Kansas State OL Christian Duffie to miss first game due to injury
Though it does not come as a surprise since he missed most of training camp, Kansas State offensive lineman Christian Duffie will miss the first game of the season because of an injury. That was announced by head coach Chris Klieman at his weekly press conference.
Duffie is part an offensive line that returns every single member from a year ago, which is pretty rare. Each of he, Cooper Beebe, Hayden Gillum and KT Leveston made a group choice to play another season of college football for K-State.
All had opportunities to leave. All of Duffie, Gillum, Beebe and Leveston have already graduated and are using the extra year afforded to them because of the Covid-19 pandemic that engulfed the 2020 season. Kansas State star Cooper Beebe could have exited early for the NFL.
The fifth K-State starter on the offensive line is a battle between Hadley Panzer and Taylor Poitier at right guard.
According to Klieman, the hope is that Duffie will return in the next week or two. That could be for the Troy game. That could when when Kansas State travels to Columbia for a rematch with the Missouri Tigers.
It will be Carver Willis who starts at right tackle in Duffie’s absence. He appeared sparingly the last two seasons after being thrusted into immediate action as a true freshman in 2020. The back-up on the initial depth chart is listed as Drake Bequaeith, though Beebe has also been mentioned as a solution.
Stay tuned for more coverage of Klieman’s press conference on KSO.
