Chris Klieman offers injury updates on linebackers Austin Moore, Asa Newsom

Kansas State‘s defense was left shorthanded by the end of their 41-6 win over UT-Martin on Saturday, as linebackers Austin Moore, Asa Newsom, and Alec Marenco were all out for the second half.

However, it didn’t matter as K-State began to swap out their linebackers, giving additional playing time to younger players lower on the depth chart.

That’s only a luxury K-State will likely have for one game, as an away trip to Tulane awaits the Wildcats.

The good news for K-State is that Moore’s departure from Saturday’s contest was precautionary.

On Monday, head coach Chris Klieman offered an update on the team captain, mentioning that they pulled him from halftime to give snaps to other linebackers who needed the playing time.

“We pulled Austin Moore precautionary at halftime. He’d been dealing with something and was feeling good,” Klieman said. “But we pulled him so we could use Rex Van Whye a little more. Rex needed those reps.”

According to Pro Football Focus data, Moore played only 21 snaps, a significant drop from the other starting linebackers. For example, Desmond Purnell played a team-high 46 snaps.

Moore registered just one tackle in the win, while Van Whye finished with four tackles, including half a tackle for loss.

The situation for Newsom is a little more unclear. Newsom did not dress for K-State but was on the sideline in street clothes. According to Klieman, his status for Saturday is not decided yet.

“Asa just wasn’t ready to play with something he has been dealing with,” he said. “We’ll see how practice goes this week, but we’re more optimistic this week than we were last week.”

Newsom played in four games last season and was beginning to emerge as a reliable linebacker as a true freshman. However, he suffered a season-ending injury against UCF. Newsom totaled five tackles, including a half tackle for loss.

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