5 Kansas State players to watch Saturday vs. Iowa State

AMES — Matt Campbell left nothing to chance.

Iowa State’s football coach consulted with NFL teams and tapped the expertise of a sleep specialist — among many other things — to help ensure a potentially deep disrupter of a season opener against Kansas State on Saturday in Dublin, Ireland, won’t knock his team for a loop.

Will it work? Maybe. Maybe not.

But ready or not, the Aer Lingus College Classic kicks off at 11 a.m. Saturday (Iowa time) and will be broadcast on ESPN, so all eyes — Irish and otherwise — will be on the Big 12 rival Cyclones and Wildcats.

“Doing it and executing it are two different things,” said Campbell, whose team has beaten Kansas State in five of the past seven meetings after losing 10 in a row in the long-running series. “I think we have a really good plan. I’m really proud of the work so many people did behind the scenes to prepare for it. But, you know, the execution of it is really where you’ll find success — and, again, time will tell.”

And soon. Chris Klieman-led Kansa State, which is technically playing a home game, is a three-point favorite — and here are five Wildcats to know as kickoff at Aviva Stadium nears:

QB Avery Johnson

The sky-high hype around the athletic and strong-armed 6-foot-3, 196-pound second-year starter is palpable.

Johnson’s first full season as a starter proved to be mercurial. The Wichita native dazzled Wildcats fans at times and baffled them at others. He boasted a solid 25-to-10 touchdown to interception ratio last season, but occasionally struggled with accuracy.

He finished with a 58.3 percent completion rate — and connected on a season-low 42.9 percent of his throws in a 29-21 loss to the Cyclones last season. He did throw three touchdown passes and no picks, so Johnson keeps making big plays even when the numbers say he’s struggling.

LB Austin Romaine

The 6-2, 245-pound junior from Hillsdale, Mo., is one every watch list for good reason: He’s one of the top linebackers in the Big 12 if not the country.

Romaine earned second-team All-Big 12 honors last season after totaling 96 tackles and forcing three fumbles. Both of those gaudy numbers ranked among the top 10 nationally — but wait, there’s more. Romaine also racked up 7.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and two pass breakups. Two of Romaine’s three forced fumbles led to game-winning scoring drives.

He’s hard-nosed, hard-hitting and smart against both the run and the pass.

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RB Dylan Edwards

Edwards shares a hometown — Derby, Kan. — with Iowa State women’s basketball star Addy Brown, but it’s taken him a while to find a place to shine.

The speedy and powerful 5-9, 170-pound former Colorado transfer stood in the shadows of DJ Giddens at Kansas State before getting his chance to flourish in the Rate Bowl matchup with Rutgers last season. Edwards, a junior, took advantage of the opportunity, rushing 18 times for 196 yards (an average of 10.6 yards per carry) and two touchdowns. He averaged an eye-popping 7.4 yards per carry overall last season and scored seven total touchdowns (five rushing, two receiving).

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S VJ Payne

The hard-hitting Gainesville, Fla., native will start at safety for the Wildcats for the third straight season — and enters the matchup with the Cyclones on a team-best 28-game starting streak.

Payne set his career-high for tackles with 12 in last November’s 29-21 loss to ISU and proved to be a takeaway magnet with two interceptions and two forced fumbles last season. The 6-3, 192-pound senior ranked second to Romaine in tackles in 2024 with 64 and played 684 defensive snaps, which ranked third on the team.

WR Jayce Brown

The 6-0, 179-big-play threat from Fort Walton Beach, Fla., has averaged 17.0 yards per reception in his two seasons as a Wildcat — the eighth-most prolific mark in program history.

Brown’s also been a problem for the Cyclones, compiling eight catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns in the past two seasons. Both of those scoring grabs came in last season’s meeting with ISU and represented 40 percent of his touchdown grabs in 2024.

Comments: robgray18@icloud.com