The Colorado Buffaloes' 2025 season is nearly over, and man, what a letdown it has been in Boulder. The Buffs sit at 3–8, and that ninth loss looms large with the news that Deion Sanders will bench freshman quarterback Julian Lewis on Saturday to preserve his redshirt eligibility. That puts Ryan Staub in line for game action in Manhattan, Kansas, where he'll face a strange 5–6 Kansas State Wildcats team.
As always, we're breaking down Colorado's opponent from every angle, looking at why the Buffs might still be in position to take care of business and what they could try to exploit. This week, it's the Kansas State Wildcats, who enter the matchup as heavy favorites.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKansas State season breakdown
Nov 22, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; The Kansas State Wildcats celebrate a touchdown against the Utah Utes during the first half at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn ImagesKansas State's season has been a rollercoaster from the moment it kicked off. They opened with that loss in Ireland to Iowa State, and everything seemed to tilt from there. It really does feel like if you end up on the wrong side of that Week 0 game in Dublin, your whole season can derail in a heartbeat. After that opener, they barely scraped by North Dakota, then dropped consecutive games to Army and Arizona, and suddenly were staring at a 1–3 start. They managed to get one back against UCF before losing a one-point heartbreaker to Baylor in Waco.
From there, the pattern didn't get any less strange. They stacked wins over TCU and Kansas, only to get blown off the field by Texas Tech. They followed that up with an ugly but necessary 14–6 win over a bad Oklahoma State team. And then, last week, they went toe to toe with Utah in an absolutely wild shootout, only to lose in the final seconds on an Avery Johnson interception as the game slipped away 51–47.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt's been a very odd season for Kansas State. The talent on offense is there, but the defense has been bad, and injuries, along with a handful of strange, untimely moments, haven't helped. Quarterback Avery Johnson has been solid throughout, throwing for 2,270 yards with 18 touchdowns and six interceptions and adding 441 yards and eight scores on the ground. The problem is that the Wildcats have a knack for turning the ball over at the worst possible times, and in college football, that's a flaw that catches up with you every single time.
Statistical look at the Wildcats
Nov 22, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Avery Johnson (2) throws the ball against the Utah Utes during the second half at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn ImagesOn paper, Kansas State sits squarely in the middle of the pack in most major categories. Offensively, they rank 80th, averaging 29.2 points per game and 374.5 yards per game. Defensively, they're 87th, giving up 27.1 points and 391.9 yards per game. The gap between what they produce and what they allow is tiny, leaving their margin for error razor-thin, and that thin line has cost them more than a few games this season.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementInjuries and a ton of offseason misses
Oct 4, 2025; Waco, Texas, USA; Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Avery Johnson (2) hands the ball to running back Dylan Edwards (3) against the Baylor Bears during the first half at McLane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn ImagesLike Colorado, the Wildcats saw their offseason additions come up short. The 2025 transfer portal class looked disappointing even before the season kicked off, and the deeper you examine it, the worse it gets. Projected starting left tackle George Fitzpatrick, the Ohio State transfer who was supposed to anchor the line, suffered a medical emergency just weeks before kickoff and hasn't played a snap. Most of the other transfers have barely seen the field, with several failing to record even twenty snaps and none of them reaching sixty. It's been about as unproductive a portal class as you'll find.
Former Buff and star running back Dylan Edwards battled early injuries and grew frustrated before announcing he would redshirt the rest of the season and enter the transfer portal two weeks ago. Kansas State also expected significant contributions from five-star tight end Linkon Cure, the top tight end in the 2025 class and the 30th-ranked player overall, but so far, he has only six catches for 37 yards. Between those recruiting swings and the transfer misses, it's not hard to see why Kansas State sits at 5–6.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementEven so, the Wildcats enter Saturday as heavy favorites against a Colorado team starting its third-string quarterback. Kansas State will be looking to close the regular season with a win and secure bowl eligibility with victory number six. Kickoff is set for 10 a.m. MT with the game streaming on FS1.
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This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Colorado vs Kansas State preview: Wildcats breakdown, stats
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