‘I hope this was our hangover game’: Was fatigue an issue for K-State after Ireland?
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- K-State narrowly defeated North Dakota 38-35 after returning from Dublin.
- Coach Klieman cited travel fatigue as a possible cause but emphasized no excuses.
- Players credited recovery efforts, dismissing fatigue as a major performance factor.
The longer Kansas State struggled against North Dakota, one had to wonder if the Wildcats were dealing with fatigue or jet lag during a lackluster 38-35 victory on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
One week earlier, Chris Klieman’s team was playing a rivalry game against Iowa State that was located across the Atlantic Ocean and six time zones away at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Not only did the Wildcats lose that game in frustrating fashion 24-21, but they had to stew about the result during a nine-hour flight home.
It took a day or two for their bodies to adjust back to central time. So much so, that Klieman gave K-State a light practice schedule as they rested and began preparing for their home-opener against the Fighting Hawks.
No team that has lost in Ireland has gone on to have a winning season since the Aer Lingus College Football Classic became an annual game. It seemed like K-State was destined for a similar fate at times on Saturday, especially when North Dakota built a 21-17 lead at halftime and later surged ahead 35-31 in the fourth quarter.
Klieman said extensive travel “potentially” could have hurt the Wildcats this week.
“But that’s an excuse,” Klieman said. “All the coaches I talked to that went over there said, ‘You’re going to have a hangover game. It’s either going to be Game 2, Game 3, Game 4.’ I look at our schedule, and we get four in row before we get a break. I told the guys, ‘I hope this was our hangover game.’
“That’s no disrespect to North Dakota, because they’re a good football team that came in here and beat us until we beat them on the scoreboard late.”
It’s worth noting that Iowa State was in a similar situation and experienced zero problems in its game on Saturday. The Cyclones rolled to an impressive 55-7 victory over South Dakota in their home opener.
So even if the Wildcats were a bit slow at kickoff against North Dakota, they clearly could have handled the situation better.
K-State players pushed back against the notion that they were “hungover” for this game.
“I wouldn’t say that,” K-State defensive end Cody Stufflebean said. “That is not what attributed to this. I just think that we weren’t disciplined enough tonight.”
“The coaches took really good care of us this week,” K-State wide receiver Jayce Brown said. “They helped us get our bodies back and stuff like that. We took advantage of that and it really paid off this game.”
This story was originally published August 31, 2025 at 11:21 AM with the headline "‘I hope this was our hangover game’: Was fatigue an issue for K-State after Ireland?."