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Getting to know WSU’s next opponent, Kansas State: Q&A with beat writer Ryan Gilbert To preview Washington State’s next game, a road test against Big 12 foe Kansas State, The Spokesman-Review conferred with K-State beat writer Ryan Gilbert, who covers the Wildcats for GoPowercat. Here is our Q&A. 1. How did K-State’s offensive line look against Nicholls, and do the injuries to John Pastore and George Fitzpatrick look to hamper the Cats as much as it might seem? The offensive line checked all the boxes it could on Saturday. There were a lot of questions surrounding this group entering the season, but game No. 1 was a success. That being said, Nicholls is just not a good football team, so it’s tough to get too excited over that performance in the trenches. K-State simply had the bigger, more physically dominant dudes at the point of contact. Anything other than a promising night would have been a concern for the offensive line. George Fitzpatrick not being able to give it a go didn’t help matters, but Collin Klein & Co. certainly couldn’t have been caught off guard when they learned he had to be sidelined this season. His health condition from last offseason just lingered and lingered, so it’s not like this just happened out of nowhere. There was ample time to create a backup plan. John Pastore, though, was supposed to be not just a starter but a true star at left tackle. His injury, which will sideline him for the season, happened about a month before the season, and then Tanner Morley also had to miss some time late in camp, so everything kind of just compounded at once. But the short answer here is that Pastore’s injury is a big blow to the offensive line. Not having him in 2026 will sting. And there have been a lot of moving pieces in the last 30 days due to all the injuries. Offensive lines have to gel together, and, well, it’s hard to gel in just a matter of days. If there’s one thing I took away from Washington State after catching parts of Sunday’s game against Washington, it’s that the Cougars defensive front can really give their team a chance to win this game. If K-State has just an average offensive line this game (or this season), that’d be a success given the circumstances. 2. Who are the main playmakers in K-State’s defense? Ahead of the season, the easy answer would have been Oklahoma State transfer Wendell Gregory. But against Nicholls, the junior defensive end really didn’t do much. Of course, it’s way too early to write him off, but many expected him to absolutely feast in 2026, and to not move the needle against an FCS program isn’t exactly promising. While Gregory had a quiet game, Darien Whitaker stepped up with a strip sack. It seems like his stock is really rising. While he’s listed as a linebacker, expect to see him line up at the edge on defense. A couple of guys had great games against Nicholls, though — linebacker Gabe Powers and safety Logan Bartley. Powers, who previously spent time at Ohio State, was listed as a starter on the depth chart ahead of the first game, but nobody expected him to have the impact he did. He was great. Meanwhile, Bartley was much the same story — just a solid piece who had some big hits in the secondary. It’s also worth noting that linebacker Mekhi Mason’s status for Saturday is up in the air due to injury. He’ll be worth monitoring as the teams go through warmups, as he’s a prominent piece on defense. 3. How could Cougar fans expect the Cats to use their tight ends, which has been a strength of the program for quite awhile? As a former five-star, there shouldn’t need to be any endorsement given to tight end Linkon Cure. His upside is clearly there. However, we just haven’t seen him impact the game in a purple jersey. His freshman year in 2025 was very underwhelming, and Saturday against Nicholls was bland. The only direction for him to go is up, but he’s got plenty of meat left on the bone. He’s a player to definitely keep a sharp eye on, but to say he’s a true difference-maker right now would be a bit rich. Fellow tight end Garrett Oakley has been in the program for as long as QB Avery Johnson has, so these two obviously have a great connection. Many deem him to be one of the top tight ends in the Big 12. Last season, Oakley dropped countless routine passes, so as long as he can simply hang on to the football, Oakley is definitely a red zone threat for the offense. 4. How much can you take away from such a lopsided win over an FCS team? But there are certain areas worth investing more into than others. For example, as we talked about, the offensive line looked good simply because of how bad Nicholls was. On the flip side, though, K-State’s effort, focus, execution and buy-in were at a top-notch level. The Cats committed only one penalty on Saturday — that has nothing to do with Nicholls. Overall, take it all with a grain of salt, but you can’t fault a group for simply beating the team that lied on its schedule. 5. What are the main strengths of RBs Rodney Fields and Joe Jackson, and is there any way WSU could slow them down? It was pretty surprising to see Rodney Fields get the start at the running back spot, as pretty much everyone assumed Joe Jackson would technically be RB1. But that speaks more to how good Fields was in camp than anything. Fields and Jackson are very quality backs. Just take a look at what Jackson did against Utah last season. He can absolutely be your workhorse. Fields, on the other hand, has great speed and vision. Lastly, Jay Harris is definitely in the doghouse after a fumble against Nicholls, so we’ll see how much he plays, but he certainly is worth mentioning. He is, in fact, the clear RB3, but he’s a lot closer to being the third head of a three-headed monster than he is to riding the bench for the entire game.