After Saturday, Kansas State football’s Sunflower Showdown streak can stroll into any local gas station, buy itself a lottery ticket, and then maybe, after that, some fireworks.

Heck, here in a few weeks, it can vote in its first election.

The Wildcats (4-2, 1-2 Big 12) used a strong final three quarters to come away with their 18th-straight win over rival Kansas (2-4, 0-3), 35-24, at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan.

“Proud of our guys; thought the resiliency and the fight through the ebbs and flows of the ball game were fantastic,” said head coach Collin Klein, who won his first Big 12 game as a head coach on Saturday. “The energy and the camaraderie and the communication to fix some of the issues that we were having and to stay together through those ups and downs was, so proud of them and so proud of the effort and the focus that they had this week of knowing what a big game this was to our program and our players and all K-Staters everywhere.”

After a first quarter in which the Wildcats fell behind by 10 points, K-State’s defense managed to hold the Jayhawks to just one more touchdown in the rest of the game, while the K-State offense absolutely ran the visitors over, ending the game with 359 rushing yards as part of a 568-yard day.

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Following a buyout settlement with former Wildcat men’s basketball head coach Jerome Tang, Kansas State will save several million dollars.

After months of negotiations, Tang and K-State settled their dispute over an $18.7 million buyout following his firing in February for $12 million, The Mercury confirmed with K-State Thursday afternoon.

The former basketball coach, who opened Big 12 play with a 1-11 record, was fired midway through his fourth season “for cause” in February after publicly criticizing his players for lackluster effort in a home loss to Cincinnati on Feb. 11.

“These dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform; there will be very few of them in it next year,” Tang said following a home blowout, a 29-point loss that stood as one of the 10 worst in program history.

“It means something to wear a K-State uniform. It means something to put on this purple … I love this place. They don’t love this place, so they don’t deserve to be here.”

Tang’s contract said K-State owed him $18.7 million if he was fired based solely on his record, but it said he would get nothing if K-State fired him “for cause.”

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Kansas State sophomore guard Brandie Harrod has suffered an lower-body injury and will miss the entirety of the 2026-27 season, head coach Jeff Mittie has announced.

“Incredibly disappointed for Brandie,” Mittie said in a statement. “She had worked so hard in the offseason and was poised to really build off her freshman season. Our staff will continue to support and help her through this injury to come back strong next year.”

Harrod, a product of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, pulled in 78 offensive rebounds last season, which ranked tied for second in program history for a freshman season and paced the 2025-26 squad.

She played in all 37 games last season with 33 starts and averaged 6.1 points on 43.1 percent shooting, while pulling in 4.8 rebounds and pocketing 49 steals.

Harrod — a former four-star Auburn commit from Oklahoma City who shifted her pledge to K-State after a coaching change — had starts in 33 games as a freshman, averaging 19.5 minutes per game.

She ended the year with 178 rebounds, including 78 offensive rebounds, which tied for second in program history for offensive rebounds in a freshman season.

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Kansas State’s return to Cincinnati and Nippert Field after 31 years did not go as planned.

After leading 10-0 and 17-10 at the half, the Wildcats (3-1, 0-1 in Big 12 play) were outscored 21-9 in the second half as failures on all three sides of the ball sealed K-State’s fate, a 31-26 loss to the Bearcats (4-0, 1-0).

The loss is the Wildcats’ first of the season and gives them a defeat in the first road conference game of the season for the fifth straight year.

Senior quarterback Avery Johnson had a fine game, even with K-State’s offensive line having their worst outing of the year, going 30-for-50 for 292 yards and a touchdown to go along with 39 more yards on the ground.

Rodney Fields found the end zone twice, but managed only 50 yards on 12 carries, while Joe Jackson had 59 yards on 11 carries.

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A scoring performance the likes of which hasn’t been seen in several decades highlighted first-year head coach Collin Klein’s emphatic debut, as Kansas State bulldozed FCS Nicholls 71-3 Saturday evening.

The 71 points tie for fourth overall in school history with a 71-0 win over Wichita State in 1909.

“I was really, really proud with the mentality,” Klein said. “I knew and felt that the focus level through the course of this week was where it needed to be. I thought they were dialed in; I thought they attacked the game plan even through the week of preparation. We have to sustain that, and they need to keep it, and we need to keep bringing that level of intensity and focus in everything that we do on a daily basis.

“(I’m) proud of our guys. It was a good night. It was good to get this first one under our belt.”

With very few exceptions on Saturday night, everything that could go right did for K-State. The Wildcats scored touchdowns on nine of their 12 drives; K-State’s defense allowed just one field goal, forcing 10 punts and a fumble and special teams had a near-perfect night, highlighted by a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown.

