Editor’s note: Tenth in a series previewing each team in the Big 12.
The last time most of America viewed the Kansas State football team, the Wildcats were getting drubbed 45-20 by Alabama in the Sugar Bowl last New Year’s Eve.
Alabama does that to a lot of teams.
“This is his football team.” — Kansas State coach Chris Klieman on quarterback Will Howard
So the fact that coach Chris Klieman’s Big 12 championship game-winning squad ended the 2022 season on a sour note should not be cause for concern. The Wildcats lost some key players to the NFL, such as edge rusher supreme Felix Anudike-Uzomah, fellow defenders Julius Brents and Josh Hayes and running back Deuce Vaughn, but it appears K-State should be at the top of the Big 12 standings again in 2023.
Getting back to the championship game in Arlington, Texas, is a big ask after the Cats edged TCU 31-28 last December, but certainly not out of the realm of possibility. Klieman signed a new eight-year contract on May 15 that should keep him in Manhattan through 2030, and should keep the program a title contender for years to come, especially with the departures of Texas and Oklahoma at season’s end.
Kansas State’s 10 wins in 2022 were the program’s most since 2012. The Wildcats finished the season ranked No. 9 in the College Football Playoff Top 25, their second-highest ranking since the CFP system was initiated.
It is a program clearly on a roll. But don’t be fooled. Assistant head coach Van Malone said the Wildcats are not satisfied.
“I know there are leagues out there (that) get a lot more press, but the Big 12 is one of the most competitive conferences in the country,” Malone said a few days before spring practices wrapped up. “For us to have the opportunity to win the conference championship was a special moment for us. … But it is important for us as coaches that we continue to push our guys past that moment. Yes, we want to honor that moment, but we want to make sure we understand that it’s our place right now to move our program to the next phase.”
Kansas State doesn’t play BYU this season in the Cougars’ first year in the Big 12, but the programs have something in common. Like BYU, Kansas State didn’t have a traditional spring game.
Klieman said it was due to “roster management” and not having enough bodies to stage a competitive game.
“But we are getting our work in and keeping our guys as healthy as we can and making sure that we’re progressing toward 2023,” Klieman said.
Hopes remain high because 14 starters are back, most notably quarterback Will Howard, who took the reins to the offense the second half of the season and shined bright in his fourth year in the program.
“This is his football team,” Klieman said.
Howard, a big QB at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, threw for 1,633 yards and 15 touchdowns in seven games.
Vaughn will be tough to replace, but the Wildcats got Florida State’s Treshaun Ward out of the transfer portal, and expectations are high for DJ Giddens. Klieman dipped into the portal to fill a need at receiver, landing Iowa’s Keagan Johnson.
Also, Kansas State’s entire offensive line is back.
Defensively, Anudike-Uzomah is probably irreplaceable, but the Wildcats should still be a force with Khalid Duke, Uso Seumalo and Nate Matlack returning.
Oklahoma isn’t on KSU’s schedule in 2023, but the Wildcats do have some tests — particularly in the middle of the season when they travel to Oklahoma State on Oct. 6, to Texas Tech on Oct. 14, and to Texas on Nov. 4. That game against the Longhorns could be a preview of the Big 12 title game, according to some prognosticators.
Time will tell.
Kansas State Wildcats 2023 preview
2022 record: 10-4 (7-2 Big 12).
Local ties: None.
2023 schedule
Sept. 2 — Southeast Missouri.
Sept. 9 — Troy.
Sept. 16 — at Missouri.
Sept. 23 — UCF.
Oct. 6 — at Oklahoma State.
Oct. 14 — at Texas Tech.
Oct. 21 — TCU.
Oct. 28 — Houston.
Nov. 4 — at Texas.
Nov. 11 — Baylor.
Nov. 18 — at Kansas.
Nov. 25 — Iowa State.
