Colin Klein’s return to Oklahoma State now comes with a new title and a new target.
The former Kansas State quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist is back in Manhattan as the Wildcats’ head coach, taking over after Chris Klieman retired following last season. Klein, who was Bill Snyder’s star pupil and later Klieman’s offensive coordinator, steps into the lead role at a time when Kansas State is trying to climb back to the level it expected to reach.
The Wildcats still have Avery Johnson, the quarterback Klein helped recruit, but the program has been stuck in neutral more than surging forward since winning the 2022 Big 12 championship game. Klein now gets the job of pushing them higher.
For Oklahoma State, that means another familiar headache. Klein has already been a problem for the Cowboys as both a player and an assistant coach, and now he’ll face them as the head coach in a game that arrives late enough in the season to matter in a major way.
Recent history says this matchup tends to say plenty about where Oklahoma State’s season is headed.
Over the last seven seasons, the Cowboys are 4-3 against Kansas State, and the pattern is hard to miss. When Oklahoma State wins, it usually ends up with an above-average season, if not a strong one. When it loses, the Cowboys tend to settle into average territory at best.
The most recent meeting was a rough one for OSU: a 14-6 loss in Stillwater that came before a 1-11 finish last season. The year before that, Kansas State beat Oklahoma State 42-20 in Manhattan, and the Cowboys closed 2024 at 3-9.
There have been brighter outcomes, too. In 2023, Oklahoma State beat Kansas State 29-12 on its way to the Big 12 title game for the second time in three years.
In 2021, the Cowboys knocked off the Wildcats 31-20 before reaching the conference championship game against Baylor. The one Kansas State win in that stretch came in a 48-0 blowout in Manhattan, and Oklahoma State finished 7-6.
The trend stretches back further. Oklahoma State won both the 2020 and 2019 games against Kansas State and finished with at least eight wins in both seasons.
That’s the simple formula the numbers have produced: beat the Wildcats, and the Cowboys usually get to eight wins or more. Lose to them, and seven wins or fewer is the more common result.
The timing only adds to the intrigue. The game comes in November, so both teams should still have something on the line.
At the very least, bowl eligibility could be at stake. If things break right, it could even carry Big 12 championship game implications.
That’s what makes Klein’s first shot at Oklahoma State as Kansas State’s head coach such a compelling one. For the Cowboys, winning matters. For the Wildcats, the chance to wreck the season is right there.
In Other News...
Oklahoma State Heads Back To Manhattan With A Familiar Problem Waiting
Collin Kleins return to Manhattan gives Kansas State a familiar face at the top of the program, and it also brings back the kind of energy that can make a Big 12 road trip feel a little heavier than usual. For Oklahoma State, the timing is notable because Eric Morris is still trying to reshape a team that needs better results, and the Cowboys are walking back into a place where the Wildcats have already shown they can make life difficult.
The last meeting between these teams was a reminder of how quickly things can tilt in Manhattan. Oklahoma State actually grabbed a 6-0 lead before Kansas State answered and eventually pulled away, leaving the Cowboys to wonder how much room they have for error against a program that now has its former quarterback and assistant steering the ship. [Read more 🡒]