Kansas State thrilled to cap off season by playing in Rate Bowl

2024 Rate Bowl - Kansas State Team Arrival, Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman. Photo by Jonathan Mouer

For the fifth time in program history, Kansas State returns to the Rate Bowl and has an enticing matchup on its hands as it will face Rutgers the day after Christmas.

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Wildcats arrive in the Valley

Starting the season 7-1 and nationally ranked, K-State was considered one of the favorites to win the Big 12 for the majority of the year. While the Wildcats did end up finishing the season 8-4 and losing three of their last four games, they showed flashes that the future is bright.

Ready to showcase a team with a heap of talent on a stage of this magnitude, Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman is ecstatic to continue leading the Wildcats into another bowl game.

“It’s exciting to be in Phoenix,” Klieman said at a team arrival press conference on Monday. “I know that our players were extremely excited to come play in this bowl game and come to Phoenix. I’ve been to five bowl games now in my six years at K-State. The COVID year was the only year that we did not go to a bowl game. By far, this has been the best welcome we have had in our five years.

“We are thrilled for the opportunity to come. You are going to have a bunch of K-Staters down here. K-State Nation will come out. I know that our kids are extremely excited about the opportunity to play a really good Rutgers team.”

K-State hasn’t played a game since falling 29-21 to No. 18 Iowa State on Nov. 30, so it’s going to be nearly a month’s break between then and Thursday when it faces Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights have also not played since that date when they crushed Michigan State 41-14.

Mentioning the weather conditions in Manhattan, Kan. being favorable for his team getting back into the groove of things, Klieman believes that has been a huge plus in preparation for the matchup.

“It’s been just about a month,” Klieman said. “Our guys had a couple of weeks where they let their bodies heal, and then we have been practicing about the last two and a half weeks. We’ve had really good weather, thankfully, in Manhattan to be able to be outside on the grass fields in December, which is kind of unheard of. But it was 55 when we left, I think today, and 75 is a little bit nicer.”

Stars ready to embrace opportunity

Throughout the season, there have been multiple contributors that have guided the Wildcats to a fourth straight season with eight wins or more.

A shining star in the making, K-State sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson has been a revelation since repping the purple and white, throwing for 2,517 yards and 22 touchdowns from 202-of-342 (59.1%) passing this year. The defensive trio of linebacker Austin Romaine, defensive end Brendan Mott and safety Marques Sigle have also been stellar for the Wildcats. In the Big 12, Romaine was ninth in total tackles (89), Mott led the conference with 8.5 sacks and Sigle was in a 12-player tie for No. 8 in interceptions with three.

Forgoing his senior season and declaring for the NFL Draft a week ago, however, star running back DJ Giddens will not play for Kansas State in the Rate Bowl. Amongst the talented group of running backs across the Big 12 this season, Giddens was near the top with 205 carries for 1,343 rushing yards and had eight total touchdowns.

Without Giddens but still having stars at his disposal, Klieman can’t wait for Johnson and others to end the season off on a high note.

“We have a quarterback that everybody is going to be really excited about in Avery Johnson,” Klieman said. “He’s a true sophomore, he started every game this year. I know the sky is the limit for him. Had a really good year but I know his best football is in front of him.

“We’ve got two running backs who are going to play an awful lot, Joe Jackson is a redshirt freshman. That’s a really good player. And then Dylan Edwards is a true sophomore who had some explosive plays for us and we will get him the football a lot more. We’re excited about that running back duo with DJ [Giddens] not being here.”

Coaching at North Dakota State from 2011-18, Klieman knows a thing or two about what it’s like playing under a dome. Klieman coached the Bison at the FARGODOME throughout his tenure there in Fargo, N.D.

Even though the Rate Bowl provides a unique setup with a football field at a Major League Baseball ballpark in Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Klieman has prior experience in venues like this and is excited to embrace the environment.

“My whole life has been in domes because I played in a dome, and then I coached in one at North Dakota State for an awful long time,” Klieman said. “I was behind the scenes for about two years to set up a game at Target Field, where the Bison played at the [Minnesota] Twins stadium, and that year is when I came to Kansas State that offseason. So as much as I got to do everything, go and check it out, all that stuff, I never got to go there are.

“I made sure when I found out we were playing at Chase Field that I called the people at NDSU and said, ‘Send me all the documents that I had had before, that I was learning about.’ That was in September. So it was in the middle of the baseball season, so it’s a lot different but I’ve seen a lot of videos, a lot of pictures. (Kansas State Director of Football Operations) Kacey Feldkamp, who came down here with a group of K-Staters, did a great job of showing me a lot of the layout. I think it’s going to be really special. I think it will be really cool, plus I’m a big baseball fan.”

The Rate Bowl between Kansas State and Rutgers kicks off on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. MST inside Chase Field in Phoenix. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN.

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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers the Phoenix Suns, ASU Athletics and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini