Kansas State Football Revives Its Season by Returning to Fall Camp Fundamentals
Kansas State football clawed its way back from a dismal 1-3 start in the fall of 2025 by halting traditional weekly game-planning and retreating to the basics of fall camp.
The Breaking Point in the Desert and the Decision to Reset
The inflection point arrived during a clash in Tucson, where quarterback Avery Johnson faced a crucial fourth-and-7 from the Wildcats’ 43-yard line down six points with under two minutes remaining. The pass fell incomplete, sealing a 1-3 record and capping a stretch that included a loss to Army. “We’re gonna make some changes, and we’re going to fight our tails, fight our ass off through the storm,” Klieman stated after the game, urging his players not to jump ship.
Rather than pushing forward with standard weekly preparations ahead of a matchup against UCF, the coaching staff chose a radical internal reset. Klieman and his assistants erased upcoming opponent formations from their whiteboards. Instead, the team staged intense, internal squad-versus-squad practices on the practice field, matching starters against starters in third-down scenarios, inside runs, and seven-on-sevens.
Reevaluating the Roster After a Compressed Preseason
The root of Kansas State’s early-season struggles stemmed partly from a compressed preseason schedule forced by a Week 0 game in Ireland. That early opener disrupted the standard developmental script, forcing the coaches to gameplan for Iowa State earlier than they would have otherwise.
“We weren’t a very good football team,” Klieman explained regarding the team’s state prior to the idle week. “So we needed another week of fall camp, and it came at the right time.” Both players and coaches openly owned their shortcomings during the evaluation window, treating the unexpected break as a second opening day.
Igniting a Winning Streak and Renewing Big 12 Momentum
The gamble paid immediate dividends. The Wildcats returned to the field with palpable energy, controlling the tempo in a 34-20 victory over UCF. Though they dropped a narrow one-point decision to Baylor shortly after, they rebounded with a 13-point win over TCU before dismantling their in-state rival Kansas 42-17, extending their winning streak over Kansas to 17.
“We’re not gonna stop fighting,” Avery Johnson noted following the blowout win over Kansas. “It just shows the amount of grit that this team has. The whole message throughout the locker room is taking one week at a time.” That newfound resilience positioned the Wildcats at 4-4 as they prepared to host a formidable Texas Tech squad at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
What Lies Ahead for the Wildcats
By stripping away complex game-planning and leaning on core fundamentals, Kansas State proved that institutional identity matters more than scheme adjustments when a season threatens to unravel. As the schedule hardens against top-tier Big 12 opponents contending for the College Football Playoff, the Wildcats rely heavily on the grit forged during those grueling, opponent-free practices in Manhattan. How sustainable this fundamentalist approach remains against elite national contenders will define the remainder of their campaign.
