Tulane Football Schedule Breakdown: Kansas State

Tulane Football Schedule 2026

Week 1 - at Duke, September 5
Week 2 - South Alabama, September 12
Week 3 - at Kansas State, September 19
Week 4 - Southern Miss, September 26
Week 5 - OPEN DATE, October 3
Week 6 - at Army, October 10
Week 7 - Memphis, October 16
Week 8 - UTSA, October 24
Week 9 - at Charlotte, October 30
Week 10 - Tulsa, November 7
Week 11 - at Rice, November 14
Week 12 - North Texas, November 21
Week 13 - at South Florida, November 27

Tulane has a somewhat favorable outlook for weeks one and two, especially against South Alabama.

We at On SI Tulane believe that TU's first true test will come week three, when the Green Wave travels to Manhattan, Kansas to face off against the Wildcats.

We predicted what would happen against Kansas State on June 30th, and although one of us picked Tulane to win this one, I might have jumped the gun a little.

Staff Buzz

Kansas State kicked their offseason off by hiring former Texas A&M offensive coordinator and quarterback coach, Collin Klein on December 4th of last year.

This will be Klein's first stint as a head coach in his career, and it'll be for his alma mater, K-State, as he played quarterback for the Wildcats from 2008-2012.

Notable achievements include a Second-team All-American selection, a Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, a Kellen Moore Award, Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, and Big 12 Athlete of the Year, all of which came during his senior year.

His on-the-field accomplishments aside, before he was hired at Texas A&M, he served as the same position (OC & QB coach) at Kansas State from 2022-2023 (2019-2021 as only the QB coach).

His accolades and pedigree deserve praise as a hire, and we're sure Kansas State is more than excited to have a Wildcat legend rejoin the program.

Scariest Offense Yet

With a brand new head coach comes new aspirations. The Wildcats are hoping to make a jump into the upper echelon of the Big 12, and Collin Klein seems like just the guy to help make that leap.

Coaching can only get you so far though, and third year starting quarterback, Avery Johnson, is looking to help push K-State to the top. Johnson isn't what scares us, however, it's who lines up next to him that does.

Junior running back, Joe Jackson, finished the last two games last year hotter than anyone else in the country. He'd rush for 293-yards and three touchdowns against the 12th ranked Utah Utes, and he'd follow that game with another stellar performance: 142-yards and another three TDs against Colorado.

With the rushing game already being a threat, the addition of Klein will add some real firepower through the air.

Adding fuel to the fire is tight end duo Linkon Cure and Garrett Oakly, who are praised as NFL talents.

Oakly and Cure provide both a safety blanket and explosiveness, respectively, so the Wave front seven will have their hands more than full while trying to stop this high-powered offense.

The Lesser of Two Evils

Klein wasn't the only Aggie that the Wildcats managed to snatch. Defensive coordinator, Jordan Peterson, came as a package deal with Klein from Texas A&M.

Peterson was a cornerback at A&M from 2006-2009 before joining the program as a graduate assistant in 2010. He'd begin his coaching career in 2012 at Fresno State, before bouncing between New Mexico and Kansas from 2017-2023.

Peterson was a co-defensive coordinator at Texas A&M (2024-2025) as well as the defensive back coach. Now, he'll take the full roll of defensive coordinator all while still being the DB coach.

Kansas State is reported to have returned 51% of their defense from last year (both starters and back-ups), which ranks 73rd in the country according to Bill Connelly on ESPN.

Although almost half of the defense has been replaced, the returning offense bolstered by a new head coach along with a promising DC hire will surely prove to be Tulane's toughest challenge in the season so far.

Something else to consider: this game will be played at Kansas State, so the Wave had better come prepared.

On Tuesday, we cover Tulane's next opponent and Coach Will Hall's former team, Southern Mississippi.

Add us as a preferred source on Google