Ryan Gilbert
GoPowercat.com
Kansas State is set to battle Iowa State on Saturday in Dublin, Ireland.
Here are 10 things to know before the matchup.
First ranked game in Ireland ever
4,140 miles away from Manhattan, Saturday's game will be the first-ever game in Dublin in which both teams are ranked in the AP Top 25. The Wildcats check in at No. 17, while Iowa State is No. 22. The event has seen ranked teams on several occasions, including the most recent game last season with No. 10 Florida State, but both teams have never been ranked until now.
Playing overseas
K-State has played on foreign soil just one other time in its program history, when the Wildcats battled Nebraska in Tokyo, Japan, in 1992.
Looking for revenge
Iowa State has controlled the rivalry as of late, winning four of the last five meetings. The last time these two teams met, Iowa State earned itself a spot in the Big 12 Championship game with a win over K-State in the final game of the regular season. In 2023, the Wildcats were embarrassed on their home field as Iowa State won in a snow-laden game. Chris Klieman & Co. are looking for revenge on Saturday.
Giving up a home game
The Wildcats, serving as the home team in Ireland, gave up a game in Manhattan for the 2025 season. From the stat workers provided to PA announcer Mitch Fortner behind the mic, the members of K-State Athletics are running the show behind the scenes.
A quick turnaround
Win or lose, the Wildcats face North Dakota on Aug. 31, just seven days after playing across the pond. Rather than taking a week off, K-State will keep things moving before its first bye week following the trip to Arizona on Friday, Sept. 12.
Departures
K-State returns a strong group of star players, but that doesn't mean the Cats didn't lose top-end talent. NFL draft selections DJ Giddens, Jacob Parrish and Marques Sigle are gone, while several notable starters also departed, such as Keenan Garber, Austin Moore, Brendan Mott and Easton Kilty.
Revamping from the portal
K-State was able to boost several position groups this offseason, most notably the wideouts and the offensive line. Jerand Bradley from Boston College and Jaron Tibbs from Purdue have high hopes at the wideout spot, while JB Nelson and Terrence Enos Jr. will start on the offensive line.
Iowa State lost a duo
Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel were arguably the nation's best wide receiving duo from 2024. With both off to the NFL, quarterback Rocco Becht will have to navigate the game on Saturday without his star wideouts from a season ago.
Matt Wells
This will be Matt Wells' first game as the bona fide offensive coordinator for the Cats. Of course, he and Avery Johnson have built strong chemistry from last year, but Wells truly has the keys to the offense in 2025, as Conor Riley is off to the Dallas Cowboys.
Avery Johnson's next step
Avery Johnson is labeled as one of the Big 12's best quarterbacks in 2025. Don't get it twisted — QB1 had a good year in 2024, but at times, Johnson struggled in his first year as a starter. If K-State wants to make a run for a conference title, it all starts at quarterback. It's reasonable to expect Johnson to take that next step, but he's got to go prove it on the field.