NC State has the main goal of trying to reach 10 wins for just the second time in school history.
Kansas State, which is 8-4 overall and 6-3 in the Big 12, is essentially getting a jump on next year after seeing the roster get an overhaul due to losing players to the transfer portal or players entering the NFL Draft.
NC State and Kansas State play at 5:45 p.m. Thursday on ESPN in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
Five Kansas State players to watch
Senior left guard Cooper Beebe
Beebe is a two-time Big 12 offensive lineman of the year and consensus All-American. He is the first consensus All-American on the offensive line in Kansas State history. The 6-foot-4, 335-pounder has started 47 of his 50 career games he has played in. Beebe was a Rivals.com two-star prospect in the class of 2019 coming out of Kansas City (Kan.) Piper High.
Sophomore running back DJ Giddens
Giddens had an impressive close to the season with three-straight 100-plus rushing yards. He has with 195 carries for 1,075 yards and nine touchdowns, and he caught 28 passes for 286 yards and two scores. Giddens dominated Central Florida with 30 carries for 207 yards and four scores and he had eight catches for 86 yards in a 44-31 win Sept. 23. The 6-1, 212-pounder rushed for over 100 yards five times this past season.
Freshman quarterback Avery Johnson
The 6-2, 188-pounder has been inserted into the lineup due to quarterback Will Howard, who is pondering either transferring or turning pro. Johnson has been used as a runner this season and has a promising future, but it might be a difficult transition this soon. He has gone 23-of-35 passing for 301 yards and three touchdowns, and he carried the ball 45 times for 225 yards and six scores. The Maize (Kan.) High product was ranked No. 138 overall in the class of 2023 by Rivals.com.
Senior linebacker Austin Moore
The 6-1, 219-pounder has 59 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks and was second-team All-Big 12. He had 87 tackles a year ago, with 1.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and one interception. The former walk-on has been the team captain for Kansas State.
Junior safety Marques Sigle
The 5-11, 197-pounder leads Kansas State with 60 tackles, plus one interception and seven passes defended this season. The Omaha, Neb., native has 89 career tackles, four interceptions and 10 passes defended. Sigle had eight tackles against both Texas and Missouri.
What to watch for from Kansas State
1. Out with the old, in with the new. Kansas State’s offense will be dramatically different, as will the secondary.
It starts with quarterback Will Howard entering the transfer portal while also pondering the NFL Draft. The 6-5, 240-pound senior went 219-of-357 passing for 2,643 yards, 24 touchdown and 10 interceptions en route to second-team All-Big 12 honors. He also rushed for 351 yards and nine scores.
Then offensive coordinator Collin Klein left KSU to go to Texas A&M with new coach Mike Elko.
Standout tight end Ben Sinnott has turned pro and isn’t on the depth chart. He has 49 catches for 676 yards and six scores.
Fifth-year senior wide receiver/returner Phillip Brooks has also turned pro and isn’t playing in the bowl game. The 5-foot-8, 171-pounder has 53 catches for 589 yards and five touchdowns this season. Brooks has 182 career catches for 2,127 yards and 14 scores.
Backup running back Treshaun Ward, a former Florida State player, entered the portal and is going to Boston College. He has 124 carries for 643 yards and five scores.
Moving over to the defense, third-leading tackler Kobe Savage is transferring to Oregon. He had 57 tackles and three interceptions this season.
Cornerback Will Lee is transferring to Texas A&M after having 42 tackles, two interceptions and six passes defended.
Defensive end Nate Matlack is heading to Pittsburgh, and he had four sacks and 15 tackles.
2. KSU’s offensive line leads the way. The offensive line has five starters who have combined for 228 career games played and 169 starts.
Senior left guard Cooper Beebe leads the way and has played multiple spots on the line. Four of the five projected starters are seniors, and the fifth is a junior.
Senior left tackle KT Leveston and senior Christian Duffie are the bookend tackles, with junior right guard Hadley Panzer and senior center Hayden Gillum round out the starters. Three of the linemen are from state of Kansas, with two arriving from towns in Texas.
Junior Will Swanson starts at tight end and checks in at 6-5 and 250 pounds, and his backup is 6-5 and 230 pounds in Garrett Oakley.
Kansas State is averaging 199.7 rushing yards per game and 4.9 yards per carry, with 30 rushing scores.
3. KSU do have its kicking specialists. Kansas State kicker Chris Tennant and punter Jack Blumer will be in the bowl game, but the Wildcats will need to find a new kick returner and punt returner.
The 6-5, 222-pound Tennant went 11 of 14 on field goals this season, with a long of 51 yards. He made 52 of 53 on extra points. Tennant has gone 25-of-36 kicking and 91 of 94 extra points in his career.
Blumer averaged 41.7 yards on 46 punts with a long of 69, and he’s landed 20 inside the 20-yard line, and 18 were fair caught.
Senior Seth Porter is the new punt returner and kick returner. He has returned four kicks for 68 yards this season.
Three keys to the game for NC State football
1. The essence of NC State football this particular season is that regardless of whether Kansas State has been gutted or not, it doesn't change the winning formula for the Wolfpack.
NC State is going to try to control the clock, win the turnover battle, limit penalties and hope the offense can pop a few plays, while the defense dominates.
It is fomula that helped turn around the season and play around the rawness of sophomore quarterback M.J. Morris, and then what senior Brennan Armstrong has embraced in his sequel as starting quarterback.
The Wolfpack found things much easier against Virginia Tech and North Carolina's lack of fight led to the easiest win of the five-game winning streak.
2. The offensive line is the one area where Kansas State hasn't lost a key starter.
NC State will expect new quarterback Johnson to use his feet, and then Giddens to get his fair share of carries. Does Giddens have a capable backup? Hard to know after Ward transferred out. Second string back La'James White has two carries for 14 yards and is tiny at 5-7 and 183 pounds.
NC State will also be gunning to hit Johnson early and often on blitzes because he's one injury away from disaster happening for the KSU offense. It wasn't just Howard leaving, but two other reserve quarterbacks.
3. NC State will see what life is like without star senior outside linebacker Payton Wilson and redshirt junior nose tackle C.J. Clark.
Wilson had 138 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, six sacks and three interceptions this season. He opted out of the bowl game to get ready for the NFL Draft.
Clark had 22 tackles, four tackles for loss and one sack in plugging up the middle. He is transferring to Miami (Fla.).
NC State had been playing redshirt sophomore Caden Fordham and redshirt junior Devon Betty in a rotation, and now both will on the field at the same time. Sophomore Brandon Cleveland has also been in a rotation, so he’ll be ready to roll, but his backup, redshirt freshman Nick Campbell, is an unknown.
Three numbers of note
1 Rivals.com four-star players on the Kansas State roster — freshman quarterback Avery Johnson. KSU has landed three four-star prospects since the class of 2019 — all quarterbacks — though one, Jake Rubley has just transferred to Illinois State.
10 Seasons where KSU won at least 10 games, with the best The Associated Press finish at No. 6 in the country in 1999.
21 Wins Kansas State had in the 1980s, going 21-87, with coach Bill Snyder taking over in 1989.
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