Washington State’s trip to Kansas State comes with plenty of baggage before the ball is even kicked.
The Cougars are heading into a Sept. 12 matchup in Manhattan after opening the season at Washington, which leaves them with a short week to get ready. Add in the two time-zone, 1,600-mile travel haul and a 9 a.m.
Pacific kickoff, and the setup is already working against them. Then there’s the atmosphere waiting at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, where K-State draws about 52,000 fans a game and usually gives opponents plenty to deal with.
That’s a tough assignment for a Washington State team trying to bounce back after a week one loss, especially against a Kansas State program that has been reliably strong. The Wildcats have won at least eight games in five of the last seven seasons and claimed the conference title in 2022.
Kansas State opened the Collin Klein era by hammering Nicholls State 71-3, though that kind of mismatch does not reveal much about a Big 12 team’s true level. Washington State, meanwhile, got a much more demanding first look by playing a Big 10 opponent instead of an FCS team.
K-State’s offseason brought major change of its own. Chris Klieman retired after seven seasons, and Klein took over. Klein, a former Kansas State quarterback and 2012 Heisman finalist, was the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator from 2022-23 before spending the last two years as Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Everything for Kansas State still runs through Avery Johnson. The senior quarterback, a former 4-star recruit from Wichita, has flashed real star power in Manhattan, even if the consistency has come and gone. Johnson is the player to keep closest tabs on because he gives the Wildcats a dynamic element with his legs, and a lot of those runs are by design rather than scramble drills.
There wasn’t much to dissect from the opener, since Nicholls State was overmatched and Kansas State didn’t need to leave its starters out there deep into the second half. Rodney Fields Jr., not Joe Jackson, led the rushing attack with 14 carries for 101 yards and a touchdown. The Wildcats spread the ball around at receiver, and the defense finished with 10 tackles for loss.
For Washington State, the clearest fix is simple: third down has to get better. The Cougars went 0-for-11 on third down against Washington, and that kind of number is hard to survive.
Nicholls State managed only 4-of-16 on third down at Kansas State, which is hardly efficient, but it still would have topped WSU’s output. The Cougars need to stay ahead of the sticks and give themselves better chances when those money downs arrive.
This will be the first meeting between the two programs. Washington State is 0-1, Kansas State is 1-0, and neither team is ranked.
ESPN’s matchup predictor gives the Cougars an 11.7 percent chance to win, while the line has K-State favored by 17.5. CF.C predicts a 21-20 Washington State win.
Kirby Moore is 0-1 as Washington State’s coach, and Klein is 1-0 at Kansas State.
Among the names that may ring a bell for Cougar fans, the most notable is wide receiver Sterling Lockett, the younger brother of Seahawks legend Tyler Lockett.
Weather in Manhattan is expected to be 80 degrees, cloudy, with light winds. Kickoff is set for Saturday at 9 a.m. Pacific, with TNT/HBO Max carrying the game and the Washington State IMG Radio Network on the call.
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For a team still trying to settle roles early in the season, the release is useful for more than just curiosity. It gives a better sense of where the Cougars stand personnel-wise before facing a Kansas State program that will demand answers quickly, and it marks a change from the previous week, when no depth chart was made public before kickoff against Washington. [Read more 🡒]
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Washington State Golf Showed An Early Sign Fans Will Want To See
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Sophomore Dylan Boenning supplied the best round for Washington State, turning in a 6-under 66 to lead the charge late in the event. For a group still trying to build momentum early in the season, it was the kind of closing effort that can matter because it showed the Cougars had some push left when the tournament was winding down. [Read more 🡒]