A New Challenge Awaits
Sep 11, 2026 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Kansas State opened the Collin Klein era with a 71-3 trouncing of Nicholls in its season opener last Saturday. One day later, Washington State suffered a 24-10 loss at No. 17 Washington in the debut of head coach Kirby Moore.
Now the pair of 36-year-olds and former college football standouts will share the same field when the Wildcats and Cougars meet for the first time in their 131-year histories in an 11:00 a.m. kickoff at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
"At the end of the day, we didn't get it done and we went back to the drawing board," Moore said. "We're going to work to be a problem solver on offense, defense and special teams.
"I know Collin was up for a lot of awards as a player and did a great job and they won a lot of games. He's done a great job coaching while he's back there. I have a ton of respect for him as a coach."
Klein was hired at K-State on December 4, 2025. Eight days later, Washington State announced Moore as its new head coach after he served the previous three years as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Missouri.
"You can see (Moore) has his fingerprints on it, for sure," Klein said. "They're building from the structure and things that he's done and done very, very well and won a lot of games with. So, there's history there."
Klein, who came to K-State after two ultra-successful years as offensive coordinator at Texas A&M, is already making history of his own in the Little Apple, as K-State raced to its most points ever in a season opener and scored the fourth-most points by a FBS team in a game this season.
K-State also allowed Nicholls just 122 total yards, the fewest total yards allowed in a game by the Wildcats since 2009, and the Wildcats scored their first punt-return touchdown since 2024 — their 140th non-offensive touchdown since 1999, which leads the FBS during that span.
"We planned it out, visualized exactly how everything was going to go, and were very, very detailed through that," Klein said. "It was fun and we enjoyed the plan coming together."
Saturday's game will feature a pair of quarterbacks who are regarded both for their throwing arm and elusive feet. Redshirt sophomore Caden Pinnick, who was named Washington State starting quarterback on August 24, earned FCS Freshman All-America honors while throwing for 3,206 yards with 32 touchdowns and 10 interceptions at UC Davis. Pinnick, a 6-foot, 192-pounder, also rushed for 437 yards and three touchdowns.
Pinnick completed 16-of-25 passes for 142 yards and no touchdowns and two interceptions to go along with 14 rushes for 61 yards and one touchdown on an 11-yard keeper in his debut performance for the Cougars.
Washington State managed 242 total yards and suffered three turnovers against Washington.
"I was very impressed with how competitive (Pinnick) was," Klein said. "When things weren't' going well offensively early in the game, he didn't flinch. When they got it going, it was him putting them on his back. He's definitely dangerous with his legs and can extend and make plays down the field. It'll be a really good challenge for us."
Washington State faced a challenge in going against Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr., who threw for 268 yads and one touchdown, and who added seven carries for 61 yards and one score.
Now the Cougars, who started eight returners, three returning redshirts and 11 transfers in their opener, could face a bigger challenge.
Fresh off his three-touchdown performance through the air against Nicholls, which established a school-record 51 career touchdown passes, senior Avery Johnson will lead a K-State offense that gained 559 total and accounted for nine touchdowns in the opener against a Power 4 opponent.
Johnson, whose 27 career starts are tied for fifth most by a K-State quarterback since 1990, is the fastest to reach 5,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in a K-State career, and he ranks top 5 in school history in five different categories and top 10 in eight other categories.
He went 15-of-21 for 199 yards and three touchdowns, and he had four carries for 23 yards and one touchdown on the ground, while his passing efficiency rating of 198.2 marked the highest of his career for a season opener.
"One hundred percent, you see it every year that Avery's played in big games, him taking off, whether it's in the run game, a play that breaks down in the pass game," Moore said. "That's definitely an emphasis. Avery's top-end speed might be a little bit faster than the Washington quarterback, and you see that show up in the open field. We have to take great angles and play team defense."
Washington State fought hard against Washington, which amassed 402 total yards, including 268 yards passing and 134 rushing, but suffered 12 penalties in the contest.
