Kansas State's offensive line just got gutted before it even took the field. On3's Pete Nakos reported Pastore, the Wildcats' starting left tackle and a preseason All-Big 12 first-team pick, is set to miss the entire 2026 season with a lower-body injury.
This isn't a guy who snuck onto a watch list. Pastore started all 12 games at left tackle last season, logging 715 offensive snaps and earning All-Big 12 second-team honors while anchoring a line that ranked 10th nationally in sacks allowed (1.08 per game) and fifth in school history in rushing yards per carry (5.09), per On3. He was named to the 2026 Preseason All-Big 12 team alongside Wendell Gregory just last month, the first time voters put him on that list.
According to WIBW, head coach Collin Klein delivered the news himself on Thursday, and Pastore wasn't the only lineman he had to mention. Tackle George Fitzpatrick, who joined K-State from Ohio State in January 2025, is also out for the year after a medical emergency during summer training. That's two projected starters gone from the same position group in the same week, with the Wildcats set to open the season on September 5 against Nicholls State.
For a program breaking in a new staff, this is about the worst-case scenario. Klein takes over as head coach with Sean Gleeson calling plays as offensive coordinator for the first time, and now the guy who was supposed to be the anchor up front — the lone returning starter on the line, by most accounts entering camp — won't play a snap. Whoever steps in at left tackle inherits pass-protection duties for a rebuilding staff with zero margin for early-season chaos.
K-State still has time to piece things together before the opener, but losing a first-team preseason All-Big 12 tackle changes the math for the whole offense, not just the O-line room. Expect the Wildcats to lean on whoever they can find with starting experience, and expect Pastore's name to come back up in a few years if he opts to return for a medical redshirt season.