A Unique Opportunity Giving Added Motivation

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Arguably the most popular topic addressed by both Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman and Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell at the 2025 Big 12 Football Media Day didn't involve their team's favorable standing among the league's teams heading into the fall.

Rather, the hot topic centered on a story that has been more than 300 days in the making — a story about two of the league's top teams, rivals who have met 108 consecutive times, and a journey that will take both 4,000 miles to play a football game in Dublin, Ireland.

It's the Aer Lingus College Football Classic on August 23 at Aviva Stadium. It's Week Zero. It's the first game of the 2025 college football season and the first-ever meeting between the teams in a season-opener.

It's a huge opportunity.

"Eighteen months ago, it was, 'This is the greatest thing,'" Klieman said. "Now this is coming up pretty fast. I know this is a great rivalry between Iowa State and Kansas State and it has been for an awful long time. There's great respect between the two programs."

And there's been plenty of planning for the show in less than six weeks.

"I almost feel like since January, it's not only what does it mean to play in a game like that early in the season, but also the travel and what happens post that game," Campbell said. "If you look at the history of this Week Zero game, I don't know if anybody has handled it really well, whether they won or lost the game. I think they've had some tougher moments post that game. When you look at this, you've got to look at it in its entirety and be able to look at the challenges.

"How did you set up your spring calendar? How do you set up your summer calendar? How do you do a great job of making sure practice fits, fall camp fits in the lead-up to this unique opportunity in Week Zero."

A buzz has filled the Vanier Family Football Complex as preparations remain ongoing. K-State coaches and players report to training camp on Tuesday as time ticks down to Dublin. K-State Athletics reports that around 10,000 tickets have been sold to Wildcat fans with more expected.

"What an opportunity to showcase the Big 12," Klieman said. "That's the biggest thing about the Ireland game is for us to be on that center stage representing this great conference with two great institutions playing in a Week Zero matchup. What a great time to have that game. We're excited about that opportunity.

"We're excited about getting going."

Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CT on ESPN. This will mark the third time K-State and Iowa State have met at a neutral site after playing at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2009 and 2010. This will also mark K-State's second game outside of the United States as it played Nebraska in Tokyo in 1992.

There was a definite buzz among K-State players, who took photos with the Aer Lingus College Football Classic trophy at Big 12 Football Media Day. The Pop-Tarts Bowl is also taking the opportunity to gain further exposure as bowl representatives will transport two Pop-Tart edible mascots to watch the previous Pop-Tarts Bowl winners play in Ireland.

K-State quarterback Avery Johnson got a taste of a Pop-Tart after a 28-19 win over NC State in the 2023 Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, Florida.

Now Johnson hopes to feast on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in Dublin.

"I'm really excited to go out there," Johnson said. "It's going to be a great environment and a great situation for us to play in. It's something I'm going to be able to talk to my kids about one day. It's going to be a really fun experience for us. I'm just excited to get out, even if we were playing at K-State or if it was an away game, I don't care where the game is at, I'm excited to get back out on the field."

K-State is one of only five Power 4 teams to win at least nine games each of the last three seasons with at least one conference championship in that timeframe, joining Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and Oregon.

Iowa State leads the all-time series 54-50-4 and has won two straight and four of the last five in the series, including a win in the regular season finale last year that allowed the Cyclones to clinch a berth in the Big 12 title game.

Johnson is eager to turn the tables as the Wildcats seek to become the first college football team to win a game in the 2025 season.

"It's definitely extra motivation for us knowing we've lost to Iowa State the last two years," Johnson said. "They beat us to end the regular season last year and left a bad taste in our mouth. It definitely doesn't sit well with me and the rest of our team. We still owe those guys.

"We're going to prepare our hardest and go out there and get the win."

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Avery Johnson

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