Football
Last night, in the 2025 home opener, Kansas State beat UND 35-38. So why does it feel like the Wildcats actually lost the game?
Maybe it was because the spread was -28.5? Maybe it’s because UND is an FCS team that went 5-7 last year and has a first-time starter at QB, a team that was only supposed to show up to take a beating and a massive payday? Or maybe, just maybe, this year’s version of the Kansas State Wildcats is just not very good?
Head coach Chris Klieman, sometimes given to covering for his
players with platitudes and coachspeak, was more candid this time, admitting “[UND is] a good football team that came in here and beat us. We beat them on the scoreboard late.”
That late score came on a 10-play, 81-yard drive capped by a 6-yard toss from Avery Johnson to Joe Jackson that saved the game for the Wildcats. Aftwerwards, Johnson, showing some of the personality that makes him a star, had this to say:
I’ve always been the person to think if we get the ball last, we should win the game, and I’m always going to have that type of confidence in myself and my teammates. That helps with poise, confidence and calmness, and I think everybody feeds off that. I’m continuing to be a great leader even in adverse times.
That game-winning drive doesn’t change the fact that K-State looked pretty dire for much of the game. The offense looked good, but only in places. The defense looked good, but only for part of the game. Did everyone just forget that you have to play all four quarters, that winning a football game requires that you plan, execute, and play better than the other team?
Some will say that the mark of a good team is the ability to escape a bad performance, to overcome mistakes and put together a game-winning drive. Certainly, we have seen K-State teams play badly in home games against allegedly overmatched opponents, barely eke out a win, and then ride that momentum for the rest of the season.
But this feels different. Let me just put this out there: I think the players are fine. They’re talented and hardworking and it shows, even if only in fits and starts. They’re also capable of the sort of candor that is sometimes missing in the coaches. As Johnson noted after the game, leadership matters.
If we’re going to play like this every week, we’re not going to be the team that we want to be. I just went straight up to all the leaders on our offense and on our defense. We have to take accountability for the game we had tonight. It was way too close for comfort.
I’m much more worried about the coaching staff. What the heck are they doing?
Matt Wells is supposed to be a QB whisperer or sorts, and yet, it doesn’t feel like Johnson has made real strides since taking over the starting role from Will Howard last year. He’s fast, but Kansas State is not necessarily making good use of his wheels. He has a decent arm, but he’s so frequently throwing off his back foot, or missing receivers in stride, or even just lobbing the ball up into the end zone and getting lucky when one of his teammates comes down with it. There doesn’t seem to be any method to this madness? I worry that this staff is wasting the potential of a bonafide star and the impact that will have on the future.
Similarly, while Joe Klanderman’s second-half adjustments are fast becoming the stuff of Kansas State legend, why are the Wildcats seemingly always in a hole that requires these adjustments? I get that defenses react to what the opponent’s offense throws at them and it can take a couple of series to settle in and fight that, but it’s happening in every game, and I’m beginning to wonder if there’s no plan in place at kickoff, if the defensive staff is just sort of winging it for the first half. (I’m exaggerating, but I know some of you share this sentiment).
Finally, and it pains me to say this, but we are failing at the margins right now. Bill Snyder stressed that Kansas State could only win by being great in all the small and often ignored aspects of the game, including special teams. We have all witnessed first-hand how a great punt or kick return can change the entire tenor of a K-State game, we have been lucky enough to have some of the best place kickers carry the team to victory in the past and we have seen some of the best punters reliably flip the field for the Wildcats. To not be more than adequate in these areas now hurts, and it is absolutely going to cost Kansas State the game eventually.
For this, I have only one answer: hire Sean Snyder.
Soccer
Maybe we’re a soccer school now? Continuing the program’s best start to date, the Kansas State soccer team beat UMass-Lowell 4-0. A goal from Andra Mohler in the 28th minute put the Wildcats up for good, but the rest of the scoring came in the second half. A pair of goals in the 61st minute, courtesy of Allison Marshall and Hannah Palmer, gave Kansas State an unassailable 3-0 lead, and Gabby DeMers added the final goal in the 85th minute as icing on the cake.
The Cats’ road trip to New England continues with a match against Harvard on September 1 at 10:30 AM CT.
Volleyball
In their season opener at the K-State Invitational, the VolleyCats left no doubts about being the better team, beating the UMBC Retrievers in straight sets, 25-20, 25-16, 25-15. The effort was due in no small part to a .310 hitting percentage, a near-career high 20 kills from senior Shaylee Myers and a double-double from Ava LeGrand, including a career-high 32 assists and a team-high 12 digs from the senior.
The K-State Invitational concludes today with a match against Delaware at 1 PM CT at Morgan Family Arena.
Have a great rest of your long weekend!
