Field Pass: Starters, key matchups and a prediction for Arizona vs. Kansas State

In the battle of the Wildcats, Arizona faces Kansas State for its final nonconference game of the season. Here's a look at starting lineups, key matchups and a prediction.  

Kansas State (1-2) at Arizona (2-0)

When: 6 p.m. Friday

Where: Arizona Stadium

TV: Fox

Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

Kansas State Wildcats

2025 record: 1-2 (0-1 Big 12)

WHEN KANSAS STATE IS ON OFFENSE (PROJECTED): 

[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]

WR | 12 | Jaron Tibbs | 6-2 | 212 | Jr.

TE | 86 | Garrett Oakley | 6-5 | 248 | Jr.

LT | 78 | John Pastore | 6-6 | 300 | Jr.

LG | 69 | Taylor Poitier | 6-3 | 302 | Sr.

C | 75 | Sam Hecht | 6-4 | 300 | Sr.

RG | 52 | JB Nelson | 6-5 | 325 | Sr.

RT | 74 | Terrence Enos | 6-5 | 310 | Sr.

WR | 1 | Jayce Brown | 6-0 | 179 | Jr.

WR | 5 | Jerand Bradley | 6-5 | 223 | Sr.

QB | 2 | Avery Johnson | 6-3 | 196 | Jr.

RB | 4 | Joe Jackson | 6-0 | 212 | So.

WHEN KANSAS STATE IS ON DEFENSE (PROJECTED):

[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]

DE | 44 | Tobi Osunsanmi | 6-3 | 250 | Jr.

DT | 56 | Damian Ilalio | 6-2 | 300 | Sr.

DT | 47 | Cody Stufflebean | 6-4 | 260 | Sr.

DE | 8 | Chiddi Obiazor | 6-6 | 275 | So.

LB | 32 | Des Purnell | 6-0 | 232 | Sr.

LB | 45 | Austin Romaine | 6-2 | 245 | Jr.

NB | 6 | Qua Moss | 5-10 | 185 | Jr.

CB | 25 | Zachon Rice | 6-1 | 209 | So.

SS | 7 | VJ Payne | 6-3 | 208 | Sr.

FS | 18 | Wesley Fair | 6-1 | 200 | So.

CB | 9 | Donovan McIntosh | 6-3 | 194 | So.

KSU 2025 SCHEDULE

August

23 | No. 22 IOWA STATE^ | L, 24-21

30 | NORTH DAKOTA | W, 45-10

September

6 | ARMY | L, 24-21

12 | at Arizona*

27 | UCF

October

4 | at Baylor

11 | TCU

25 | at Kansas

November

1 | No. 21 TEXAS TECH

15 | at Oklahoma State

22 | at No. 20 Utah

29 | COLORADO

Home games in Bold; * = Friday; ^ = played in Ireland

KSU 2025 STATS

PASSING

[Name | Comp-Att-INT | Yards | TDs | Long]

Johnson | 64-98-1 | 763 | 6 | 65

RUSHING

[Name | Carries | Yards | TDs | Per carry | Per game]

Jackson | 30 | 136 | 0 | 4.5 | 45.3

Johnson | 18 | 78 | 1 | 4.3 | 26.0

Rice | 18 | 77 | 2 | 4.3 | 25.7

Brown | 2 | 29 | 0 | 14.5 | 9.7

RECEIVING

[Name | Receptions | Yards | TDs | Per catch | Per game]

Brown | 19 | 216 | 2 | 11.4 | 72.0

Bradley | 10 | 152 | 1 | 15.2 | 50.7

Tibbs | 12 | 151 | 2 | 12.6 | 50.3

Oakley | 8 | 104 | 0 | 13.0 | 34.7

Swanson | 2 | 46 | 0 | 23.0 | 15.3

DEFENSE

[Name | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FR | FF]

Romaine | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1

Purnell | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0

Payne | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0

Osunsanmi | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1

Fair | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0

Rich | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0

McIntosh | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0

Arizona Wildcats

2025 Record: 2-0 (0-0 Big 12)

WHEN ARIZONA IS ON OFFENSE (PROJECTED):

[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

WR | 12 | Tre Spivey III | 6-4 | 212 | R-So.

WR | 4 | Kris Hutson | 5-11 | 173 | R-Sr.

LT | 75 | Ty Buchanan | 6-6 | 314 | R-Sr.

LG | 77 | Michael Wooten | 6-5 | 323 | R-Jr.

C | 52 | Ka'ena Decambra | 6-3 | 308 | R-Sr.

RG | 63 | Alexander Doost | 6-7 | 330 | R-So.

RT | 59 | Rhino Tapa'atoutai | 6-5 | 302 | R-So.

TE | 84 | Sam Olson | 6-3 | 229 | R-Sr.

WR | 11 | Chris Hunter | 6-1 | 195 | R-Jr.

QB | 1 | Noah Fifita | 5-10 | 195 | R-Jr. 

RB | 21 | Ismail Mahdi | 5-9 | 184 | Sr.

WHEN ARIZONA IS ON DEFENSE (PROJECTED):

[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]

DE | 42 | Dominic Lolesio | 6-4 | 252 | R-So.

DT | 0 | Deshawn McKnight | 6-3 | 288 | Sr.

