Chris Klieman nervous about K-State’s rising COVID numbers ahead of Iowa State game
The Kansas State football team has made it more than halfway through the season without needing to postpone or cancel any of its originally scheduled games, but there’s a chance the Wildcats won’t be so fortunate again this week.
K-State coach Chris Klieman said Monday that his roster is “right on the cusp” of falling below the Big 12 threshold at certain positions required to play its game against Iowa State at 3 p.m. Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium.
“Hopefully we have a good week this week from a COVID standpoint,” Klieman said, “because we are right on the cusp. I couldn’t tell you the exact numbers, but we had more than we would have liked get crossed out last week.”
The Wildcats are dealing with rising COVID-19 numbers on its roster following an outbreak that occurred two weeks ago. As of Monday afternoon, there were 12 active cases on the team, according to data released by local health officials. That number could increase, as K-State football players undergo coronavirus testing three times per week.
With other players getting sidelined because of contact tracing, the Wildcats were down significant numbers during practice last week.
Klieman said the outbreak hit K-State’s freshman class the hardest, making it difficult to field a scout team for starters to practice ahead of Iowa State.
Overall, 78 K-State football players have tested positive for COVID-19 this season, according to Riley County data.
“We had a pretty good stretch there where we would only lose three or four a week,” Klieman said. “That seems like a low number, but it allowed us to still play. Right after West Virginia we have been getting hammered again. I think that is unfortunately going to continue across the county, not just at K-State, as we see everything spike.
“As many kids as we’ve have had (get) COVID, I don’t have the exact numbers but I know it is more than half our team, we still have a bunch of kids who haven’t, which really worries you because for whatever reason, probably the cold weather, infections are going up again.”
K-State began the year down nearly 40 players during a 35-31 home defeat against Arkansas State and then bounced back for a victory at Oklahoma without a healthy roster. But the Wildcats have seemed to have their COVID-19 situation under control since those early games.
That changed recently. Klieman says he hasn’t been this nervous about needing to postpone or cancel a game since September.
“We have to cross our fingers that we have a really good week this week with tests,” Klieman said.
Still, Klieman thinks it is safe to try and play in this climate.
“Absolutely it is,” Klieman said. “We have proven that. Unfortunately, there are spikes across the country, so I think there are going to be more cancellations, unfortunately. We hope we aren’t one of them.”
The Big 12 has fairly simple criteria for postponing or canceling games this season.
Both teams are required to have 53 available players, including seven offensive line, four interior defensive linemen and one quarterback. As long as those numbers are met, it’s game on. But if one or both teams lose a large group of players at the wrong position, no game will be played.
If K-State and Iowa State are forced to postpone their football game, it could be rescheduled for Dec. 12, when both teams are off before the Big 12 championship game on Dec. 19.
This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 12:00 PM.