Kansas State Wildcats lose starting linebacker for the season because of injury
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas State loses leading tackler Austin Romaine to season-ending hand surgery.
- Team shifts on-field communication; Desmond Purnell assumes green-dot play-caller duties.
- Reserve linebackers Asa Newsom and Gabe Powers will absorb snaps against Oklahoma State.
Kansas State will have to finish out the season without its leading tackler.
Austin Romaine, a junior linebacker who made a team-high 66 tackles for the Wildcats in their first nine games, has been ruled out for the remainder of the year with an injury to his left hand.
The last time K-State football fans saw Romaine, he came up with an interception and had 11 stops against Texas Tech. But he was playing through pain. He made those plays with a protective club wrapped around his left hand.
At some point between then and now, it was decided that Romaine would be better off undergoing a procedure than continuing to play with an injury.
“We needed to get something done for him,” K-State football coach Chris Klieman said Monday. “The club was a stopgap. He and I talked before that game and then after that game. We decided to shelve him for the rest of the year.”
Romaine suffered the injury in the middle of the season. He also played with a protective wrap during K-State’s victory over Kansas.
Here is what Romaine said last week when he was asked about managing the injury: “I just have something I’m dealing with in my hand. I don’t really have much of a status update other than that.”
K-State will miss him on defense in the final three games of the regular season.
Romaine has made 66 tackles, including seven for loss, this season to go along with six quarterback hurries and an interception.
He is also consistently one of the highest-graded players on the entire K-State football roster, according to Pro Football Focus. And he wears a green dot on his helmet, which means defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman uses technology to speak to him between plays. Romaine helps the K-State defense get lined up before plays.
“He is kind of like the brain of our operation,” K-State defensive lineman Damian Ilalio said. “He gets a lot of information and he relays that to everybody. We’re going to have to up our communication against these next few opponents. We have to make sure that we’re communicating like we have been all season.”
Without him, the green dot will go to senior linebacker Desmond Purnell.
Reserve linebackers Asa Newsom and Gabe Powers may also see extra work on defense starting Saturday against Oklahoma State.
K-State will also play Oklahoma State without wide receiver Jerand Bradley, who is out for the short term with an injury.
Klieman said that Ohio State transfer George Fitzpatrick has also been ruled out for the season, though he has not played in a single game this year. Add on the roster departure of running back Dylan Edwards, and K-State will be down several notable players as the season draws to a close.