Three Things Kansas State Coach Chris Klieman Said ahead of the Wildcats’ Trip to Stillwater

The Cowboys and Wildcats each had last week off to bandage some wounds, but they’ll go head to head on Saturday.

Oklahoma State hosts Kansas State at 11 a.m. Saturday in Boone Pickens Stadium. K-State coach Chris Klieman met with reporters earlier this week to preview the game. Here are three things he said that stood out.

1. K-State Loses a Tailback

The Cowboys will feel no sympathy for the Wildcats losing a player midseason, but that’s what happened last week when running back Dylan Edwards shut things down with plans on entering the transfer portal.

“Last week, he decided to redshirt and that he was going to leave the program,” Klieman said. “I wish him well. It’s unfortunate, but I wish him well.”

OSU had a portal window open up in the middle of its season after Mike Gundy’s firing, a window a handful of Cowboy players jumped through.

Edwards started his career at Colorado in 2023 before transferring to the Little Apple the next year. In 184 career carries, he has 1,072 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns.

Having only played in four games this year, Edwards is the Wildcats’ third-leading rusher behind Joe Jackson (105 carries for 407 yards and a touchdown) and quarterback Avery Johnson (81 carries for 343 yards and seven touchdowns).

2. On K-State’s Lack of Success in Stillwater

Chris Klieman hasn’t won in the fortress that is Boone Pickens Stadium. In fact, the Wildcats haven’t won in Stillwater since 2017 — and even that was their only win at OSU since the turn of the century.

Given the state of the OSU football program, Saturday is a probably the ideal spot to add to K-State’s Stillwater wins, but Klieman and Co. are still preparing for the uniqueness that is BPS.

“It’s tight,” Klieman said. “There’s only a couple places like that. Kinnick Stadium at Iowa is really, really tight. Oklahoma is really tight. They’re right on top of you, and they can get really loud. So, we’ve got to do a lot of things regardless of what the attendance is — and I don’t know where that’s gonna be — because of the paddles and stuff banging. You’re gonna have a hard time going on certain cadences, so we’ll spend a lot of time on that. We did last week a little bit just on air, so to speak, just with our center and quarterbacks. But it’ll be a big focus for our attention this week because of the noise that kinda vibrates in there.”

3. ‘Credit to Those Kids Because They Stayed’

As previously mentioned, a 30-day portal window opened in Stillwater earlier this year, which only added to the struggles of an already struggling team.

Klieman was asked a question about OSU quarterback Zane Flores, who K-State also recruited. Klieman’s response started about Flores but then turned to giving props for the remaining Cowboys who hunkered down to continue the season.

“He’s bought in,” Klieman said. “I think that’s the biggest thing when you get into today’s day and age of coach is not there and stuff. That kid’s bought in, and you can tell that he’s a pretty good leader with that group.

“Situations are hard, and my hat’s off to all those players that stayed. It’s a big deal for those kids to stay because those kids didn’t have to, based on all the new rules on when the transfer portal closed and opened and coaches. Credit to those kids because they stayed. That’s the sign of great character.”