Short on players, K-State withdraws from bowl consideration

Kansas State has paused all football activities and withdrawn from bowl consideration after an outbreak of positive tests and contact tracing procedures would not have left the Wildcats with enough players to compete in a game.

The First Responder Bowl was the likely destination for the Wildcats, who beat then-No. 3 Oklahoma on the road early in the season but slid to a 4-6 finish after losing quarterback Skylar Thompson and several other players to injuries.

Kansas State lost its last five games but was in line for a bowl game because it finished seventh in the Big 12.

Second-year coach Chris Klieman called it “a bittersweet ending to the season,” but he also called it “nothing short of a miracle” that the Wildcats were able to play 10 games amid the COVID-19 pandemic.