By:Ā D. Scott Fritchen – K-State Athletics
MANHATTAN, Kan. ā It rained touchdowns on the scoreboard, Willie the Wildcat sweated through hundreds of pushups, and a Kansas State record and Big 12 Conference record-tying six different players score rushing touchdowns as the Wildcats rolled to their most points in a season opener during their greatest trouncing over an opponent in a season opener with a 71-3 win against Nicholls at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Afterward, 36-year-old Collin Klein, who made arguably the most highly-anticipated debut by a head coach in K-State history, stood inside the victorious locker room ā completely soaked.
“I had to change clothes,” Klein said. “I was soaking wet. They got me. I walked into the locker room and right into an ambush. That’s all right. It was well worth it.”
Klein, who was hired on December 4, 2025, following the retirement of Chris Klieman, arrived after two ultra-successful seasons as offensive coordinator at Texas A&M, boasting a couple of the best offenses in the FBS.
Klein also previously guided a couple of the best offenses in K-State history as well and helped the Wildcats to the 2022 Big 12 Championship title.
But 71 points? In a first game as a head coach? It’s the most by a K-State team since the Wildcats scored a school-record 76 points against Ball State in 2000. And K-State did so against Nicholls as 16 different players made their first-career start, including seven on offense.
“I mean, this is about as good as you could draw up for a first game,” said Avery Johnson, who completed 15-of-21 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns, opening his senior campaign by becoming the K-State all-time leader with 51 career touchdown passes. “We came in with the mindset to dominate. “We have to have that killer mindset no matter the score or who we’re playing to get better. We had nine different players score a touchdown in a 10-touchdown game. It’s truly amazing and a credit to the depth on our roster and how many people can make a play when the ball is in their hands.
“CK called a great game. It was just playing catch.”
While K-State gained 559 total yards in offense, the Wildcats held the Colonels to 122 yards, which marked the fewest allowed in a full game since giving up just 109 to Tennessee Tech in 2009. Nicholls sought its fifth win over an FBS opponent since 2000 and looked to end a 13-game drought against FBS teams.
Special teams? K-State was special there, too, as transfer Brandon White, on his first-career punt-return attempt, dashed 65 yards for a score, giving “Special Teams U” its nation-leading 140th non-offensive touchdown since 1999 ā 10 more touchdowns than second-place Alabama on the list.
“I have to keep growing,” White said. “It means a lot to me to go out there and do that, me being able to use the abilities that God gave me. I was just taking it all in.”
A jubilant crowd of 51,179 that packed Bill Snyder Stadium also were eager to take in exactly what these Wildcats might be all about for the 2026 season. K-State played 85 players in all on Saturday.
“It was a really good night,” Klein said. “I was proud of our players. It was an incredible atmosphere. Our fans did an unbelievable job, as always, and with a lot of players who hadn’t experienced this environment. My message to those guys before the game was that we had to play with maximum effort and focus on every single snap and to strain and finish through everything we do. That’s what we’ve been trying to do since January. I was really proud of the mentality. I felt the focus level throughout the week was where it needed to be. They were dialed in and attacked the game plan.
“We have to sustain that, and we need to keep bringing that level of intensity and focus in everything that we do on a daily basis.”
Johnson made history on K-State’s first drive of the 2026 season. He became the all-time leader in touchdown passes when he threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jaron Tibbs in the end zone less than five minutes into the game, giving Johnson his 49th touchdown pass and breaking the mark he shared with Will Howard.
“The touchdown was funny how it even happened,” Johnson said. “I was throwing to Garrett Oakley on his hook route and Tibbs comes out of nowhere and snatches the touchdown from Oaks,” Johnson said. “I couldn’t draw it up any better and something like that, the ball just happened to find its way to Tibbs, and it was a great feeling.
“I definitely need to keep building here and continue to try and make the record untouchable.”
Moments later, Johnson accounted for another score when he dashed 10 yards into end zone, and the Wildcats converted the 2-point play for a 15-0 advantage.
After White scored his punt-return touchdown, it was time for sophomore running back Rodney Fields Jr., a transfer from Oklahoma State who made his first career start on Saturday, to score for the first time as a Wildcat. Fields raced 26 yards for a score to make it 29-0.
“It felt amazing going out there in my first game as a Wildcat,” said Fields, who had 14 carries for 101 yards and one touchdown. “I performed really well, and we as a team performed really well. We can get better next week.”
Nicholls scored for the first time when Kingston Phan hit a 32-yard field goal to cap an 11-play, 60-yard drive. It marked the only points for Nicholls, 1-1, which opened its season with a 44-10 win over Mississippi Valley State on August 27.
K-State answered as the Klein offense showed why running backs are particularly dangerous threats. Johnson lofted a brilliant pass to running back Joe Jackson across the middle, and Jackson outraced defenders 43 yards for a 36-3 lead. That made Johnson the first quarterback in K-State history to throw 50 touchdowns in a career.
Fields reached 100 rushing yards when he went five yards up the middle early in the third quarter. Moments later, Johnson fired his third touchdown pass ā an 11-yard pass to Josh Manning, who raced right to left across the back of the end zone for his first score as a Wildcat.
When K-State’s defense took the field, sophomore defensive end Darien Whitaker Jr. knocked the ball from Nicholls quarterback Ean Rodrigue and picked up the football for a 12-yard sack and fumble recovery. Three plays later, Jackson scored his second touchdown on a 6-yard run up the middle to make it 50-3 with 5:52 left in the third quarter.
“I don’t know if any of us know where Darien’s ceiling is, and that’s a great thing, and I’m so excited for him,” Klein said. “He’s going to be an impact player for a long time. Credit to him, his approach and effort have been outstanding and his body is right. I’m really excited to see him compete.”
Jay Harris, the third running back to see the field, ended the third quarter with an 11-yard touchdown run, then Monterrio Elston Jr., the fourth running back, opened the fourth quarter by racing down the middle of the field past defenders for a 46-yard touchdown.
That gave K-State a 64-3 with 13:19 remaining in the fourth quarter. At that point, K-State held a 511-84 advantage in total offense.
In the end, Klein, who famously wore the No. 7 jersey during a K-State career that ended with him as a 2012 Heisman Trophy finalist, put the ball into the hands of another quarterback in a No. 7 jersey ā fifth-year player Jacob Knuth, a 6-foot-4, 225-pounder similar in size to Klein during his playing days.
And Knuth put his head down and ran. And ran some more. He rushed three times for 25 yards, including his 5-yard keeper to push the advantage to 71-3 with 8:02 still left to go.
Seventy-one points.
“The biggest thing that I was excited about and proud of is the mindset mentality of every single player that went out there on that field tonight,” Klein said.
Klein earlier in the week said that he couldn’t wait to lead the team out of the tunnel.
What did Klein think about as he finally led his team onto the field Saturday?
“I was thinking of that first drive when we came out of that tunnel, I truly was,” Klein said. “I was wanting to get to my spot. And get the ball moving.”
In the first game of the Klein era, the ball ā and scoreboard ā moved in historic fashion.
