forced Kansas State to play more than three corners.
Kansas State also brought in Ben Osueke last week. He started 12 games for Temple last season and was a 2025 All-AAC third-team selection, so he’s a name worth watching. It will be interesting to see whether he gets on the field against Cincinnati.
At safety, Kansas State may have found something special in Koy Beasley. He played 57 snaps and made 5 tackles, and his path to this point is a wild one: a 4-star recruit and top-150 player who was the sixth-best prospect in Ohio, signed with Purdue, went through a rough freshman year, then spent a year at Miami, Ohio before landing at Kansas State.
The speed is real. Beasley can run with almost anybody, and no one is throwing the ball over his head.
He missed 2 tackles against Tulane, so he’s not built to be the hammer in run support, but that’s where Logan Bartley comes in.
Bartley’s injury changed the picture early, but Kansas State didn’t collapse without him. Fair stepped in and delivered.
He led the Wildcats with 8 tackles, was credited by PFF with a team-high 3 stops, and missed only one tackle. Tulane targeted him once through the air and completed a 6-yard pass.
That’s steady work, especially after Bartley went down.
With Beasley locking things down deep and Fair doing damage near the line of scrimmage, the safety room looks like one of the strongest and deepest groups on the roster. The addition of Beasley, the rise of Bartley, and Fair’s reliability all point that way. And Kansas State still has more options there, including All-ACC honorable mention safety Ja’son Prevard and Georgia transfer Adrian Maddox, who were both considered possible starters at one point.
In Other News...
Kansas State Suddenly Has A Risky Avery Johnson Problem
Kansas State heads into its Big 12 matchup with Cincinnati in a tricky spot under center, with senior quarterback Avery Johnson expected to be the only confirmed healthy quarterback available. The Wildcats are already dealing with a thin depth chart at the position, as backup Blake Barnett is out, while Dillon Duff and Jacob Knuth are both listed as questionable.
The rest of the injury report adds to the uncertainty, with safety JaSon Prevard and offensive lineman Oliver Miller ruled out as well. Cincinnati is carrying its own list of unavailable and uncertain players, but for Kansas State, the quarterback situation is the one that looms largest as kickoff approaches. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Just Got A Clearer Look At The Big 12 QB Race
The Big 12 quarterback picture got a little sharper after Week 3, and for Kansas State fans, the early read is as much about the conference race as it is about the Wildcats themselves. A new ranking of the leagues top passers entering Week 4 puts recent performances front and center, using last weeks results from around the conference to sort out who is surging, who is settling in and who still has work to do.
Kansas States place in that conversation matters because the league schedule is already starting to separate contenders from the pack, with Week 4 matchups offering another chance to shuffle the order again. The update also folds in results and evaluations from teams like Texas Tech, Arizona State, West Virginia, Oklahoma State and Houston, giving BYU a clearer view of the field it has entered and leaving the next round of quarterback tests to decide how stable those rankings really are. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas State Finally Gets Its First Real Big 12 Test
Kansas State rolled through its non-conference slate unbeaten, but now the schedule turns toward the kind of week that tells a team what it really is. First-year coach Collin Klein has said those early games served a purpose beyond the wins, giving the Wildcats a chance to sharpen themselves before the more demanding stretch of Big 12 play begins with Cincinnati.
The road opener brings a different sort of pressure, too, because Kansas State is trying to carry that clean start into a conference race that rarely gives teams much margin for error. A win would keep the momentum rolling and reinforce the fast start under Klein, but the Bearcats are the first test that can show how well the Wildcats early progress travels when the opponent knows what is coming. [Read more 🡒]