Collin Klein's debut opens two linemen short
Collin Klein's first game as Kansas State's head coach arrives with both projected starting tackles gone for the year, pushing two unproven blockers into the opener against Nicholls.
Klein's first camp is also his first crisis up front
Collin Klein took over this program to bring a K-State legend back to the sideline, and his first fall camp has handed him an offensive line rebuilt on the fly. Preseason All-Big 12 left tackle John Pastore is out for the year with a lower-leg injury, and Heartland College Sports reported that Oklahoma State transfer tackle George Fitzpatrick has also been shut down, with doctors recommending he sit out the season for his long-term health. That is two starting tackles gone before a snap has been taken against Nicholls.
The answer, per that same Heartland report, is junior Tyler Johnson and sophomore Gus Hawkins sliding out to the tackle spots, with new offensive line coach Mike Schmidt — hired away from San Diego State — leaning on a pair of transfers up front, Colorado State's Tanner Morley and Missouri's Keiton Jones, at the guard spots. It is a first-year staff installing a first-year offensive line in real time.
K-State ran for 171 yards and 5.1 a carry a season ago behind the group Pastore anchored, so the question hanging over Klein's debut isn't the record — it's whether the line holding up now can protect that number.
Last season ended on a win, after a stretch that went back and forth
K-State closed last season by beating Colorado 24-14 at home on November 29, but that finish came at the end of a five-game stretch that swung both ways: a 42-17 win at Kansas, a 43-20 home loss to Texas Tech, a 14-6 road win over Oklahoma State, a 47-51 heartbreaker at Utah, then the Colorado win to send the year out on a high note.
There's no roster carryover data in front of us to say how much of that group returns, so take the finish for what it is — a program that won three of its last five last season and gets to open this one with that as the most recent memory in the building.
Recent News
Covers' injury tracker, aggregated and unattributed to any single reporter, lists two Wildcats worth watching into next week. John Pastore (OG) is Out for the season with the lower-leg injury, confirmed Friday, August 21 — the same absence driving the line rebuild above.
The other is receiver M. Lovett, listed Questionable with an arm injury reported last week. That tag is a genuine doubt, not a placeholder — Covers' own language says it's unclear whether he plays against Nicholls, so treat it as a game-day decision rather than a given.
Nicholls just hung 44 on somebody, and K-State opened as a 40.5-point favorite anyway
Nicholls isn't walking into Manhattan cold. The Colonels romped past Mississippi Valley State 44-10 in their own opener, building a 37-0 halftime lead behind three touchdown passes from Ean Rodrigue and two rushing scores from Tamaj Hoffman — the second straight opening win for head coach Tommy Rybacki, per Crescent City Sports. That form clearly didn't move the number much: the line still opened at -40.5 for K-State, with the total set at a comparatively measured 55.5 given the size of the spread.
K-State opens at home at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on September 5 vs. Nicholls, and it's the first real test of whether that rebuilt tackle duo can hold up before conference play gets harder. Kickoff is Saturday, September 5 at 6:00 PM.