Kansas
Oklahoma, Kansas State can imagine what might have been at QB, but did they have a choice?
Late in the second quarter Saturday, Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold committed his third turnover of the night, this one a pass toward the sideline that bounced short and then off the intended receiver before being recovered by Tennessee after a mad scramble.
Arnold, a redshirt freshman and former five-star, appeared for only one more play the rest of the night, a handoff, as the Sooners fell 25-15 at home.
A few hours later, Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson threw a pair of interceptions at BYU. The Wildcats’ final three possessions all resulted in turnovers on downs, and K-State lost 38-9, stumbling early in a season that began with Big 12 title hopes.
A frustrating evening for both programs was made more so by imagining what might have been.
Former K-State starting quarterback Will Howard is enjoying success at Ohio State, and former Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel is leading Oregon, with both teams looking like College Football Playoff contenders.
Ohio State, with quarterback Will Howard, is ranked No. 3 in the AP poll. (Jason Mowry / Getty Images)
Months later, it’s easy to point to their success in new places and the growing pains or failures of their replacements and wonder if more should have been done to keep them. Or if both programs should have kept their more experienced passer and let the chips fall where they may with highly rated prospects who didn’t want to wait long to get their turns.
But in the new era of college football, where no position is more valuable or transfers more often than quarterback, keeping two players of a certain caliber is rarely possible. Arch Manning and Quinn Ewers at Texas is an anomaly.
In reality, the scenarios are far more complex than they appear on the surface.
A season ago, there was a clear understanding at Kansas State: Howard, who led the Wildcats to the 2022 Big 12 title, would be the starter. Johnson, a four-star Kansas native and the No. 9 quarterback in the 2023 class, would be the backup. And Howard would be headed to the NFL after the season.
But as any human can attest, sometimes life’s plans go awry.
Howard struggled early, and coach Chris Klieman turned to Johnson at midseason. He played both quarterbacks, leaning on Johnson’s lightning speed and Howard’s experienced and more refined abilities as a passer.
At the end of an 8-4 regular season, Howard entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer but also entered his name for consideration in the NFL Draft. For six weeks, he was in limbo. He’d visited USC, but Miller Moss’ stellar bowl performance made starting for Lincoln Riley there a near-impossibility.
Then Ohio State’s offense cratered behind Devin Brown in a 14-3 Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri. Less than a week later, Howard was headed to Columbus, where he won the starting job this offseason.
Gabriel’s two seasons at Oklahoma were similar. Once Arnold committed and enrolled, it was understood that Gabriel, who had started his career at UCF, would be headed to the NFL, too.
Gabriel led the Sooners to a 10-2 record and win over rival Texas, but after the 2023 season, the NFL Draft Advisory Committee examined Gabriel’s film and gave him a seventh round/undrafted grade.
“I was just devastated, Gabriel told The Athletic this offseason.
Oklahoma’s coaches were publicly supportive of Gabriel staying, but the writing was on the wall.
From Gabriel and Johnson’s perspectives, it makes no sense to stick around at a program and compete for a job when there are “guaranteed” starting spots to step into and money to be earned elsewhere.
And for as glorified as it may be to be a “team player,” who wouldn’t want to leave for a program that clearly sees you as their answer at the roster’s most important position?
Staying at their current schools means likely undercutting their own NFL value, too. A quarterback can’t cement his status as an NFL Draft pick if he’s stuck on the bench behind an underclassman. And some collectives can only spend so much on one position.
“Maybe we could pay a guy $800,000 or whatever to stay and do nothing,” said a person briefed on Kansas State’s roster decision-making, granted anonymity for their candor. “But if you have that money, are you going to use it on a backup? Or are you going to spend it on an impact receiver? Or a big-time edge rusher or an offensive tackle?”
Kansas State and Oklahoma lost offensive coordinators, too. Oklahoma’s Jeff Lebby left to become Mississippi State’s head coach. K-State’s Collin Klein went to Texas A&M.
At Ohio State, Howard is 11th nationally in passer rating. Johnson is 78th (he also rushed for 110 yards in a win over Arizona). Gabriel, who has started more than 50 college games, is ninth nationally in passer rating. Arnold is 100th. Oklahoma coach Brent Venables announced Monday he’s turning to a true freshman in Michael Hawkins Jr.
For coaches like Klieman and Venables, sticking with a more experienced quarterback might sound good in the short term, but blue-chip quarterback recruits are hard to sign everywhere. If a program gets one, it’s necessary to at least attempt to build around them, just like an NFL team does after drafting a first-round quarterback.
Sticking with an older player who they mostly know — the good and the bad — runs the risk of a program never finding out the potential of a more promising young player in the era of perpetual free agency.
And coaches would be committing to one year of what’s known rather than rolling the dice on improving the program over the next two to three years and leveraging that success into a better roster through high school recruiting or the transfer portal.
There is often fan angst about getting to see the hyped young prospect as well, along with worry that he will transfer. If Johnson hadn’t been given a clear path to the field at the school he chose out of high school, who’s to say he wouldn’t have looked for one under Klein or elsewhere?
