Kade Warner never played in a bowl at Nebraska. He’s glad that will change at K-State
Skylar Thompson will play in his third bowl game before this football season comes to an end, so the Kansas State quarterback understandably didn’t celebrate all that much when the Wildcats clinched a postseason berth by beating rival Kansas over the weekend.
“We didn’t come here to win six games and be bowl eligible,” Thompson said on Tuesday. “That’s not why I came here ... Yes, it’s a nice accomplishment, but we’re here for more.”
Many of his teammates have echoed that sentiment.
For the oldest players on K-State’s football team, securing bowl eligibility feels a lot like surviving the first cut on American Idol. Yes, it’s a good thing. But there’s still a long way to go before you’re singing with Kelly Clarkson and Ruben Studdard.
Still, there were a few K-State players who are more excited about the prospect of a bowl trip than others. One is downright giddy about it.
His name is Kade Warner. After spending the past three seasons as a receiver at Nebraska while the Cornhuskers slogged their way to records of 4-8 and 5-7 and 3-5, he is about to find out what it feels like to play in the postseason for the first time.
“I have never been able to go to a bowl game before,” Warner said. “I know six wins and a bowl game isn’t the goal, but to have that, for me, it’s going to be pretty cool.”
The son of former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, he joined K-State during the spring as a transfer. After just nine games with the Wildcats (6-3, 3-3 Big 12) he has experienced more victories than he was a part of during any single season with the Cornhuskers.
He was slow to make an impact with the Wildcats, but he has become a valuable member of the offense in recent games. Warner has caught multiple passes in three straight games and now has 10 grabs for 120 yards on the season.
His reward is a bowl trip.
Warner called that “a great relief.”
“I have never been to one and I have heard so many good stories and so many memories that have been made and the amount of fun you get to have on them,” Warner said.
“So it’s not only the fact that I have never been to one but the fact that we’ve been close at Nebraska for the last couple years to going on one and we never could get there.”
Other transfers who joined the team this season were also excited about bowl possibilities, such as Prairie View A&M defensive back Reggie Stubblefield. He has also never played in one before.
Warner said his family has already begun scouring bowl projections.
It remains to be seen where K-State will end up playing over the holidays, but the most likekly options are the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando, Fla., the Texas Bowl in Houston, the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., and the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix.
The Wildcats have played in three of those games over the past five years, but they will all be a new experience for Warner after starting his college football career at Nebraska.
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Kade Warner never played in a bowl at Nebraska. He’s glad that will change at K-State."