#18 Alec Marenco — Linebacker Alec Marenco (18), who transferred in from New Mexico in time for spring practices, will bolster depth in the middle of the defense. But lingering injuries mean he may not start at MLB. | Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images

In which BracketCat counts down the 20th day until the 2024 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State linebacker Alec Marenco.

#20 Alec Marenco

True Senior | 6-2 | 234 lbs. | El Paso, Texas

Position: Linebacker
Previous College: University of New Mexico
Projection: Second-String
Status: On Scholarship

Alec Marenco (b. Aug. 13, 2003) is a transfer linebacker from New Mexico who arrived just after spring practices but still is expected to compete for starting middle linebacker duties.

He saw action in 27 career games at New Mexico with 13 starts and totaled 96 career tackles for the Lobos. But he also battled injuries throughout his career that have persisted.

Marenco played in nine games in 2021, primarily on special teams, as he tallied four tackles on the season and carded his first career tackle in his collegiate debut at Texas A&M.

He then saw action in six games in 2022, with three starts, before suffering a season-ending injury. Prior to that, though, Marenco recorded 26 tackles on the year, including a season-high nine at LSU in his first-ever career start, and he also had six tackles at UNLV.

He had his best season last year when he played in all 12 games with 10 starts, leading the team with 66 tackles en route to All-Mountain West honorable mention accolades.

Marenco also had 3.5 tackles for loss, half a sack, three pass breakups and a forced fumble.

He recorded a pair of double-digit tackle games when he had a career-high 12 stops at UMass and 11 tackles in the season finale against Utah State, the latter of which featured a career-high seven solo stops, and he also had nine tackles at Wyoming.

Marenco produced a career-best 1.5 tackles for loss against San Jose State and his first career half-sack against New Mexico State. He also batted away passes on three occasions — against Tennessee Tech, San Jose State and Hawai’i. (And he graduated in just 3 years!)

Entering this spring, many thought Marenco would lock down the vacant middle linebacker position that saw four different starters in 2023 due to injuries. Ironically, though, his own minor injuries have prevented that and I think Austin Romaine is in line to start the opener.

However, there is no doubt Marenco will play a lot this fall regardless, even if as a backup.

He prepped under head coach James Routledge at William H. Burges High School in El Paso, where he totaled 297 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, three sacks and four interceptions during his career as he was named the city’s Defensive Most Valuable Player.

Marenco also played wide receiver, hauling in 41 passes for 787 yards and 11 touchdowns, and competed in track and field — earning all-district honors, picking up three district championships, and becoming a regional qualifier in the 4×400, shot put and triple jump.

He also played kicker, punter and, at times, quarterback, and was a sprinter and jumper.

Marenco originally enrolled at New Mexico over offers from Abilene Christian, Houston Christian and UTEP. He also considered conference foe Arizona when he was transferring.

He comes from good bloodlines, too. His father, Oscar, played football at Texas Tech before suffering a career-ending injury, while his mother, Christina, played volleyball at UTEP and his sister, Savannah, played beach volleyball at UTEP.

Marenco has at least one year of eligibility left and if his injury prevents his playing in more than four games in 2024, he still has a redshirt available as well.