Kansas State Football had eventful week after defeating Texas Tech

Kansas State football had quite the week after their victory over Texas Tech.

On Monday, it was announced that Kansas State football head coach Chris Klieman received a contract extension that raised his annual salary up to near $ 4 million a season through the 2026 season. After taking over for Bill Snyder, Klieman has come in and worked to continue the tradition of competing and winning while also working to improve both the roster depth and athleticism through a renewed focus on recruiting and development. The emphasis toward both was on display in the fourth quarter of their game against Texas Tech.

Klieman most definitely deserved the extension, but this wasn’t the only storyline to follow this week for K-State fans. Skylar Thompson’s injury in the win over Texas Tech was concerning and fans are hoping he’ll be able to return soon to help the Wildcats on the gridiron.

During the second quarter of the game against Texas Tech, Thompson took a hard hit after throwing the ball and was walked off the field directly to the locker room while a trainer held Thompson’s arm. It certainly did not look good and while I’m not a doctor, the injury looked bad enough to where the Wildcats would hold him out this week against TCU.

The senior team leader helped push the Wildcats to a two touchdown lead at halftime. It certainly appears the Cats avoided the worst as there appears to be hope the senior signal caller can return in a few weeks. That brings in new quarterback Will Howard and the band of new comers leading the way for the Cats.

The win over Texas Tech put on full display the new playmakers brought to Manhattan under Klieman and the Cats owe their victory to the newcomers. Undersized dynamo Deuce Vaughn followed up his coming out party against Oklahoma, accounting for 194 total offensive yards and two touchdowns including a 70 yard touchdown catch to seal the victory over the Red Raiders.

Freshman signal caller Will Howard went 7 of 12 for 173 yards and the touchdown to Vaughn, and also hit transfer tight end Briley Moore on a crossing pattern that led to a catch and run deep into Texas Tech territory. New to Manhattan after transferring from Northern Iowa, Moore has been a godsend to the Wildcats offense, quickly becoming a playmaker and 163 receiving yards and two  touchdowns through the first three games. With last year’s playmaker Malik Knowles disappearing from the passing game thus far, Moore has picked up the slack and aided the Cats offense.

The Wildcats are scheduled to travel to Forth Worth this weekend to take on TCU, and will do so lead in the backfield by a pair of true freshmen in Howard and Vaughn. Moore and Vaughn will make up the top receiving threats for the Wildcats passing game. The new arrivals are leading the Wildcats attack, while Klieman will be around for years to come to coach and develop the next group of playmakers in Manhattan.