Wildcat report: K-State 32, Iowa State 28

Kansas State running back Charles Jones dives for a touchdown Saturday in Ames, Iowa, during the Wildcats’ 32-28 victory. Bo Rader The Wichita Eagle

First Quarter

Key play: Jake Waters found Tyler Lockett for a 57-yard gain on the game’s opening drive to setup K-State for an easy touchdown.

Key stat: K-state scored on its first three drives to take a 13-0 lead.

Second Quarter

Key play: Jarvis West returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown to give Iowa State a 14-13 lead.

Key stat: West returned a punt for a touchdown and threw for a touchdown after catching a touchdown in the first quarter.

Third Quarter

Key play: Marquel Bryant made a tackle at the line of scrimmage to stop Iowa State on a fourth-and-short, keeping K-State within one score.

Key stat: After 48 combined points in the first half, neither team scored in the third quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Key play: Randall Evans intercepted a pass intended for West, setting up K-State with field position that it turned into a touchdown.

Key stat: Waters ran seven times for 59 yards and a touchdown.

Report card

Offense: B+. Jake Waters toughed out yards on the ground and K-State out-gained Iowa State by a significant margin, 152 yards. But penalties and other miscues prevented the Wildcats from a better grade and a larger early lead.

Defense: C+. Give Randall Evans and Ryan Mueller credit for making the plays necessary to shutout Iowa State in the second half, but Iowa State gashed K-State in the second quarter.

Special teams: D. The Wildcats allowed an 82-yard punt return and rarely benefited from their own special teams unit.

Coaching: B. K-State made some nice halftime adjustments, but it was ill-prepared to match Iowa State during its 28-point outburst.

Player of the game: Jake Waters. The senior quarterback approached 400 yards of total offense and made loads of clutch plays.

Reason to hope: K-State was uncharacteristically mistake-prone on Saturday and still found a way to win on the road.

Reason to mope: The Wildcats often looked out of place and unathletic on defense. That’s a combination Auburn could really take advantage of.

Looking ahead: K-State is off this week, but then plays host to Auburn on Thursday, Sept. 18. It will be one of the most anticipated nonconference games ever at Snyder Family Stadium.

Notes

K-State football coach Bill Snyder considers Paul Rhoads a friend, and he complimented the way he coached his team on Saturday. The compliments don’t likely mean much to Rhoads, though.

Since Snyder came out of retirement in 2009, he is undefeated against Iowa State. The Wildcats have beaten the Cyclones seven straight times.

The Wildcats overcame their first double-digit deficit since a 2010 victory at North Texas. It was their first come-from-behind win of any kind since beating Texas A&M 53-50 in 2011.

NFL scouts with the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were in attendance.

Kellis Robinett

This story was originally published September 6, 2014 at 7:20 PM with the headline "Wildcat report: K-State 32, Iowa State 28."