If you can have only one, the clear choice is potential and development within the program, rather than attempting to mine the portal for a new transfer quarterback every season. How’s that working out for Notre Dame?
Roster management in college football is more complicated, with more stakeholders and variables, than ever. K-State and Oklahoma are just the latest examples of teams trying to balance awkward offseason decisions at quarterback. More choices like they made are coming.
It’s easy to pine for what they once had and easy to say they made a mistake.
Reality is simply more complex.
(Top photo of Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold getting tackled by Tennessee defensive lineman Tyre West: David Stacy / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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A video shared by a viewer, shows a resident speaking at the Osawatomie, Kansas City Council meeting being escorted out by police on Thursday evening.
The video shows a man holding a “Hell No Alcove” sign, while commenting about a blighted property, which according to public records is owned by Pacific Apartments, LLC, operating out of the same address as Alcove Development in Lawrence, Kansas.
KSHB 41
Alcove Development is behind the effort to build a $1 billion, 283-acre data center development in Osawatomie’s northland property.
The video, shared by a viewer, goes on the show two law enforcement officers approaching the individual, who is Lee Brewer, at the podium, after he begins to yell, while the crowd joins in behind him. Lee Brewer reached out to KSHB 41 late Thursday night, identifying himself as the person who was escorted out.
Osawatomie, Kansas Police Chief Dave Stutteville is seen in the video also approaching the man.
Fabian Rosales/KSHB
KSHB 41 Miami County Reporter Ryan Gamboa reached out to the Police Chief, City Manager, and Mayor Nick Hampson for comment late on Thursday night and is waiting on a response.
Residents in contact with Gamboa attending the meeting shared the meeting was still in session after 9:30 p.m.
Thursday night’s meeting was the city and Alcove Development’s attempt at sharing potential benefits of a data center for the community.
Gamboa has long covered the data center project in Osawatomie, Kansas — and neighbors to the project have voiced their opposition to the proposed development.
Brian Luton/KSHB
This is the first time Alcove Development has approached the public, but not the first time it has worked with the city of Osawatomie.
In late 2025, Alcove Development approached the city with the project and weeks later, a pre-development agreement was signed giving Alcove exclusive rights to the development for three years.
But city council meeting records from 2023 show, the city of Osawatomie entered into a pre-development agreement with Alcove Development to redevelop a property known as Old Swenson School.
Alcove Development had six months to asses the condition of the property and determine a course of action for redevelopment, and the overall agreement would last 18 months, according to public records.
Will Shaw/KSHB
The pre-development agreements states, Alcove would consider asking for tax breaks on the project, including utilizing the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.
At the time, the property had sat in disrepair since 2016, according to the records, and was frequently found in violation of city code.
If the re-development were to fall through, the city would be on the hook to purchase the property from the developer for $25,000, with unclear total costs for infrastructure improvements.
KSHB 41
KSHB 41 will follow up on the status on this project at a later date.
Earlier this week, Miami County Reporter Ryan Gamboa, sat down with Donna Ingram who doesn’t live far from the data center site.
Ingram expressed her concerns about the amount of infrastructure that would be built to operate a data center, and how it might overtake the land around her home.
Ryan Gamboa/KSHB
She expressed concerns because the City of Osawtomie changed the public comment guidelines of a promise town hall with the developer.
“Watching this process play out is disheartening,” Ingram said in an interview on Monday. “A town hall was promised that didn’t come to fruition… I don’t believe it’s the definition. This is a city council meeting. We’re the ones that are gonna live next to it. We’re the ones that live in the path of the infrastructure.”
The city told KSHB 41 on Monday in a statement, they changed the format to prioritize the voices of city taxpayers, as county taxpayers have dominated the public comment periods over the past couple of months.
Brian Luton/KSHB
Mayor Nick Hampson also told Gamboa in an earlier interview he was hoping to have a productive “town hall” — instead, the first meeting with the public and the developer of the project was during a formal and regularly scheduled city council meeting.
The city also required residents to submit questions ahead of time, and the city would filter questions to the developer, while limiting public comment to three minutes.
“We have been and will continue to hear from the residents that are in the county and closest to this project,” Hampson told KSHB 41 in an email on Monday.
Miami County, Kansas
Residents shared a record to KSHB 41, submitted to the city for a formal investigation into 1009 Pacific Avenue in Osawatomie, which is owned by a company operating out of Alcove Development’s address.
The dilapidated property is the a former school house, that sits with broken windows, and other parts of the building breaking down.
The Miami County Republic reporting on Thursday, the city launched an investigation into the building.
Ryan Gamboa/KSHB
Residents cite the buildings deteriorating condition and potential danger to the public, and lack of property maintenance.
Lee Brewer issued a comment regarding the incident at Thursday night’s meeting, stating he was escorted out after the Mayor closed public comment, and he was not on the list.
