Sunday Slate: Downturn

On Friday night in the desert heat, Kansas State lost to Arizona 23-17 in the final non-conference game of 2025, in a game that was not even as close as that score line might suggest. The loss drops the Wildcats to 1-3 on the season, the program’s worst start since 1989, Bill Snyder’s first year in Manhattan.

In other words, Kansas State has reached a new, or at least long forgotten, low. At this writing, I can’t find the exact words to describe just how poorly these Wildcats played against those other Wildcats. Jon Morse did try to make sense of some of it in his recap, but the following words came to mind almost immediately: confusion, frustration, ineptitude, incompetence, you get the picture.

I have seen Kansas State lose before, even lose badly. We have all experienced this. But I can’t recall the last time a K-State offense looked this incapable of putting together a drive. There was absolute disarray on the field during several offensive possessions on Friday, notwithstanding the direct snap to Jayce Brown that led to a 75-yard touchdown run. It all begs the question: what the heck is going on in Manhattan these days?

That’s not letting the defense off the hook either. It’s true that Joe Klanderman’s unit isn’t the biggest problem area for Kansas State right now. But after getting road-graded by Army, the Wildcats’ also managed to give up over 200 yards on the ground and let Arizona hold the ball for nearly 37 minutes. Of course, the defense was not helped at all by K-State’s offense.

Avery Johnson had the worst game of his college career against Arizona. He was just 13/29 for a paltry 88 yards. It’s obvious now that he is not going to be a threat running the ball, but nobody understands why. At first, Chris Klieman noted he didn’t want Johnson to hurt himself, and that’s fair. I have complained about the QB run game in Snyder 2.0 that required the K-State signal caller to run right into defensive lines 20 times a game only to end up concussed (Klein, Delton) with a career-ending injury (Ertz), or needing surgery in the off-season (Waters, Thompson, Ertz). But if a dual threat QB is not the need of the hour, then why recruit a player like Avery Johnson? Why not let him do the thing he does best? Is this Matt Wells or is it Johnson not wanting to run the ball?

Some of Johnson’s comments after the game suggest it might be the latter. After the Arizona game, Johnson showed off his off-field leadership instincts by taking primary blame for the loss. But he also noted that “we do scheme up a lot of quarterback runs,” but he went on to admit that he hasn’t scrambled as much as he could. Whether this is reluctance to run on his part or a desire not to point fingers at his coaches remains to be seen.

For his part, Klieman was less taciturn, firmly putting the blame on the offensive line’s inability to protect Johnson. He was also emphatic that many of the Wildcats’ woes can be traced back to the lack of an effective running game, especially with Dylan Edwards still not at 100%. Still, as much as I appreciate this rare show of unedited candor from Klieman, he’s going to have to make some changes.

What I saw on Friday was not just a team struggling to move the ball, it was a team completely lacking any sort of offensive identity. That there’s no creativity in the coaching is a given at this point, but the offensive line went through so many different combinations and rotations on Friday that it’s hardly a surprise the linemen are confused and out of position. Is Kansas State a team that likes to run the ball? A team that can widen the field with tight end formations? A team that can be relied on to run a two-minute drill when the game is on the line? A team that can stop an opponent on third down, or even fourth down?

Right now, the answer is no.

Kansas State is 5-1-1 now, the program’s best ever record to start a season. The Wildcats wrapped up the non-conference slate with a 3-1 win over Colorado College at Buser Family Park. The first goal came off a penalty kick from Allison Marshall in the 19th minute, the first penalty conversion for K-State since 2022. The Wildcats then added a second penalty kick goal, this time from Andra Mohler in the 26th minute. A third and final score happened when Rilyn Rintoul scored her second goal of the season in the 55th minute.

The SoccerCats begin the Big 12 season with a match at Colorado next Thursday.

The VolleyCats had been a four-match winning streak to open the season, but that came to an end against UC Santa Barbara in a straight-sets loss at the Thunderdome Classic on Thursday night. Shaylee Myers was the bright spot in the contest, leading the team with 15 kills.

Luckily, the team bounced back in its next match against Northern Colorado, winning in straight sets to finish 1-1 at this tournament. The Wildcats had 12 aces in the match, including two in a row from Ava LeGrand. Myers once again led the team with seven kills and also notched two aces of her own.

Up next, K-State will wrap up the non-conference season with a road trip to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina on Friday followed by East Carolina on Saturday.

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