Kansas State wasted no time showing what kind of team it plans to be in 2026.
The Wildcats rolled past Nicholls 71-3 on Friday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas, giving alumnus Collin Klein a comfortable start to his first game as head coach. Klein spent the previous two seasons as offensive coordinator at Texas A&M, then returned to Manhattan in December as Kansas State’s 36th coach in school history.
That promotion fits a familiar pattern for WSU coach Kirby Moore, who also moved up from the coordinator ranks. Klein, 36, knows the program inside and out.
He was a two-year starter at quarterback in 2011 and 2012, won the Johnny Unitas Award, helped Kansas State to a 21-5 record and even reached No. 1 nationally during his playing career. From 2014 through 2023, he stayed with the university in various coaching roles, mostly as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.
The player WSU has to keep a close eye on is quarterback Avery Johnson. Kansas State loves to lean on the run, with Fields - the dynamic Oklahoma State transfer - serving as the headline back. But the offense still runs through Johnson, now in his third year as the starter and already the program’s all-time leader in touchdown passes with 51 after throwing for three scores against Nicholls.
Saturday’s matchup will be Johnson’s 28th career start, and the Wildcats have plenty of ways to use him. He is a big quarterback who can hurt defenses with both power and speed, and Moore said Monday he believes Johnson has better “top-end speed” than the quarterback WSU saw in the Apple Cup, Washington’s Demond Williams Jr., who is shorter and 10 pounds lighter.
Johnson’s legs change everything for a defense. If opponents commit too hard to stopping the run, he can pull it down and go. If they stay honest, Kansas State can work off play-action and let the Kansas native attack deep.
There is another Kansas State trait that should have every defensive and special-teams coach paying attention: the Wildcats are a factory for non-offensive touchdowns. Since 1999, they lead the country with 140.
Over the past two seasons, Kansas State has scored five defensive touchdowns and five special-teams touchdowns. Last year alone, that included a 99-yard kickoff return, a recovery on a botched snap and three defensive scores.
That matters for WSU, especially after the Apple Cup. The Cougars turned it over three times in that game, had trouble with a snap on a missed field goal and allowed two special-teams returns of nearly 30 yards or more. Against a team like Kansas State, those kinds of mistakes can flip the game fast.
In Other News...
Washington State May Be Without Its Most Dangerous Weapon At Kansas State
Washington State may have to head into its game at Kansas State without one of its most explosive playmakers after wide receiver Tony Freeman suffered a knee injury in the Apple Cup. Coach Kirby Moore said Freeman is trending on being out while the Cougars wait on MRI results, a development that would leave them trying to replace a receiver who has been one of the biggest threats in the passing game and on special teams.
Kirby Moores update at least brought some clarity elsewhere on the roster, with cornerback Jalil Tucker and defensive end Ben Beatty expected to be available. But Freemans status is the one that matters most for an offense that will need other receivers and return men to absorb his workload if he cannot go, and the final medical word will shape how Washington State approaches a difficult road matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Washington State Faces A Huge Receiver Problem Ahead Of Kansas State
Washington State is heading into its matchup with Kansas State with a concern that could reshape the offense for a week. Wide receiver Tony Freeman is likely to miss the game because of a knee injury, according to head coach Kirby Moore, and his exit from the previous game came early enough to raise immediate questions about the Cougars depth at the position.
Freeman was seen on crutches afterward, which adds to the uncertainty around how quickly Washington State can get back to full strength on offense. There is some better news on the injury front, with cornerback Jalil Tucker and defensive end Ben Beatty expected to be available, but the receiver situation leaves the Cougars with a key issue to sort out before they face Kansas State. [Read more 🡒]
WSU Has Two Costly Problems To Fix Before Kansas State
Washington States 24-10 loss to Washington in the Apple Cup left the Cougars with a familiar kind of frustration: too many stalled drives, too many wasted chances and too little margin for error. Coach Moore and quarterback Caden Pinnick both pointed to the same broad issues afterward, with turnovers and special teams adding to the damage in a game that never really gave WSU a chance to settle in.
The most glaring concern is the offenses inability to stay on the field, a problem that showed up against the Huskies and will loom even larger with Kansas State next on the schedule. Add in the kicking-game hiccups, and the Cougars enter the new week knowing the fix is not about one area alone but about cleaning up several parts of the operation before the competition level rises again. [Read more 🡒]