A quarterback comes back as the boss
Collin Klein ran the Kansas State offense as a player and finished as a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2012. On Saturday, aged 36, he coaches his first game. The Wildcats host Nicholls at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, named for the coach who once handed him the huddle.
He inherits a program that stalled. Kansas State went 6-6 last season and turned down a bowl invitation, only the second time since 2010 that the school has skipped the postseason. Consensus projections place them seventh or eighth in the 16-team Big 12.
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Twenty-six new arrivals and a scrambled line
Klein worked the transfer portal hard, bringing in 26 players. Defensive end Wendell Gregory arrives from Oklahoma State and wide receiver Josh Manning from Missouri. The offensive line has been harder to settle, and it got worse when left tackle John Pastore went down with a season-ending lower-leg injury.
“We’ve been moving a lot of guys around,” Klein said. “It’s definitely not like we projected coming in. It’s been an interesting carousel, for sure.”
The skill positions look steadier. Quarterback Avery Johnson enters his senior year with 5,576 career passing yards and 1,378 on the ground. Senior running back Joe Jackson, a third-team all-conference pick, piled up 435 yards and six touchdowns across the final two games of 2025 against Utah and Colorado.
Nicholls have a head start
The Colonels have already played, beating Mississippi Valley State 44-10 in Week 0. Ean Rodrigue threw for 264 yards and three touchdowns, Tamaj Hoffman ran in two scores, and the defense picked off three passes. Tommy Rybacki, 5-8 in his second season, thinks that game matters.
“A lot of coaches would tell you that you make a lot of progress between Games 1 and 2,” he said.
His bigger worry is what the occasion does to his players. “We talk a lot about focusing on the task at hand. If you start thinking about the external factors, you can get overwhelmed: playing Kansas State, the Big 12, Bill Snyder Stadium. You still need to tackle well.”
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