Bye Week Blessing: Kansas State to Hit the Reset Button
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After seasons of 10-4, 9-4, and 9-4 dating back to 2022, there is absolutely nothing that would have indicated Kansas State's fall from grace in 2025 was coming.
Back in May of 2023, KSU locked down head coach Chris Klieman to an 8-year extension that would keep him in Manhattan through the 2030 season. Klieman also turned down plenty of national interest to return to the Wildcats in the long term.
Now, a little more than two years after that extension, Klieman and his team are looking for answers following a 1-3 start to the year.
"I don't know what our identity is right now after four games," Klieman said after his team's 23-17 loss to Arizona this past Saturday. "I thought I did after Iowa State, but that hasn't come to fruition. I know the kids want to win. We've got tough, resilient kids that will come back and battle."
With the lack of an identity, Klieman was left to assess why his team had struggled — and in short, his answer was everywhere.
"We did not win the line of scrimmage, that's the biggest thing I saw," he said. "We can't get off the field on defense, and we can't sustain any drives on offense. We've got to do some evaluating ourselves as a staff with what we need to adjust and change."
Fortunately for KSU, they're in the middle of their first of two bye weeks this season, and it genuinely couldn't have come at a better time. With the team doubting its every move as of late, the off week is allowing the coaching staff and, of course, the players to go back to the drawing board.
"Our guys need a break a little bit, and we need a break as coaches as well," Klieman said. "We'll come back and reset. I told the guys, we're in the storm right now. Without a doubt, we are in the storm, and we're going to own that storm. As coaches we're going to own it, and as players I know they'll own it."
When it comes to that hard reset for the Wildcats, it could be more about reducing what's in the playbook rather than trying to change things around.
"We've got to find some things — maybe we've got to simplify some things on both sides of the ball so that our kids can play faster," Klieman said. "I thought we didn't play as fast as I would have hoped. We aren't as talented as I thought; maybe we were. Once again, without Dylan, that's a big hit."
Klieman, of course, is referring to the team's loss of running back Dylan Edwards. As many remember, Edwards went down with an ankle injury on his first touch of the season against Iowa State in Ireland. He then missed the team's win over North Dakota and subsequent loss to Army on September 6.
Seeing the team at 1-2, Edwards suited up for KSU against Arizona this past weekend, but his ankle still wasn't right, and he ended up with just four carries for 15 yards, albeit one of them was an 11-yard scamper.
Klieman admitted that the team just doesn't have that punch of a running back behind Edwards right now, and it was evident in the loss to Arizona, where the team combined for only 105 yards on the ground.
"I'm disappointed more than anything that we're not giving these guys enough opportunities or finding ways for them to be successful, or finding schemes for them to be successful," Klieman said. "We've got to reset some things as a coaching staff and find out what we do really well."
Klieman's analogy of being in the middle of a storm seems accurate, considering K-State can manage just one more loss this season if they want to keep pace with the quality of play they've produced in recent years. While a bumpy start to the year could lead to fingers being pointed, Klieman says he's making sure both the coaches and players are pointing their thumbs instead.
"We're going to see some calmness this week in the eye of that storm, and we're going to figure some things out," he said. "We're going to make some adjustments, we're going to make some changes, and then we've got to fight our ass off through that storm as we go to UCF and the meat of our schedule."
The schedule certainly doesn't let up once KSU returns to action. UCF is currently 2-0, prepping for a showdown with former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and his North Carolina Tar Heels. The Wildcats are still staring down the tunnel at Baylor (2-1), TCU (2-0), Kansas (2-1), Texas Tech (3-0), Oklahoma State (1-1), Utah (3-0) and Colorado (1-2), which is the only team with a losing record currently on the remainder of the schedule.
This season isn't lost just yet, but the margin for error the rest of the way out is minuscule if Klieman and company want to keep the ship afloat here in 2025.
"I pride myself and this coaching staff and our players on being a sustained winner, and right now, we're not that," Klieman said. "I've got to own it. We've got to own it as a football staff and football team. I'm not throwing in the towel. We've got to figure this out because we've got kids who want to be good in there."
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Spencer Schubert is a born-and-raised Nebraskan who now calls Hastings home. He grew up in Kearney idolizing the Huskers as every kid in Nebraska did in the 1990s, and he turned that passion into a career of covering the Big Red. Schubert graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2009, and kickstarted what's now become a 17 year career in journalism. He's served in a variety of roles in broadcasting, including weekend sports anchor at KHGI-TV(NTV) in Kearney, Sports Director at WOAY-TV in West Virginia and Assistant News Director, Executive Producer and Evening News Anchor for KSNB-TV(Local4) in Hastings. Off the clock, you'll likely find Schubert with a golf club in his hand and spending time with his wife, 5-year-old daughter and dog Emmy.