Kansas State football teammates "heartbroken" by lineman Taylor Poitier's knee injury
MANHATTAN — Chris Klieman called it cruel. Heartbreaking was the word teammates Hadley Panzer and Deuce Vaughn used to describe Taylor Poitier's fate after exiting Kansas State's season opener last Saturday with yet another knee injury.
Poitier, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, had made his way back into the starting lineup at right guard, only to see it all come crashing down midway through the second quarter. Klieman said he got the bad news Sunday.
"It's a cruel thing, man," Klieman said Tuesday during his weekly news conference. "He tore a knee again and he'll be out for the season. It's an awful outcome.
"Sometimes the cruelest things happen to the best kids. My heart goes out to him because of all he did to get himself back."
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Sophomore Hadley Panzer, who was listed as the backup at both center and right guard, took over for Poitier during the South Dakota game and will start in his place for Saturday's 11 a.m. showdown against Missouri at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
"The challenge is just staying focused and lock into what the details are and stuff," Panzer said of filling the void. "Coach (Conor) Riley does a good job of helping us do that."
While Panzer had to turn the page and focus on the task at hand, losing Poitier hit everybody hard.
"It's really heartbreaking," Panzer said. "I love the kid to death. I'm really praying for him, and (the injury) really sucks.
"He's going through a hard time, and I'm praying for him and I wish him the best."
Poitier, a 6-foot-3, 291-pound junior from Bishop Miege High School in Kansas City, talked last week about his feelings heading into the opener after all he'd been through.
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"I'll probably cry, honestly," he said of taking the field for the first time since his injury. "There's so much emotion that I went through last year and missing out on everything. Just so grateful to be back and be a part of this team again.
"Every single day I try to be grateful because I think about the days I'd be on the sideline and just watching everyone else, and I hated that."
Poitier's teammates hated that it happened to him again.
"We didn't know until (Monday) what was going on with Taylor," said senior center Hayden Gillum. "My heart goes out to Taylor. We love Taylor.
"We're going to be here to support him and his comeback and take care of him and be playing for him."
Vaughn, the Wildcats' All-America running back, also took the news hard.
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"TP is one of the guys that every single day you see him he has a smile on his face, no matter what," Vaughn said. "He is someone that I have leaned on ever since I got here, (and) someone that I have created a bond with.
"To see him go down and to see the magnitude of the injury, man, I'm heartbroken. I'm sick. We're definitely battling for TP, because for this to happen two years in a row, no young man deserves that."
Hadley Panzer to step up for Taylor Poitier
Klieman expressed confidence in Panzer's ability to step in at right guard despite spending most of the spring and preseason splitting time with Gillum at center.
"He'd always played some guard because we took some reps off of Beebs (left guard Cooper Beebe) and TP in fall camp, so he's had some reps at guard during fall camp," Klieman said. "So it's not going to be foreign to him."
Panzer actually played in nine games as a true freshman last year at right guard.
"There's a lot of carryover," he said. "When I first got here I played a ton of center, and then last year kind of transitioned back to right guard. I've just got to stay focused and locked into the details."
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Gillum had no concerns about Panzer taking over at guard.
"I love playing next to Hadley and he'll be ready to go," Gillum said. "I think everybody's upset, just because Taylor's our friend and someone that you've seen put in a lot of work, but as far as moving forward, it's almost added fuel.
"We've got to step up. We've got to do more. We've got to play for Taylor and do what we can."
More Kansas State football injury updates
In other injury updates Tuesday, Klieman said he's hopeful that starting free safety Josh Hayes and strongside linebacker Shawn Robinson will be back for the Missouri game after missing the opener.
Hayes' name remained atop the depth chart released Monday, while Robinson's did not. Robinson had been projected as a possible starter along with Khalid Duke last week. Klieman said expects backup strong safety TJ Smith and fullback Jax Dineen should both be available after sitting out last week.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State football loses Taylor Poitier for season to knee injury
