No. 14 Kansas State football showcased its suffocating ability under Friday Night Lights, defeating No. 20 Arizona 31-7 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
K-State’s second half stole the show as the home Wildcats shut down Arizona 17-0, winning in every phase.
“We can be a complete team, we’re getting there, we’re getting better,” head coach Chris Klieman said. “… We can play fast on defense. We have some playmakers on offense. We’re not one-dimensional like a lot of people think we are.”
The defense forced two punts to open the half, followed by four consecutive turnovers on downs. Scoring-wise, the Wildcats’ two receiving touchdowns went to tight ends while running back Dylan Edwards returned a punt for a score and junior DJ Giddens punched in a score.
While the game didn’t count as a conference victory by the standings, it had every bit of the feel of a Big 12 contest, with the home team capitalizing on its advantage to outmatch its opponent.
“The crowd, that was as loud as I’ve ever heard The Bill,” Klieman said. “I knew they were going to be cranked up when I came in the parking lot, and they were electric tonight. They helped us win that football game.”
It was Arizona’s first trip to Manhattan and the first matchup between the two Wildcats foes as Big 12 members. K-State broke Arizona’s nation-long win streak of eight games and held the team to its fewest points over its last 33 games.
Quarterback Avery Johnson led K-State in rushing with 110 yards, including a long of 26 yards. The sophomore went 14-23 through the air for 156 yards and two touchdown passes.
“That’s my first time rushing for 100 yards in college,” Johnson said. “I have to give all the credit to the offensive line, credit to DJ and Dylan, because those guys take a lot of the eyes off of me.”
The Rundown
The first quarter clock flew by. Arizona got the ball rolling with a seven-minute, 14-play drive, resulting in a 1-yard rushing touchdown by senior running back Quali Conley.
Then K-State managed to one-up Arizona’s first drive, putting together a 15-play, seven-minute drive of its own to make it seven all-Wildcat.
K-State’s defense got a stop on the ensuing drive, setting up Edwards for the first special teams touchdown of his K-State career. The speedy transfer reached the perimeter and blazed down the sideline past Arizona tacklers for a 71-yard punt return score.
“It was very loud, and it was a great feeling,” Edwards said. “It just made me feel good inside … I just caught the ball off the bounce and circled him [the defender], tried to use my speed.”
With the lead, the K-State defense stepped up again. Arizona quarterback Noah Fifta was too late in finding an open man, allowing cornerback Keenan Garber to fly in and intercept a potential touchdown.
However, K-State failed to convert the turnover into points as senior kicker Chris Tennant went wide left from just under 50 yards.
With the ball to end the half — and another opportunity to tag on three points — clock management between coaches and the quarterback failed for K-State.
In field goal range with enough time for two plays, Johnson scrambled around and went out of bounds, having drained the remaining time of the first half. The sophomore’s reaction suggested he did not realize the clock hit zeroes.
“I should have called timeout with 13 seconds left and said, ‘Throw it away, we’ll kick the field goal; if it’s not there, throw it out of the end zone,’’ Klieman said. “Totally on me. Terrible gaffe and I’m not accustomed to making those mistakes. I’ll learn from it, and it won’t happen again.”
“I love coach, and he can try to take the blame for that, but at the end of the day, I got to know the play clock and know the type of situation,” Johnson said. “Coach [Trumain Carroll] came up to me and said ‘Everybody feeds off your energy in here. So you can’t be down. We’re winning this game.’”
Opposed to a potential 20-7 lead, K-State’s mistakes sent them into the break with a 14-7 advantage. The Wildcats didn’t let the mistake derail them and came out of the break hitting their stride in all phases.
The defense forced two punts and three turnovers-on-downs in the second half with the offense taking over, leading to the blowout win.
On the second drive of the third quarter, K-State marched down the field and scored on a 9-yard toss to sophomore Braydin Loftin. Giddens notched his first rushing touchdown of the season to extend the lead to 28-7 late in the fourth quarter.
Arizona’s drives continued to stall out, and a field goal by Tennant iced the result in Manhattan.
Up next
K-State will visit Provo, Utah next week as it takes on another new Big 12 foe. BYU hosts the Wildcats with a kickoff time of 9:30 p.m. CST — the latest kick time for K-State since 2009.
“We need to prove to ourselves that we can sustain this and keep playing at a high level,” Klieman said. “The only way you play at a high level is by preparing and practicing at a high level.”
