K-State Q&A: Will Howard, football transfers and Big 12 hoops outlook for Wildcats
It felt weird to watch Will Howard and Kobe Savage play in a bowl game earlier this week that didn’t involve Kansas State.
Howard led Ohio State to a 41-21 victory over Savage and Oregon by throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns in the Rose Bowl, which sent the Buckeyes to the semifinal round of the College Football Playoff.
A year ago, Howard and Savage were teammates at K-State. Now, here they were, playing against each other on the grandest of stages in Pasadena, California.
Good for them.
I’m sure some K-State fans have mixed feelings about Howard and Savage finishing their college football careers at Big Ten schools, but this sort of thing is inevitable in the current NIL/transfer landscape. Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers started out at Ohio State. Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard used to play at Duke. Players switch teams all the time nowadays. Might as well get used to it.
Savage had a solid year at Oregon, making 64 tackles for the Ducks.
Howard has looked like a Heisman Trophy contender during the playoffs. He threw for 311 yards and two touchdowns against Tennessee. Then he backed that up with another monster showing against Oregon.
It’s impossible to know how things would have worked out for him and K-State had he stayed in Manhattan for another year. But both sides ended up in a good place. The Wildcats won nine games with Avery Johnson leading the offense as a sophomore. The Buckeyes are favored to win the College Football Playoff with Howard distributing the ball to an all-star group of playmakers.
Howard was never able to beat Texas when he was at K-State. It will be interesting to see how he handles another matchup with that defense, even if he is now wearing a new uniform.
K-State fans will remain interested in the playoff for as long as Howard and Ohio State stay alive in it.
Now, let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
As I was watching Will Howard light up Oregon, it gave me pause. Is his younger brother still at Kansas State and intending to stay? - Kirk Z. via e-mail.
Ryan Howard remains a promising young offensive lineman on the K-State football roster.
He has given no indication that he plans to transfer. It will be interesting to see how quickly he can develop as a blocker and make an impact for the Wildcats on their front five.
Howard didn’t do any media interviews this year, but his teammates said it was fun to stay connected with his older brother through him now that he is tearing it up at Ohio State.
Have there been any new entrants from K-State to the transfer portal since your last update? If so, what is projected impact, in your opinion? - Kirk Z. via e-mail.
Here’s where things stand with K-State football when it comes to transfers.
Outgoing transfers:
- Evan Cantu
- Jayden Cook
- Jordan Dunbar (Bowling Green)
- Keagan Johnson (New Mexico)
- Darell Jones
- Terry Kirksey (Connecticut)
- Alec Marenco
- Erwin Nash
- Donovan Rieman (Louisiana Tech)
- Ta’Quan Roberson
- Gabe Roland
- Kam Sallis
- Tre Spivey (Arizona)
- Nickendre Stiger
- Dante Thomas
- Carver Willis (Washington)
- Justin Wolf
Incoming transfers:
- Jerand Bradley (Boston College)
- Gunner Maldonado (Arizona)
- Mar’Quavious Moss (West Georgia)
- Gabe Powers (Ohio State)
- Jayden Rowe (Oklahoma)
- Amos Talalele (USC)
- Jaron Tibbs (Purdue)
My thoughts: Chris Klieman and his coaching staff did a nice job in terms of retention. The Wildcats lost 17 players to the transfer portal, and none of the departures left fans in agony.
Sure, K-State would have preferred to hold on to Tre Spivey, Carver Willis and a few others. But no team is going to keep every single player they want. It was a good month for the Wildcats in that regard.
Of the incoming transfers I am most excited to see Gunner Maldonado at defensive back and Jaron Tibbs at wide receiver. Those are two positions of need for the Wildcats and both of those players showed flashes at their previous schools.
Why has the secondary struggled so much with giving up big plays for a couple years in a row? What are the coaches focusing on to fix this? - @SirSmores via X.
The Wildcats gave up too many explosive plays this season. No doubt about that.
More than a few average quarterbacks put up stats like Patrick Mahomes when they faced the K-State defense.
Houston quarterback Zeon Chriss completed all 11 of his passes in a monsoon. Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah earned himself a big NIL deal from Duke by throwing for 342 yards against K-State. Alan Bowman, of all people, threw for 364 yards and a touchdown against the Wildcats.
It’s worth noting that K-State was perfectly fine giving up those numbers to certain opponents. The Wildcats were weak, at times, against the pass because they were trying to stop the run.