Brewer told KSHB 41, he has a time -stamped email of pre-submitted questions ahead of the meeting. KSHB 41 asked Brewer to review the email, and is waiting for an answer.
I am severely disappointed in our Mayor and the city council. They told us we were required to send in an email with our questions and our address to prove we were citizens of the town by Wednesday the 24th at noon. I have my email which is timestamped at 10:26 a.m. Wednesday the 24th. They shut me down and first told me I didn’t put the email in and then once I was kicked out of there I was told by people coming out that they were told I turned in my email too late. I’m not a math teacher but last time I looked at my clock 10:26 a.m. falls just over an hour and a half before noon. I mean correct me if I’m wrong. I thought because the mayor and I were having decent conversations on Facebook Messenger, whereas I would ask him questions and he would answer to the best of his ability. And I would thank him I thought we were pretty cordial. So to basically call me a liar in front of the entire town on video recording, take away my freedom of speech My first amendment right, and have me removed from a public building was completely wrong I am very disappointed in our city council and mayor. When I approached the podium all I was trying to do was point out that resolution number 1169 in Osawatomie Kansas refers to Alcove development LLC being the owner of the old Swenson School at 1009 Pacific. As I pointed out in these earlier messages to you Alcove has left this building dilapidated in ruins and a danger to our community. Our great city council and mayor seem to have other plans for me being able to speak though.
Lee Brew, via Facebook to KSHB 41 News
KSHB 41 reached out to Alcove Development late on Thursday night, and is waiting on a response.
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Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify information about cleanup information.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A tanker transporting 8,000 gallons of ethanol crashed in El Dorado on Thursday.
It happened at the intersection of Kansas Avenue and South Main Street.
According to dispatch, the vehicle overturned, causing the fluid to leak out and spill into the storm sewer system.
City Manager David Dillner said traffic is being diverted in the area while crews work to clean up the ethanol.
Nearby residents have been evacuated to the El Dorado Civic Center due to the pungent smell of the fuel, Dillner said.
No injuries have been reported.
This is a developing story.
For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here. To watch our shows live on our website, click here.
Kansas
Body believed to be Kansas City highway shooting suspect found in burned home’s basement by family: police
Manhunt for Kansas City shooting suspect enters seventh day
A large-scale manhunt for Oscar Sanchez-Munoz, 22, continues in Kansas City, Missouri, entering its seventh day. Sanchez-Munoz is suspected of killing one person and injuring four others in a recent shooting spree. His family reports he was exhibiting signs of schizophrenia as the FBI offers a $25,000 reward for information.
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Police told Fox News on Wednesday that a body believed to be Oscar Sanchez-Munoz, the 22-year-old suspect in a deadly string of highway shootings near the Kansas City World Cup venues, was discovered by his family in the basement of a burned home.
Officials said the family contacted police at about 2 p.m. local time after finding decomposing remains hidden beneath piles of debris.
While the family had visited the home several times since it caught fire during an overnight police standoff, police said they only discovered the body after removing debris and noticing a distinct odor.
MANHUNTS ACROSS AMERICA IN 2025: FIVE CASES THAT LEFT CITIES, CAMPUSES AND TOWNS ON EDGE
Oscar Sanchez-Munoz was wanted in connection with at least six shootings across multiple states. (FBI)
Previously, investigators, federal partners and K-9 units had repeatedly searched the Independence, Missouri, property without success.
Authorities said the basement partially collapsed, flooded with water, and was filled with a large amount of “clutter,” which complicated the search.
The discovery brings a presumed end to a massive multi-agency manhunt that began after Sanchez-Munoz allegedly fired at vehicles along Interstate 70, just miles from Arrowhead Stadium where FIFA World Cup matches were being held.
MANHUNT INTENSIFIES FOR ARMY VETERAN SUSPECTED OF KILLING 4 IN BAR SHOOTING AFTER TRUCK FOUND ABANDONED
The FBI released a wanted poster seeking the public’s assistance in finding suspect Oscar Sanchez-Munoz. (FBI)
The spree of half dozen shootings left one person dead and several others seriously injured, including an Uber driver who was shot while transporting soccer fans.
During the search for Sanchez-Munoz, the FBI offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to his capture, warning the public that he was “armed and dangerous.”
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche had publicly speculated that the suspect might be dead inside the Missouri home, though police were unable to confirm it at the time.
MANHUNT UNDERWAY AFTER MISSOURI DEPUTY SLAIN, SUSPECT’S TRUCK SPOTTED HEADING TOWARD ARKANSAS BORDER
FBI officials said suspect Oscar Sanchez-Munoz had visible acne scars and is 5 feet 8 inches tall. (FBI)
Officials said investigators are currently operating under the assumption that the deceased person is Sanchez-Munoz, noting clothing on the body matched what the shooter wore during last week’s attacks.
A medical examiner will confirm the identity and determine the cause of death.
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Officials assured the public there is no threat to the community, and added that all surviving victims are expected to recover.
Fox News Digital’s Kelsie Cairns contributed to this report.
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