It’s Coming
Oct 06, 2026 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Phil Collins' 1980s hit song, "In the Air Tonight" shot across the football field at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Monday morning. Although it was far from nighttime as sunlight pelted Manhattan, the song's lyrics, "I can feel it coming in the air tonight," rings true for Kansas State.
The Wildcats, 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the Big 12 Conference, prepare for their Big 12 home opener, as No. 22 Houston, 4-1 and 1-1, visits for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
It's coming.
And K-State head coach Collin Klein, whose team comes off a bye week following a league-opening 31-26 loss at Cincinnati, can feel it in the Little Apple.
"I'm excited for our guys," Klein said at his weekly news conference on Monday. "We had a really good practice week during the bye week and really attacked things. We got back into the swing of things this morning and have to carry through our preparation this week.
"We have to have a good week."
K-State is one of eight FBS teams to rank in the top 25 in total offense, total defense, scoring offense and scoring defense, joining Georgia, Indiana, LSU, Nebraska, Miami, Ohio State and Utah.
However, the Wildcats spent their bye week sweating away the pain of their league-opening defeat while eyeing the first of eight remaining regular season games.
Down five with 51 seconds remaining, K-State had the ball with a chance to drive for a game-winning touchdown, but they came up empty at Cincinnati — a game that came on the heels of one of the best collective non-conference performances by the Wildcats in three decades of the Big 12 era.
"It always hurts sitting on a loss like that for that long," Klein said. "That's always painful. That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending upon how we respond. From an injury standpoint, timing wise, it's probably pretty good. We were able to maximize it and have a long eight weeks ahead of us and we have to put our head down and put some good performances together.
"You never know when those little things are going to bite you. There were a couple at Cincinnati that were, 'Hey, one little thing here and there,' and it bit us bad. That's a lesson. You watch across college football right now with how thin the margins are and how tight the games are, one possession here and there, one play here and there, and that's the difference. The good news is those are in your control. It's something that we have to focus on and continue to get better at across the board."
Klein began his news conference by announcing senior tight end Will Anciaux, a native of Wichita, Kansas, who had the best game of his career with three catches for 59 yards against Tulane, and who had played in the last 29 games with nine starts, will miss the remainder of the season with a lower-leg injury.
As for making any offensive adjustments with Anciaux out?
"We have some plans for that," Klein said. "We'll definitely package things around that position group and how that goes. We've been able to create an extra gap with an extra tight end and do a lot of good things out of 12 personnel. It's not something we'll change by any stretch ,but we have to be mindful and adjust accordingly."
K-State backup quarterbacks — Blake Barnett, Dillon Duff and Jacob Knuth — appear to remain day to day as they recover from injuries of their own.
"Still day to day," Klein said. "They've made progress but they're still working through it and we're massaging that one."
Klein said that senior wide receiver Jaron Tibbs, the team's top-returning pass catcher from a year ago, "will be just fine and has progressed well through the week, so no surprise there." Tibbs leads the team with 16 catches for 168 yards and one touchdown. He left with an undisclosed injury during the first quarter at Cincinnati.
In an effort to reduce repetitions among those players who saw significant action during the first five games, coaches worked to increase the activity among less-experienced players during practice over the bye week. Klein indicated that several players stood out in those practices.
"Lawson McGraw was one of those," Klein said. "That was really good. A couple wideouts, whether it be Adonis Moise or even Larry Porter IV, had a couple really good days and capitalized on some reps they were able to get. That's a really good thing. We were able to compete. That was important, just being able to get on that practice field and do some good-on-good work and compete."
McGraw is a 6-foot-4, 232-pound true freshman tight who was the 22nd-best athlete in the nation for the class of 2026 by 247Sports and had 49 catches for 799 yards and 12 touchdowns his final two seasons at Blue Valley West High School.
Moise is a 5-foot-11, 194-pound sophomore wide receiver who had six catches for 56 yards and two rushes for eight yards over 177 offensive snaps in nine games last season.
Porter is a 6-foot-1, 195-pound sophomore wide receiver who did not see any action last season.
"Capitalizing on the reps they were able to get, that's a really good thing," Klein said. "We were able to compete. That was important, just being able to get on that practice field and do some good-on-good work and compete."
The Wildcats are 19-11 all-time in their Big 12 home openers, including wins in each of their last four contests against Texas Tech (2022), UCF (2023 and 2025) and Oklahoma State (2024).
They prepare for Houston, which stormed back from a 17-0 deficit to a 27-17 victory over UCF in Houston. The Cougars trailed 17-14 entering the fourth quarter before signing off on another impressive victory under head coach Willie Fritz.
Fritz is 18-12 in his third season at Houston. The 2025 season featured one of the greatest turnarounds in Houston history as the Cougars won 10 games by winning six more games than Fritz's first season in 2024. It was the third greatest turnaround in school history and tied for the largest turnaround in the country last season.
Houston started its season with a 33-20 win over Oregon State and a 77-6 win over Southern before suffering a 28-26 loss at Texas Tech. The Cougars bounced back with a 42-28 win at Georgia Southern before their heroics against the Knights.
"It's a great test having Houston come in here," Klein said. "I've looked up to Coach Fritz for a long time having gotten into this profession and seeing his track record and how hard his teams play, how disciplined they are, the pressure they put on you schematically in all phases. It's going to be a really good test for us, and I respect the heck out of him and their program.
"We have our hands full this week."
