Bold predictions & game-by-game picks for Kansas State Wildcats football in 2025
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Avery Johnson aims to surpass 3,000 passing yards behind added receiver depth.
- Dylan Edwards steps into feature role with expanded duties across offense.
- Wildcats projected to contend for Big 12 crown under Chris Klieman.
Expectations are always high for the Kansas State football team at this time of year, but starting the season with a rivalry game against Iowa State in Dublin, Ireland has taken things to a different level.
K-State fans, some of whom have never before left their home country, will be flying overseas and spending big bucks to watch the Wildcats later this month.
They wouldn’t do that for just any team. But this squad has Avery Johnson back at quarterback, Dylan Edwards ready to emerge at running back and Chris Klieman in his seventh year as head coach.
A few years have passed since K-State last won a Big 12 championship in 2022. Are the Wildcats poised for another big season?
There’s no better time to make some prognostications.
Here are five bold predictions for K-State’s upcoming season, plus game-by-game picks:
1. Avery Johnson will throw for 3,000 yards
Kansas State’s starting quarterback entered the record books last season when he threw for a program-best 25 touchdowns as a sophomore. This season, he could easily become the third player in K-State history to eclipse 3,000 passing yards.
Jake Waters (3,501 in 2014) and Josh Freeman (3,353 in 2007) are the only K-State quarterbacks who have reached that number before. Joining them would put Johnson in elite company.
Johnson flirted with 3,000 yards last season, as he finished with 2,712 after the Wildcats beat Rutgers at the Rate Bowl. A new crop of wide receivers and a new offensive coordinator could help put him over the top.
Jayce Brown is the best wide receiver that Klieman has recruited at K-State, and he should only improve as a junior. Perhaps he can become the first K-State wide receiver in more than a decade to top 1,000 yards in a season. It will also be hard for defenses to focus extra attention on him with Purdue transfer Jaron Tibbs and Boston College transfer Jerand Bradley joining the fold.
Factor in other weapons in the passing game like running back Dylan Edwards and a plethora of talented tight ends and Johnson says he no longer feels the weight of the world on his shoulders. He doesn’t want to win games all by himself. He wants to be a facilitator.
That sounds exactly like what Matt Wells will be looking for as he takes over as offensive coordinator. Most expect him to rely on the passing game more than his predecessor, which should give Johnson more opportunities than ever before to throw for big yardage.
2. Dylan Edwards will make the All-Big 12 team
Replacing a running back with the kind of talent that DJ Giddens brought to Bill Snyder Family Stadium shouldn’t be easy. But the Wildcats might not miss him, because Dylan Edwards is more than ready to lead the K-State backfield this season.
The former four-star recruit showed the world what he was capable of when he exploded for 224 total yards and three touchdowns for the Wildcats at the Rate Bowl. He was a threat to reach the end zone every time he touched the ball. Now he is ready for an encore.
K-State plans to use Edwards in many different ways. The Wildcats will give him the ball as both a running back and as a wide receiver. Fans will also see him on returns.
Edwards finished last season with 679 total yards of offense as a complementary player. His production should skyrocket now that he is in a starting role.
3. VJ Payne will score multiple touchdowns ... on defense
You may have heard that senior safety VJ Payne is the fastest player on the K-State football roster. He is capable of running 24 miles per hour. Here’s guessing he puts that speed to good use this season in the form of takeaways.
Payne grabbed a pair of interceptions and successfully defended six passes on his way to honorable mention All-Big 12 accolades.
It won’t surprise anyone if those numbers increase, and he finds enough daylight to reach the end zone multiple times.
4. Austin Romaine will lead K-State with more than 100 tackles
This may not sound like a bold prediction to certain K-State fans. After all, Josh Buhl led the Wildcats with a whopping 184 tackles in 2003. How hard can it be to reach the century mark on defense?
Well, the game has changed over the past two decades. No K-State defender has piled up 100 tackles in a season since Elijah Lee in 2016. Two years ago, 63 tackles was enough to lead the roster.
Romaine seems poised to stack up impressive numbers after recording 118 stops over the past two seasons.
The junior linebacker has made the jump from unheralded recruit to star player in just two college seasons. There is a reason that Klieman has predicted an All-America season for him. He can prove his coach right by making 100-plus tackles.
5. The Wildcats will reach the Big 12 championship game
Big 12 football can be summed up with one word — unpredictable.
Arizona State and BYU were expected to be the worst two teams in the conference last season, and they both had incredible squads. On the other end of the spectrum, Oklahoma State and Utah went from being preseason darlings to complete flops.
More than that, no team has reached the Big 12 championship game in consecutive seasons since Oklahoma made four straight trips to Arlington, Texas, between 2017 and 2020. That trend could be bad news for Arizona State and Iowa State after they played for the trophy last season.
Who will rise to the top of the league standings in 2025? It’s impossible to know for sure. But why not pick a team that has consistently been in the conference race in each of the past four seasons? K-State has averaged nine victories since 2021, and it won the league crown in 2022.
The Wildcats have proven to have a high floor under Klieman. It will come as a major surprise if they drop off this season. With Johnson back at quarterback, this seems like an ideal time for the Wildcats to raise their ceiling and play for another conference title.
