Previewing K-State's season opener against Nicholls plus bold predictions for tonight's game

The much-anticipated Collin Klein era kicks off tonight as K-State hosts Nicholls at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The Wildcats are favored by 41.5, while ESPN’s SP+ projects K-State to win 45-6.

Nicholls is coming off a 44-10 win over Mississippi Valley State in Week 0 last Thursday. The result wasn’t a surprise given Mississippi Valley State has won two games or less in all but one season since 2013. To give you an indication of how little to take from that result, consider that Nicholls defeated Mississippi Valley State 66-0 in 2024, yet ended the season with a 4-8 record.

The Colonels enter the 2026 season picked to finish 7th out of 10 teams in the Southland Conference on the heels of back-to-back 4-8 seasons. Tommy Rybacki heads into his second year as the program’s head coach after serving as the program’s defensive coordinator from 2015-24.

Nicholls’ strength in Ryback’s first season was its secondary, ranking 15th in the FCS in pass efficiency defense. However, the second-year head coach must replace last season’s top six tacklers, while only three defensive players who registered 200 or more snaps last season are back.

On the offensive side, Nicholls struggled, ranking 94th in passing efficiency while averaging under 4 yards per rush. Senior quarterback Ean Rodrigue returns after appearing in nine games last season, including starting the team’s final five contests. He threw for 916 yards and six touchdowns in 2025, while going 16-of-25 for 264 yards along with three touchdowns against Mississippi Valley State in the team’s season opener last week, highlighted by touchdown passes of 59 and 74 yards.

Since 2009, K-State has had six games against FCS opponents decided by a single score, including a 38-35 comeback victory against North Dakota last season. That will not be the case tonight. The Wildcats get the Klein era started with a dominant, 52-3 victory.

Now, let’s get into some of my bold predictions for tonight’s game:

“Special Teams U” returns as the Wildcats not only record a special teams score, but block a punt too

K-State built a national reputation for having the premier special teams’ units in the country under Bill Snyder. The program became dubbed “Special Teams U.” However, special teams play deteriorated the past couple of seasons in Manhattan.

Tonight, we will witness the beginning of the resurgence of dominant Wildcats’ special teams.

Stanton Weber has returned home to his alma mater as the program’s special teams coordinator. Success will not take long under his watch. K-State led the country with 29.5 yards per kick return along with four kick return touchdowns with Weber as the special teams quality control coach in 2019.

Weber has spent the past three seasons as Toledo’s special teams’ coach. Under his guidance, Toledo returned 22 kickoffs of 30-plus yards from 2023-25, ranking top six nationally in returns of 30 or more yards in every season. The Rockets led the country with five kick returns of 40-plus yards in 2024, were tied for No. 3 nationally in 2023 with three, and ranked in a tie for 19th with two 40-plus yard returns in 2025. Toledo also blocked three punts in 2025, tied for No. 4 nationally, while the Rockets blocked five total kicks, tying for the nation’s lead. During Weber’s three seasons there, Toledo recorded nine blocked kicks combined.

The average depth of Nicholls’ seven kickoffs was the 6.5-yard line against Mississippi Valley State, meaning the Wildcats will have opportunities in the return game. Though they’ll have to make the most of them, as I expect K-State’s defense to dominate Nicholls, limiting the number of chances K-State gets. Nicholls also allowed a 22-yard punt return vs. Mississippi Valley State last week.

K-State is not only going to have a special teams score in the return game this evening from Jay Harris or Brandon White, but Weber’s group will also block a punt.

K-State’s defense records five-plus sacks

Mississippi Valley State recorded two sacks in the season opener against Nicholls, which is replacing three starters along its offensive line from last season’s group. One of the Wildcats’ greatest strengths will be their ability to get after the quarterback this season.

Look for K-State to get Nicholls in several third-and-long situations, allowing defensive coordinator Jordan Peterson to unleash his greatest weapons on the edge. By the end of this evening, K-State fans who didn’t know before will be talking about the pass rushing duo of Wendell Gregory and Darien Whitaker and dreaming of the impact they could have on opposing offenses these next three months.

Overall, the Wildcats register five-plus sacks this evening, with defensive ends Jayden Bryant, Jordan Allen and Elijah Hill also wreaking havoc.

Running back Rodney Fields leads K-State in rushing yards

This is a hard one to predict given the Wildcats have a dual-threat quarterback in Avery Johnson as well as three running backs they really like in Joe Jackson, Rodney Fields and Jay Harris. That means the touches will be split fairly evenly in all likelihood.

Joe Jackson finished the 2025 season with a bang, rushing for 435 yards on 50 carries (8.7 yards per rush) in the team’s final two games, so he’d be the obvious choice here. But I’ll go with Fields to lead the Wildcats in rushing yards tonight. The Oklahoma State transfer, who rushed for 614 yards while averaging 5 yards per carry as a redshirt freshman last season, could be the first running back on the field after an impressive fall camp.

K-State’s inexperienced offensive line is a question mark heading into game one. But they should be able to push Nicholls around upfront, as the Colonels allowed 5 yards per carry and 149 yards rushing to Mississippi Valley State last week.

K-State’s defense forces two or more turnovers

I expect K-State’s defense to create havoc all night leading to multiple Nicholls turnovers.

Avery Johnson throws for over 200 yards, rushes for over 50 yards and has zero turnovers

Avery Johnson was credited with six turnover-worthy plays against FCS opponent North Dakota last season, according to Pro Football Focus. Tonight, the senior quarterback plays a clean, solid game, limiting mistakes while throwing for over 200 yards and rushing for over 50 on the ground.

Add us as a preferred source on Google