It's the Big 12 home opener. It's coming.
Phil Collins' 1980s hit song, "In the Air Tonight" shot across the football field at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Monday morning. Although it was far from nighttime as sunlight pelted Manhattan, the song's lyrics, "I can feel it coming in the air tonight," rings true for Kansas State.
The Wildcats, 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the Big 12 Conference, prepare for their Big 12 home opener, as No. 22 Houston, 4-1 and 1-1, visits for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
It's coming.
And K-State head coach Collin Klein, whose team comes off a bye week following a league-opening 31-26 loss at Cincinnati, can feel it in the Little Apple.
"I'm excited for our guys," Klein said at his weekly news conference on Monday. "We had a really good practice week during the bye week and really attacked things. We got back into the swing of things this morning and have to carry through our preparation this week.
"We have to have a good week."
K-State is one of eight FBS teams to rank in the top 25 in total offense, total defense, scoring offense and scoring defense, joining Georgia, Indiana, LSU, Nebraska, Miami, Ohio State and Utah.
However, the Wildcats spent their bye week sweating away the pain of their league-opening defeat while eyeing the first of eight remaining regular season games.
Down five with 51 seconds remaining, K-State had the ball with a chance to drive for a game-winning touchdown, but they came up empty at Cincinnati — a game that came on the heels of one of the best collective non-conference performances by the Wildcats in three decades of the Big 12 era.
"It always hurts sitting on a loss like that for that long," Klein said. "That's always painful. That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending upon how we respond. From an injury standpoint, timing wise, it's probably pretty good. We were able to maximize it and have a long eight weeks ahead of us and we have to put our head down and put some good performances together.
"You never know when those little things are going to bite you. There were a couple at Cincinnati that were, 'Hey, one little thing here and there,' and it bit us bad. That's a lesson. You watch across college football right now with how thin the margins are and how tight the games are, one possession here and there, one play here and there, and that's the difference. The good news is those are in your control. It's something that we have to focus on and continue to get better at across the board."
Klein began his news conference by announcing senior tight end Will Anciaux, a native of Wichita, Kansas, who had the best game of his career with three catches for 59 yards against Tulane, and who had played in the last 29 games with nine starts, will miss the remainder of the season with a lower-leg injury.
As for making any offensive adjustments with Anciaux out?
"We have some plans for that," Klein said. "We'll definitely package things around that position group and how that goes. We've been able to create an extra gap with an extra tight end and do a lot of good things out of 12 personnel. It's not something we'll change by any stretch ,but we have to be mindful and adjust accordingly."
K-State backup quarterbacks — Blake Barnett, Dillon Duff and Jacob Knuth — appear to remain day to day as they recover from injuries of their own.
"Still day to day," Klein said. "They've made progress but they're still working through it and we're massaging that one."
Klein said that senior wide receiver Jaron Tibbs, the team's top-returning pass catcher from a year ago, "will be just fine and has progressed well through the week, so no surprise there." Tibbs leads the team with 16 catches for 168 yards and one touchdown. He left with an undisclosed injury during the first quarter at Cincinnati.
In an effort to reduce repetitions among those players who saw significant action during the first five games, coaches worked to increase the activity among less-experienced players during practice over the bye week. Klein indicated that several players stood out in those practices.
"Lawson McGraw was one of those," Klein said. "That was really good. A couple wideouts, whether it be Adonis Moise or even Larry Porter IV, had a couple really good days and capitalized on some reps they were able to get. That's a really good thing. We were able to compete. That was important, just being able to get on that practice field and do some good-on-good work and compete."
McGraw is a 6-foot-4, 232-pound true freshman tight who was the 22nd-best athlete in the nation for the class of 2026 by 247Sports and had 49 catches for 799 yards and 12 touchdowns his final two seasons at Blue Valley West High School.
Moise is a 5-foot-11, 194-pound sophomore wide receiver who had six catches for 56 yards and two rushes for eight yards over 177 offensive snaps in nine games last season.
Porter is a 6-foot-1, 195-pound sophomore wide receiver who did not see any action last season.
"Capitalizing on the reps they were able to get, that's a really good thing," Klein said. "We were able to compete. That was important, just being able to get on that practice field and do some good-on-good work and compete."
The Wildcats are 19-11 all-time in their Big 12 home openers, including wins in each of their last four contests against Texas Tech (2022), UCF (2023 and 2025) and Oklahoma State (2024).
They prepare for Houston, which stormed back from a 17-0 deficit to a 27-17 victory over UCF in Houston. The Cougars trailed 17-14 entering the fourth quarter before signing off on another impressive victory under head coach Willie Fritz.
Fritz is 18-12 in his third season at Houston. The 2025 season featured one of the greatest turnarounds in Houston history as the Cougars won 10 games by winning six more games than Fritz's first season in 2024. It was the third greatest turnaround in school history and tied for the largest turnaround in the country last season.
Houston started its season with a 33-20 win over Oregon State and a 77-6 win over Southern before suffering a 28-26 loss at Texas Tech. The Cougars bounced back with a 42-28 win at Georgia Southern before their heroics against the Knights.
"It's a great test having Houston come in here," Klein said. "I've looked up to Coach Fritz for a long time having gotten into this profession and seeing his track record and how hard his teams play, how disciplined they are, the pressure they put on you schematically in all phases. It's going to be a really good test for us, and I respect the heck out of him and their program.
"We have our hands full this week."
It's the Big 12 home opener. It's coming.
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