The Cougars' defense closed the second quarter with a goal-line stop, with Keith Brown making the tackle on a fourth-and-1 rush at the Washington State 1 as time expired. After Washington State, which missed a pair of field goals, crept to 10-7 following Pinnick's 11-yard touchdown run, Washington pulled away and scored two touchdowns in the final eight minutes.
"They were incredibly physical, played incredibly hard, ran to the football very well, and you look at some of the things they did in their front seven and it was very impressive," Klein said. "This is going to be a good challenge for us."
Challenges are nothing new for K-State, which under Klein preached physicality upon his hiring, and underwent a strenuous offseason of weights and condition in order to "strain and finish." The Wildcats adhere to a building-block process bent upon continual development and improvement each day.
The hard work paid off for the Wildcats in Week 1.
"We have great confidence, but we cannot become complacent," K-State sophomore nickelback JoJo Scott said. "It's another game, and we have to focus on Washington State. We have to keep stacking days. Coach Klein emphasizes physicality a lot, so for us to go good-on-good from January to now, it showed our toughness for sure in the first game."
The first game was an eye-opener of sorts for many of the 58 newcomers on the roster who perhaps hadn't played in front of an environment like 50,000-capacity Bill Snyder Family Stadium, which buzzed with anticipation in the season opener.
"That atmosphere was crazy and something I'm not used to," said K-State fifth-year senior cornerback Kaleb Patterson, who played two years at Pearl River Community College and then spent two years at Illinois before transferring to K-State. "The crowd was hyped, and it was fun. It was unlike anything else. We've been through a lot since January from doing the stations and everything they put us through with working hard together and overcoming together. It definitely allows us to play fast and get some aggression out on the field.
"We have to remember what Coach Klein teaches us, to keep our head down, to keep working. We have to keep going, man, and keep that chip on our shoulder. The job isn't finished."
K-State is just getting started.
And that might be the scariest part.
Kansas State opened the Collin Klein era with a 71-3 trouncing of Nicholls in its season opener last Saturday. One day later, Washington State suffered a 24-10 loss at No. 17 Washington in the debut of head coach Kirby Moore.
Now the pair of 36-year-olds and former college football standouts will share the same field when the Wildcats and Cougars meet for the first time in their 131-year histories in an 11:00 a.m. kickoff at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
"At the end of the day, we didn't get it done and we went back to the drawing board," Moore said. "We're going to work to be a problem solver on offense, defense and special teams.
"I know Collin was up for a lot of awards as a player and did a great job and they won a lot of games. He's done a great job coaching while he's back there. I have a ton of respect for him as a coach."
Klein was hired at K-State on December 4, 2025. Eight days later, Washington State announced Moore as its new head coach after he served the previous three years as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Missouri.
"You can see (Moore) has his fingerprints on it, for sure," Klein said. "They're building from the structure and things that he's done and done very, very well and won a lot of games with. So, there's history there."
Klein, who came to K-State after two ultra-successful years as offensive coordinator at Texas A&M, is already making history of his own in the Little Apple, as K-State raced to its most points ever in a season opener and scored the fourth-most points by a FBS team in a game this season.
K-State also allowed Nicholls just 122 total yards, the fewest total yards allowed in a game by the Wildcats since 2009, and the Wildcats scored their first punt-return touchdown since 2024 — their 140th non-offensive touchdown since 1999, which leads the FBS during that span.
"We planned it out, visualized exactly how everything was going to go, and were very, very detailed through that," Klein said. "It was fun and we enjoyed the plan coming together."
Saturday's game will feature a pair of quarterbacks who are regarded both for their throwing arm and elusive feet. Redshirt sophomore Caden Pinnick, who was named Washington State starting quarterback on August 24, earned FCS Freshman All-America honors while throwing for 3,206 yards with 32 touchdowns and 10 interceptions at UC Davis. Pinnick, a 6-foot, 192-pounder, also rushed for 437 yards and three touchdowns.
