INJURY REPORT: Updates on the secondary and quarterback before WVU
by @Alec_Busse
Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman announced on Tuesday that starting safety Kobe Savage would miss the rest of the Wildcats’ season with an undisclosed injury that he sustained vs. Baylor.
“It’s really tough because Kobe was playing such good football for us and he was devasted. We’ll lose him for the year. That’s disappointing.”
Savage is in his first season with K-State in 2022 after transferring from Tyler Junior College. This year, Savage has 58 tackles for the K-State defense, including 3.0 tackles for loss. Savage intercepted his first pass of the season in the Wildcats’ 31-3 victory over Baylor on Saturday.
Kansas State also saw defensive backs Josh Hayes and Ekow Boye-Doe leave Saturday’s game at Baylor with injuries, but both were back at practice on Monday, Klieman said.
Hayes has been a stalwart in the back of K-State’s defense for much of this season. he has 53 tackles on the year and 5.5 tackles for loss. Hayes forced a fumble in K-State’s loss to Texas on Nov. 5 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Boye-Doe, one of K-State’s two starting cornerbacks, has started every game this season for Kansas State. he has 20 tackles on the year and four passes defended. He forced a fumble in K-State’s loss to Texas two weeks ago.
Quarterback Adrian Martinez is not going to play on Saturday vs West Virginia after leaving the Baylor game with an injury in the first half. Saturday’s West Virginia game is going to be the second game this season that Martinez is going to miss because of injury. Previously, he did not play in the 48-0 win over Oklahoma State. Martinez played just one series in K-State’s loss at TCU because of a knee injury he sustained in the 10-9 win over Iowa State.
“With regards to Adrian, he is not out for the season,” Klieman said. “I had heard that was out there. But that is not the case. He is not available this week, he will not be playing this week. But he is not out for the rest of the season.”
Backup quarterback Will Howard is set to start his first game of the 2022 season for Kansas State. In three games this season, Howard has completed 63 percent of his passes for 717 yards and nine touchdowns, including two three-touchdown passes in the win over Baylor.
“Will is going to be the guy — it’s his football team. Excited for Will. Everyone knows Will is playing at a really high level and gets to play back closer to home.”
K-State’s backup quarterbacks vs. West Virginia are going to be redshirt freshman Jake Rubley and junior Jaren Lewis. Rubley has played in four games this season but has not completed a pass since Week One when Kansas State defeated FCS South Dakota 34-0.
Kansas State is in control of its own destiny in the Big 12 title race as they currently sit in second place ahead of Texas and Baylor. With wins over West Virginia and Kansas in the final two weeks of the regular season, K-State would play undefeated No. 4 TCU in the Big 12 championship game.
