Sometimes, a loss sticks with you.
It’s natural. The disappointment, anger — and maybe even embarrassment — from a poor performance can haunt you for days, months and years.
Even in the sporting world, where one’s focus is supposed to stay locked on the next play and the next opponent, those feelings are tough to shake, even for Kansas State head coach Collin Klein.
In his weekly press conference on Monday, when asked if the Wildcats’ 17-10 home loss to Tulane in 2022 still lingered in the back of his mind, especially with Saturday’s rematch versus the Green Wave at Bill Snyder Family Stadium less than a week away. Klein responded with just two words and a long, intense stare.
“No doubt.”
It was Week 3 of the 2022 season. Klein was in his first year as the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator, and the Wildcats were coming off an impressive 28-point drubbing of Missouri the week prior.
Trailing 17-10 late in a defensive battle, K-State punted the ball with just over two minutes to play, hoping to get a stop and the ball back. On a fourth-and-1 on Tulane’s 28, former Tulane head coach and current Houston head coach Willie Fritz made the call to go for it and converted with a quarterback sneak, effectively ending the game and saddling K-State with its first of three regular-season losses.
Now, in hindsight, the loss meant almost nothing for the Wildcats. K-State went on to make the Big 12 Championship, beat TCU for the program’s fourth conference title and earn its first Sugar Bowl berth.
That Tulane team ended up being very good, finishing the year 12-2 and winning the American Conference before beating USC in the Cotton Bowl in a shootout.
But Klein’s two-word answer and intimidating glare showed the loss was still stuck in his craw four years later, and seemingly set the tone for the level of intensity and focus for K-State heading into Saturday’s game, as the Wildcats look to start their season 3-0 for just the third time in the last decade.
This year’s iteration of the Green Wave will be much different than the one they faced in 2022, or the one they beat two years later in New Orleans in a rain-soaked thriller that came down to a late game-sealing interception from VJ Payne in the end zone, which allowed the Wildcats to walk away with a seven-point win.
Fritz is in the Big 12, and Jon Sumrall, his successor and the head coach when K-State played the Green Wave in 2024, is in his first season at Florida. Former Southern Miss head coach Will Hall is at the helm now, and has led Tulane to a 1-1 start in his first season in the Big Easy, losing at Duke in the season opener before narrowly beating South Alabama last week, 28-24.
“They’re extremely well coached,” Klein said. “They have a very sound defensive scheme that has been there now for a little while with two different coaches and (they’ve) done a really, really nice job. I think they tackle well. I think they do things from an alignment and a leverage standpoint that make things difficult. … They’ve been able to recruit and attract very, very good talent that can run, and they can run on both sides of the ball. They’re going to be physical, and I’m excited.”
Easily the highlight for the Green Wave so far this season has been fifth-year running back Jaylin Lucas, who transferred in from Florida State after two years with the Seminoles and two years at Indiana before that.
After a quiet Week 1, recording just three yards on three carries, Lucas exploded for 214 yards on 11 carries, including an 80-yard touchdown run.
“You can tell there is athleticism; there are instincts when he carries the football,” Klein said. “Those guys have good movement skills, they are competitive and they expect to win.”
Lucas was honored by the American for his play last week, and he set a new Yulman Stadium rushing record, while also breaking a conference record with his 19.5 yards per rush.
“Their running back is a stud,” fifth-year linebacker Rex Van Wyhe said. “He’s probably the fastest player on the field at all times. So we’ll start with corralling him.”
At quarterback, junior Kadin Semonza, a former Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year, leads the way after supplanting former Houston QB Zeon Chriss midway through their loss at Duke. Semonza has been solid so far, throwing for 352 yards and a touchdown on 25-of-32 passing.
Defensively, the Green Wave have struggled, ranking 131st in rushing defense (allowing 216 yards per game), 81st in passing defense (213.5) and 120th in total yards allowed (429.5).
They also rank 101st in penalty yards per game, giving up an average of 139.1 over the last two outings. K-State, on the other hand, ranks first overall with just 35 penalty yards per game.
“Tulane is kind of an iffy game, but I just look at another game,” senior running back Joe Jackson said. “Obviously, respecting the team, we respect every team that we play. I know they’re going to be a tough team. … We’re just going to come out and give it our best. Keep it only about us. That’s what we preach all the time. Keep it only about us. But never disrespect a team. Always respect the team. Know they’re bringing their best punch, and we’ve just got to (match it) with our best punch.”
K-State is riding a high right now, outscoring its first two opponents 105-10, while statistically having one of the best rushing attacks in the country (averaging 303.5 yards per game, which is good for eighth nationally), and one of the more accomplished defenses in all of college football.
Through two games, the Wildcats rank top three in the country in passing yards allowed (1st, 47.5 yards), total defense (2nd, 144) and scoring defense (3rd, 5 points per game). That doesn’t even take into account the fact that K-State’s only touchdown allowed through two games came on a pick-six thrown by Wildcat quarterback Avery Johnson last week.
On paper, things should be stacked in K-State’s favor. However, Wildcat coaches have been vigilant about helping the team avoid complacency. While things have gone well through two games, Jackson said the team still has plenty of growing left to do.
“(The coaches tell us) ‘Don’t get tired of doing the small things. Never get comfortable. Never get relaxed,’” Jackson said. “And I feel like through these last two weeks, that’s something we have gotten to a point of doing. I don’t know when exactly in the game, but sometimes during the game, that’s when we’ve gotten to a point of being relaxed sometimes, and we’ve ended up leaving a lot of meat on the bone when we get to that point. That’s something that we just can’t do if we want to be the football team that we preach that we’re going to be.”
K-State and Tulane kick things off Saturday at 11 a.m. at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and broadcast on the radio on 101.5 FM and KMAN (1350 AM, 93.3 FM and 93.7 FM).