Kansas State football took care of business against its Week 1 FCS foe UT-Martin, exiting Bill Snyder Family Stadium with a 41-6 win. 

“Good win, I told the guys, it’s our last time we get to prepare 30 days for a team and maybe over prepare,” head coach Chris Klieman said. “Now we get into the flow of the season.”

The K-State defense, led by the efforts of linebacker Desmond Purnell, took care of business early, allowing the offense to outmatch the Skyhawks by the contest’s end. 

Quarterback Avery Johnson went 14-21 through the air, collecting 153 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The true sophomore added 37 yards on three rushes. 

“So first, first real start at home — I know this, he’s going to continue to improve and get better, as we will on offense,” Klieman said. 

Johnson, who said he’s hard on himself, had a similar takeaway. 

“I feel like offensively we came out flat, and definitely could have did stuff a lot better,” Johnson said. “I don’t think I had the best game — it wasn’t the worst, either. Still got a lot of improvement to make.”

Highlighted by a near-touchdown and long catch of 44 yards, wide receiver Jayce Brown hauled in 71 yards on five catches to lead the receiver room. Brown also fumbled on a kickoff return to open the second half.

In his first game as a Wildcat, Colorado transfer and Kansas native Dylan Edwards found the endzone twice, once as a receiver and then as a rusher. 

“I was excited for Dylan to get this one over with,” Klieman said. “I knew he probably had some anxiety, and was a little anxious about coming back and playing at home … We all know what kind of talent this kid has, and I was so excited to see him cut it loose.”

Junior running back DJ Giddens added 124 yards on the ground to lead the backs. 

“We push each other and compete, and you see it out there,” Edwards said. “He’s a great player, we’re going to keep on putting it on for K-State this year.”

K-State’s defense was still ultimately the story, keeping the Skyhawks out of the endzone and only allowing 36 rushing yards and 98 passing yards. 

The Rundown

While the K-State defense shot out of the tunnel in high gear, the offense had trouble getting started. 

A three-and-out soured the opening drive anticipation but as the defense hounded the Skyhawks, Johnson’s offense began to create momentum. 

The second drive resulted in a 23-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Brayden Loftin, the Wildcats’ third tight end on the depth chart. 

Shortly after, another quick stop by the defense set up a punt by UT-Martin. Before the Wildcats’ offense could retake the field, the special teams unit stepped up. 

Senior receiver Ty Bowman blocked a punt for sophomore safety Colby McCalister to recover and put K-State up 14-0 by the first quarter’s end.  

“Obviously it was sparking energy for the whole team, for the whole stadium,” Bowman said. “We had a good plan going into [the punt] and we got our opportunity and made most of it.”

Excitement built in the crowd, hoping K-State would put the nail in the FCS foe’s coffin. However, the offense began to stall again, and both teams traded field goals to a 20-6 score toward the third quarter’s end. 

“Was not particularly pleased with the first half offensively, just didn’t get into a rhythm and didn’t think we had a lot of energy and juice,” Klieman said. “I challenged the guys at halftime because I thought we were better than that. And then we responded and played really well in the second half.”

But before the third period would conclude, the K-State offense hit its stride. Edwards and Brown each completed big plays, capped off by Edwards’ first touchdown in silver and purple. 

On the offense’s ensuing possession Edwards made another splash, this time as a receiver, connecting for a 15-yard touchdown pass and extending the lead to 34-6. 

“After I caught it, we celebrated, and everything just felt real, real good,” Edwards said.

With the game out of reach, K-State turned to the backups. Junior La’James White rushed for his first career touchdown.

What’s Next

K-State heads south for Week 2. Looking to avenge a home upset from 2022, the Wildcats will take on Tulane at 11 a.m. Saturday in New Orleans.