With months to digest the results, Kansas State players and coaches may remember the spring game Saturday as much for who didn’t play as who did.
The Wildcats, returning 18 starters after a 9-4 season capped by a bowl victory over Texas A&M, carry high expectations into 2017. They figure to open the season ranked nationally, perhaps as the top pick to challenge front-runners Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in the Big 12.
But they’re going to have to heal up to have a shot.
Missing Saturday from action at Bill Snyder Family Stadium were returning starter Jesse Ertz at quarterback, who did not practice this spring after undergoing shoulder surgery early in the offseason.