Game-by-game K-State picks
Aug. 23 vs. Iowa State (11 a.m. on ESPN): No team has caused more problems for the Wildcats in recent years than the Cyclones. Matt Campbell has won four of the past five against Chris Klieman. And the lone win for K-State came by a single point (10-9) when the Wildcats won the Big 12 in 2022. Farmageddon is always a hard game for EMAW nation. It will be interesting to see if moving this rivalry to Dublin and playing the game in August will change the outcome. I have a sneaking suspicion those changes will be good for K-State. Klieman has played things close the vest all preseason, and I suspect he will have some surprises for Iowa State, similar to when he sprung a 3-4 defense on Stanford in the 2021 season-opener and the Wildcats won that game easily. K-State 24, Iowa State 23.
Aug. 30 vs. North Dakota (6 p.m. on ESPN+): Few coaches are better at beating up on FCS opponents than Chris Klieman. The Wildcats might have to deal with some jet lag after returning home from Ireland, but that won’t be enough to make this a close game. They should be able to name the score in their home-opener. K-State 44, North Dakota 6.
Sept. 6 vs. Army (6 p.m. on ESPN): The first few games of the season make it feel like athletic director Gene Taylor is pulling a prank on Chris Klieman. Starting the year in Ireland and then playing a service academy two weeks later might cause countless headaches for the Wildcats. Few teams are harder to prepare for than Army and its triple-option offense. K-State lost to Navy in the 2019 Liberty Bowl the last time it faced a similar opponent. The Wildcats should have a big enough talent advantage to win this game, especially at home. But it won’t be a gimme. K-State 31, Army 17.
Sept. 12 at Arizona (8 p.m. on FOX): K-State has never started 4-0 under Klieman, and I don’t see that trend ending this season. This is a bad spot for the Wildcats, as they will have to travel to Arizona for a Friday game one week after hosting Army and three weeks after playing in Ireland. Fatigue is bound to catch up to K-State players at some point. And the Wildcats tend to lose at least one game per season as sizable favorites. I won’t be surprised if they fall flat in Tucson, even though they are the better team on paper. On the plus side, this game won’t count in the Big 12 standings. Arizona 33, K-State 24.
Sept. 27 vs. UCF: It’s hard to explain why, but Klieman has historically struggled with extra time to prepare for regular-season games. The Wildcats are only 2-5 after open weeks under Klieman (excluding the 2020 pandemic season). But this off week comes at an ideal time for K-State. The Wildcats will get 15 days to rest up and regroup. They will play like a refreshed team and take care of business against a Big 12 opponent that might finish near the bottom of the conference standings. K-State 50, UCF 10.
Oct. 4 at Baylor: The Bears were one of the hottest teams in the country late last season. Dave Aranda’s team closed out the regular season with six consecutive wins against Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, TCU, West Virginia, Houston and Kansas by an average victory margin of 14.9 points. If Baylor can build off that momentum, this will be one of the hardest games on the entire K-State schedule. Here’s guessing the Bears win a shootout. Baylor 37, K-State 34.
Oct. 11 vs. TCU: The key to this game will be slowing down TCU quarterback Josh Hoover. The talented passer threw for 3,949 yards and 27 touchdowns last season. That isn’t good news for a K-State defense that struggled against the pass at times last season. Still, I expect defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman to come up with a good scheme here. K-State should also score plenty of points against a suspect TCU defense. K-State 30, TCU 20.
Oct. 25 at Kansas: It won’t surprise me if the Jayhawks score a long-coveted win in the Sunflower Showdown this season. The Wildcats have won the past two meetings in this rivalry by a combined total of six points. The gap is no longer what it once was between these teams. Still, K-State has won 16 straight in this series for a reason. I can’t predict in-state talents like Avery Johnson and Dylan Edwards to let the streak end. K-State 28, Kansas 27.
Nov. 1 vs. Texas Tech: On paper, the Red Raiders will be the best team in the Big 12 this season. It’s hard to know how many wins that will translate to on the field, given that Texas Tech has never even reached the conference championship game before. Spending millions on a roster doesn’t guarantee success. Still, this will not be an easy game for the Wildcats. It’s also worth mentioning that K-State has lost its past two games coming off the Sunflower Showdown. Texas Tech 24, K-State 21.
Nov. 15 at Oklahoma State: The Wildcats will need to be ready for anything with Mike Gundy getting two weeks to prepare for this game. But little else should scare K-State fans about this spot on the schedule. Oklahoma State endured more coaching/roster turnover than just about any team in the country after its winless Big 12 campaign last year. K-State 27, Oklahoma State 17.
Nov. 22 at Utah: Let’s hope K-State learned a thing or two from its trip to nearby Provo, Utah last season. Because that game really got out of hand as the Cougars rolled to a 38-9 victory. The Utes figure to be a wildcard team this year. Some think they are poised for a bounce-back season. Others think they will remain down. In any case, I expect K-State to perform better than its last trip to the mountains. K-State 20, Utah 12.
Nov. 29 vs. Colorado: No victory felt more rewarding for K-State players last season than a 31-28 road triumph over Colorado. The Wildcats celebrated that win long into the night and poked fun at the Buffaloes on social media afterward. Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter are gone, but Coach Prime is still in charge. I expect the Wildcats to remain highly motivated for this game and turn in an impressive performance, especially on senior day. K-State 45, Colorado 21.
Final record: 9-3 (7-2 Big 12).
This story was originally published August 13, 2025 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Bold predictions & game-by-game picks for Kansas State Wildcats football in 2025."