As a quarterback, Collin Klein led Kansas State to success a generation ago. This week, he’s in Manhattan at age 36 for his first game as a head coach.
The Wildcats host Nicholls on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, which is named after the legendary figure for whom Klein played when he was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2012.
Kansas State finished 6-6 a season ago and declined a bowl invitation. It was just the second time since 2010 that it did not play in a bowl. Consensus projections put it at seventh or eighth in the 16-team Big 12 this year.
Klein frequented the transfer portal, adding 26 new players, including defensive end Wendell Gregory from Oklahoma State and wide receiver Josh Manning from Missouri.
He also is shuffling new and inexperienced bodies along the offensive line, notably because of the loss of left tackle John Pastore to 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 offense has several key mainstays, including quarterback Avery Johnson, who enters his senior season with 5,576 passing yards and 1,378 rushing yards for his career.
Senior running back Joe Jackson, a third-team all-conference pick a season ago, rushed for 435 yards and six touchdowns combined against Utah and Colorado over the final two games of 2025.
Nicholls (1-0), a member of the FCS Southland Conference, has a game in hand, a 44-10 nonconference victory against Mississippi Valley State in Week 0. Senior quarterback Ean Rodrigue threw for 264 yards and three touchdowns, Tamaj Hoffman rushed for 53 yards and two touchdowns, and the defense intercepted three passes.
Colonels coach Tommy Rybacki, who is 5-8 overall in his second season, said that already having played gives his team an advantage Saturday.
“A lot of coaches would tell you that you make a lot of progress between Games 1 and 2,” Rybacki said.
One task for Rybacki’s team is setting aside the historical success of the bigger school it’s facing and playing with discipline.
“We talk a lot about focusing on the task at hand,” Rybacki said. “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.”