Perhaps taking a more balanced approach on defense will help make K-State a little stronger against the pass. But I wasn’t impressed by K-State’s safeties this year. VJ Payne was solid, but his teammates weren’t always playing at that same level. Pairing him with Mar’quavious Moss and Gunner Maldonado should be an upgrade next season.
Or Joe Klanderman could simply choose to blitz more often. He won a lot of games by blitzing in the fourth quarter.
I am very concerned about our defense next year. Especially with losing Brendan Mott. -@WildcatV1ctory via X.
That is understandable.
K-State is bidding farewell to some of its biggest defensive playmakers, and it’s not like the Wildcats were all that stingy this season with them in the starting lineup. So there is some concern heading into next season without Brendan Mott, Austin Moore, Jacob Parrish, Marques Sigle and Keenan Garber.
But the Wildcats do have some young players who seem ready to make a bigger impact.
Damian Ilalio and Uso Seumalo will both be back at defensive tackle. Tobi Osunsanmi and Chiddi Obiazor could both step up at defensive end. Austin Romaine is a future star at linebacker. Jack Fabris could become a starter at safety.
Cornerback seems like a big question mark, though.
K-State will be relying on lots of new and/or unproven players. But that isn’t necessarily a horrible thing for a defense that got carved up a few times this season.
I’m wondering what has happened to Brylee Glenn, who was a starter last season for the women’s basketball team. She has not played recently, if at all, this season. Is she injured? I’m not aware of any announcement concerning Brylee. - Steve L. via e-mail
Brylee Green is sitting out this season with a redshirt.
That came as a surprise back in November, seeing as how she averaged 7.6 points and 2.5 rebounds during her first three years with the Wildcats. Players don’t often redshirt when they are seniors. But it makes sense now.
Jeff Mittie upgraded the women’s basketball roster so much at her position that her playing time was going to decrease. By using a redshirt now, she is setting herself up to play more next season.
Which would be a bigger comeback and why? The football team’s 17-point rally against Rutgers or the men’s basketball team making a comeback to win enough games to make the NCAA Tournament? - @bfullingt1 via X.
I should channel my inner Jim Mora and answer this question the same he did back in the day when he was asked about the Indianapolis Colts possibly making the playoffs.
Playoffs? Don’t talk about the playoffs! I just hope we can win another game!
Trade the word “playoffs” for “NCAA Tournament” and that is how I feel about K-State potentially making the Big Dance this season.
Is it possible? Sure. But the Wildcats are going to need around 13 more victories to make it happen.
To illustrate just how that will be to pull off in the rugged Big 12, K-State has never won more than 11 conference games during the Jerome Tang era.
K-State currently ranks No. 107 in the NET, No. 81 at Bart Torvik and No. 86 at Ken Pomeroy. This team has a lot of work to do if it wants to make the NIT, let alone the NCAA Tournament.
Tang guiding this team to the Big Dance after a 6-5 start would be a truly remarkable turnaround. So it would be a much bigger come back than what Chris Klieman’s group pulled off at the Rate Bowl.
Storming back to beat Rutgers was impressive, and the victory sent K-State into the offseason with plenty of hope and momentum. But it wouldn’t top a K-State basketball run to March Madness.
Which of the following is “Real” or a “Mirage”? The current version of men’s basketball team that upset Cincinnati or the current version of the women’s basketball team that struggled to put away Houston? -@ChadFullington via X.
They are both “mirage” in my book.
I’m not worried about the women’s basketball team. Jeff Mittie’s group is off to a 2-0 start in conference play with a 76-59 win over Cincinnati and a 74-55 win over Houston. Those don’t seem like struggles to me, even if the Houston win wasn’t flawless.
I am still worried about the men’s basketball team, though.
It was encouraging to see Tang use his best players and rely on Dug McDaniel as the starting point guard against Cincinnati, but this team has lacked consistency all season. The odds of the Wildcats getting great games from Coleman Hawkins and McDaniel every night are low.
Tang’s team has enough talent to pull off an occasional upset when it plays well. But K-State also started McDaniel against LSU and lost that game by 11. I’m not going to believe the Wildcats have turned some kind of corner until I see them bring it in consecutive games.
This story was originally published January 3, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "K-State Q&A: Will Howard, football transfers and Big 12 hoops outlook for Wildcats."