Pinnick completed 16-of-25 passes for 142 yards and no touchdowns and two interceptions to go along with 14 rushes for 61 yards and one touchdown on an 11-yard keeper in his debut performance for the Cougars.
Washington State managed 242 total yards and suffered three turnovers against Washington.
"I was very impressed with how competitive (Pinnick) was," Klein said. "When things weren't' going well offensively early in the game, he didn't flinch. When they got it going, it was him putting them on his back. He's definitely dangerous with his legs and can extend and make plays down the field. It'll be a really good challenge for us."
Washington State faced a challenge in going against Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr., who threw for 268 yads and one touchdown, and who added seven carries for 61 yards and one score.
Now the Cougars, who started eight returners, three returning redshirts and 11 transfers in their opener, could face a bigger challenge.
Fresh off his three-touchdown performance through the air against Nicholls, which established a school-record 51 career touchdown passes, senior Avery Johnson will lead a K-State offense that gained 559 total and accounted for nine touchdowns in the opener against a Power 4 opponent.
Johnson, whose 27 career starts are tied for fifth most by a K-State quarterback since 1990, is the fastest to reach 5,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in a K-State career, and he ranks top 5 in school history in five different categories and top 10 in eight other categories.
He went 15-of-21 for 199 yards and three touchdowns, and he had four carries for 23 yards and one touchdown on the ground, while his passing efficiency rating of 198.2 marked the highest of his career for a season opener.
"One hundred percent, you see it every year that Avery's played in big games, him taking off, whether it's in the run game, a play that breaks down in the pass game," Moore said. "That's definitely an emphasis. Avery's top-end speed might be a little bit faster than the Washington quarterback, and you see that show up in the open field. We have to take great angles and play team defense."
Washington State fought hard against Washington, which amassed 402 total yards, including 268 yards passing and 134 rushing, but suffered 12 penalties in the contest.
The Cougars' defense closed the second quarter with a goal-line stop, with Keith Brown making the tackle on a fourth-and-1 rush at the Washington State 1 as time expired. After Washington State, which missed a pair of field goals, crept to 10-7 following Pinnick's 11-yard touchdown run, Washington pulled away and scored two touchdowns in the final eight minutes.
"They were incredibly physical, played incredibly hard, ran to the football very well, and you look at some of the things they did in their front seven and it was very impressive," Klein said. "This is going to be a good challenge for us."
Challenges are nothing new for K-State, which under Klein preached physicality upon his hiring, and underwent a strenuous offseason of weights and condition in order to "strain and finish." The Wildcats adhere to a building-block process bent upon continual development and improvement each day.
The hard work paid off for the Wildcats in Week 1.
"We have great confidence, but we cannot become complacent," K-State sophomore nickelback JoJo Scott said. "It's another game, and we have to focus on Washington State. We have to keep stacking days. Coach Klein emphasizes physicality a lot, so for us to go good-on-good from January to now, it showed our toughness for sure in the first game."
The first game was an eye-opener of sorts for many of the 58 newcomers on the roster who perhaps hadn't played in front of an environment like 50,000-capacity Bill Snyder Family Stadium, which buzzed with anticipation in the season opener.
"That atmosphere was crazy and something I'm not used to," said K-State fifth-year senior cornerback Kaleb Patterson, who played two years at Pearl River Community College and then spent two years at Illinois before transferring to K-State. "The crowd was hyped, and it was fun. It was unlike anything else. We've been through a lot since January from doing the stations and everything they put us through with working hard together and overcoming together. It definitely allows us to play fast and get some aggression out on the field.
"We have to remember what Coach Klein teaches us, to keep our head down, to keep working. We have to keep going, man, and keep that chip on our shoulder. The job isn't finished."
K-State is just getting started.
And that might be the scariest part.
Players Mentioned
Thursday, September 10
Tuesday, September 08
Tuesday, September 08
Monday, September 07