DT | 98 | Tiaoalii Savea | 6-4 | 301 | R-Sr.

DE | 44 | Malachi Bailey | 6-2 | 278 | Sr.

LB | 6 | Taye Brown | 6-2 | 231 | Jr.

LB | 4 | Max Harris | 6-0 | 230 | Sr.

NB | 23 | Gavin Hunter | 6-2 | 204 | R-So.

CB | 9 | Ayden Garnes | 6-0 | 183 | R-Sr.

CB | 25 | Michael Dansby | 5-11 | 185 | Sr.

BS | 43 | Dalton Johnson | 5-11 | 198 | R-Sr.

FS | 12 | Genesis Smith | 6-2 | 204 | Jr.

UA 2025 SCHEDULE

August

30 | HAWAII | W, 40-6

September

6 | WEBER STATE | W, 48-3

12 | KANSAS STATE* 

27 | at No. 14 Iowa State

October

4 | OKLAHOMA STATE

11 | BYU (Family Weekend)

18 | at Houston

November

1 | at Colorado

8 | KANSAS (Homecoming, Military Appreciation)

15 | at Cincinnati

22 | BAYLOR (Senior Day)

28 | at No. 12 Arizona State* (Territorial Cup)

Home games in Bold; *=Friday game

UA 2025 STATS

PASSING

[Name | Comp-Att-INT | Yards | TDs | Long]

Fifita | 30-45-0 | 534 | 6 | 85

Bray | 1-2-0 | 22 | 0 | 22

Locke | 2-4-0 | 11 | 0 | 10

RUSHING

[Name | Carries | Yards | TDs | Per carry | Per game]

Craig | 15 | 156 | 1 | 10.4 | 78.0

Mahdi | 15 | 74 | 1 | 4.9 | 37.0

Reescano | 10 | 51 | 1 | 5.1 | 51.0

Yarbrough | 7 | 37 | 0 | 5.3 | 37.00

RECEIVING

[Name | Receptions | Yards | TDs | Per catch | Per game]

Whatley | 8 | 206 | 2 | 25.8 | 103.0

Wysong | 4 | 70 | 0 | 17.5 | 35.0

Phelps | 3 | 63 | 1 | 21.0 | 31.5

Hutson | 2 | 51 | 0 | 25.5 | 51.0

Spivey | 2 | 37 | 1 | 18.5 | 18.5

DEFENSE

[Name | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FR | FF]

Brown | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1

Johnson | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0

G. Smith | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0

Harris | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0

Cole | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0

Head to Head

59 Rhino Tapa'atoutai vs. 44 Tobi Osunsanmi 

After nearly a year of recovering from a devastating knee injury last October, Tapa'atoutai returned to action last week against Weber State, but played right tackle instead of left tackle. In Tapa'atoutai's first game reps in over 300 days, he surrendered a team-high four quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. Tapa'atoutai allowed five pressures to Kansas State last year. 

Osunsanmi, a fourth-year player from Wichita, Kansas, is in his first season as one of Kansas State's starting defensive ends. Osunsanmi leads the Wildcats in sacks this season and has the fourth-best pass-rushing grade (79.1) in college football with a minimum of 70 pass-rushing snaps played. Osunsanmi had a tackle for loss in last season's contest in Manhattan.

4 Joe Jackson vs. 43 Dalton Johnson

Kansas State standout running back Dylan Edwards, who returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown in KSU's win over Arizona last season, is questionable to play this week after suffering an ankle injury in the season opener against Iowa State. Edwards' replacement, Jackson, leads the team in rushing yards, but has yet to find the end zone. 

Johnson, who is tied for a team-high in tackles (12) this season, has only missed one game since 2023: Arizona's 24-point loss to Kansas State last season. The injured Johnson was replaced by current Kansas State safety Gunner Maldonado, with Genesis Smith starting in Maldonado's place at free safety. Johnson's open-field tackling prowess could eliminate Kansas State's chunk runs, especially with dual-threat quarterback Avery Johnson.  

The matchup

When Arizona has the ball … 

Arizona likely won't have a similar game plan as Army, which dominated Kansas State in time of possession in the second half (26:59-3:01), but the Black Knights gave Arizona a blueprint. In both of Kansas State's losses this season, KSU was out-rushed by its opponents, including 237-74 to Army. KSU out-rushed Arizona 235-56 in their game a year ago. Arizona could flip the script this season. 

When Kansas State has the ball … 

A team with arguably the most athletic quarterback in the Big 12 currently ranks last in the conference in rushing, averaging 109 yards per game. Kansas State offensive coordinator Matt Wells hasn't displayed Johnson's legs this season and has the KSU quarterback in more of a pocket-passing role. Johnson and the KSU zone-read offense last season carved up Arizona's rushing defense. Johnson's legs could keep KSU's offense on schedule against Arizona — once again. 

College Football 26 prediction: Kansas State 20, Arizona 19

In our College Football 26 simulation of the Kansas State-Arizona battle, KSU held the UA to four field goals and one touchdown. Kansas State marched down the field in its final possession and kicked the go-ahead field goal with 1:01 left to play. Poor clock management — by the video game, not Arizona head coach Brent Brennan — led to Arizona not having a chance for a game-winning field goal. Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita had Arizona's only touchdown of the game, a 13-yard run up the middle on a quarterback draw.