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FRISCO, Texas — Kansas State head coach Collin Klein addressed the media Wednesday afternoon in his first Big 12 Media Day since taking over the program back in December.

Klein, along with quarterback Avery Johnson, running back Joe Jackson, linebacker Rex Van Wyhe and safety Wesley Fair, made the trip down to The Star, the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility in Frisco.

Here’s what the first-year coach said:

COLLIN KLEIN: Thank you all for being here. Thank you for all that you do for the greatest sport in the world. It’s great to be back to the Big 12. I grew up a Big 12 kid and being able to be part of this conference as a fan, as a player, as a coach and now being part of helping move our game and our conference forward is absolutely tremendous to be a part of.

I thank the Lord every day that I get to come to work at a place that has impacted my life tremendously, and our program at Kansas State, my two predecessors have been so much — it’s been so much bigger than just the game of football.

Yes, we’re going to do football well, but the impact that we want to have and they have had on young men in setting the trajectory for the rest of their lives at an incredible angle, being able to teach them the lessons and give them the opportunity to compete is something that I don’t take for granted.

This is home for me. It’s a dream come true and so grateful for our administration and our players and all the effort that has been put in in the last six months as we build this thing and move it forward.

We have four of our players with us here today and just how they have led our football team and bought into what we are doing and what we are building is absolutely tremendous. It’s incredibly exciting for the future of Kansas State Football, and I’m excited for the season to get started.

Q. You mentioned your two predecessors. You were a quarterback for one and a coach for the other. You had great success. How much will you rely on what you learned from each and sort of putting your imprint on the program?

KLEIN: I think it’s an incredible situation top to bottom. I think starting most recently with Coach Klieman, I think our relationship is very unique. I think it’s very genuine. I think both of us have come at everything through the different course of our professional journey what is best for the other person.

I think that is something that, again, I don’t take for granted. He’s been there every step of the way, if I’ve needed something or had a question, with, I know, my and our program’s best interest at heart.

Coach Snyder has been tremendous. Again, I’d be here all day if I was going to go through all the ways that his fingerprints have been on my life and probably a big reason I got into coaching, you know, to be perfectly honest with you. All of those little things that I didn’t even know he was teaching me at the time, being able to apply those and have those come to fruition through the course of my journey is incredible.

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Kansas State football is losing a special-teams standout from last season

Sophomore wide receiver and kick returner Bryce Noernberg is no longer with the team, according to a social media post from his father, Scott, on Facebook.

In a post from Tuesday night, Noernberg’s father claimed that after first-year head coach Collin Klein and his staff took over the program, the sophomore from Olathe North found himself at the bottom of the heap in his position groups and is going to try to find playing time elsewhere.

“It was an amazing couple (of) years in Manhattan, but then D1 College Football did what it does. New HC Collin Klein brought in all new coaches and players … paid them accordingly, and (Bryce Noernberg) found himself at the bottom of the depth chart. Not wanting to start over again as a true walk-on freshman, he basically told them to kiss his ass!!

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Whether Jerome Tang will sue K-State over an $18.7 million buyout clause remains up in the air.

Attorneys for Tang, the four-year former men’s basketball coach who was fired in February, sent a draft of a lawsuit that claimed he was owed that amount, athletics director Gene Taylor told The Mercury recently.

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A second 7-footer is headed to Manhattan.

Kansas State men’s basketball and head coach Casey Alexander have signed Xavier forward Pape N’Diaye from the transfer portal, the team announced on Saturday.

The 7-foot sophomore appeared in 29 games for the Musketeers during the 2025-26 season, averaging 2.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in limited minutes. New Mexico transfer JT Rock is the Wildcats’ other 7-footer, standing at 7-foot-1.

Despite the low usage, N’Diaye ranked second on the team and seventh in the Big East with 1.0 blocks per game. He also went 9-of-21 on 3-point attempts for the Musketeers.

N’Diaye showed flashes throughout the season, including a pair of 10-point performances against Creighton and Seton Hall. He also posted a career-high four blocks against Missouri State and recorded multiple games with strong defensive impact off the bench.

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Former Wildcat senior safety VJ Payne was picked with the 12th pick of the seventh round (228th overall) by the New York Jets.

It’s the fifth-straight year and the 37th draft overall that the Wildcats have had at least two players picked.

A four-year starter for the Wildcats, Payne played in 52 career games, which is tied for 11th in school history. He started 42 career games including 41-consecutive games to end his career, which stood as the longest streak on the team at the time of his graduation.

A two-time All-Big 12 honorable mention pick, Payne ended the 2025 season with 59 tackles, three tackles for loss, an interception, four passes defended and two forced fumbles.

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