Kansas State able to grind out a victory at Texas Tech
On a night when nothing seemed to come easy for either team, Kansas State emerged from a back-and-forth battle against Texas Tech with a 30-27 victory on Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium.
The Wildcats (7-4, 4-4 Big 12) clinched the game by doing what they do best late in the fourth quarter. They ran the ball and picked up a pair of clutch first downs to run out the clock and beat the Red Raiders (4-7, 2-6).
It was a strangely entertaining matchup. Neither team could do much of anything in the first half, combing for nine points, but they both erupted with big plays and touchdowns over the final two quarters.
A quick synopsis of how wild things got in the fourth quarter: Over a quick series of plays, Texas Tech converted a fourth down with a fake punt and then threw an interception in the end zone on the following play, with Denzel Goolsby coming up with the ball. After that, K-State quarterback Skylar Thompson tossed an interception of his own and Texas Tech scored on a 58-yard touchdown pass from Jett Duffey to RJ Turner.
That pulled the Red Raiders to within three points with 3:58 remaining, but K-State never let them touch the ball again thanks to a clutch quarterback draw on third-and-11 from Thompson and another big run from James Gilbert.
The victory improved K-State’s bowl stock and ensured Klieman the best record of any first-year coach in the Big 12.
“We’re getting better,” Klieman said. “We’re growing, guys are believing, we’re heading in the right direction and this was a big win for the program so that the guys know that the direction we’re heading is the right way.”
For a while, that type of action seemed unlikely.
K-State didn’t score the first touchdown of the game until Thompson connected with Phillip Brooks for a 14-yard pass across the middle early in the third quarter. Brooks caught the ball after running a crossing route and then weaved through a pair of defenders on his way into the end zone to give the Wildcats a 13-3 lead.
It was a big play for K-State, which failed to cash in on a pair of red-zone trips in the first half and looked like it might have to settle for another field goal attempt when Thompson overthrew Wykeen Gill on his way into the end zone a few plays earlier.
But the Wildcats kept their poise and made an explosive play in a game that, until then, featured few highlights.
“We have got to take shots,” Thompson said. “That’s something that we have been talking about. Stretching the field and throwing the ball down the field and making defensive backs make plays. That’s huge for us.”
His touchdown turned out to have contagious effect on both teams. After trading field goals in the first half, the Red Raiders responded with a touchdown drive on their next possession to make it 13-10. Then the Wildcats pulled back ahead 20-10 on a 100-yard kickoff return from Joshua Youngblood.
It was his second special-teams touchdown of the season, but this one was probably more impressive than his long return against Texas. On this play, he burst through a running lane on his right and then tight-roped his way along the sideline, slowing down and speeding up, to get past the last defender in his way.
But the Red Raiders answered right back. Aided partially by an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty against Youngblood for excessive celebration following the TD, Texas Tech capitalized on good field position and marched 49 yards in six plays for a touchdown to make it 20-17.
K-State kept the scoring binge going the next time it touched the ball with a field goal from Blake Lynch.
Texas Tech threatened to take the lead on its next possession by driving to the K-State 10 and briefly appeared to take the lead on a sideline pass from Duffey to KeSean Carter. Officials ruled the play a touchdown in real time but called it an incomplete pass after discussing and reviewing the catch on replay. A field goal cut K-State’s lead to 23-20 early in the fourth quarter.
Then the Wildcats pulled ahead 30-20 on a 48 yard touchdown pass from Thompson to Chabstin Taylor at the 8:54 mark of the fourth quarter.
Thompson led the way for K-State by completing 14 of 28 passes for 246 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
But he was sluggish in the first half, right along with everyone else on the field. The first two quarters could be described with one word: ugly.
“In the first half we saw defense,” Texas Tech coach Matt Wells said. “Bot sides really just played tough, hard-nosed, sound, very fundamental defense. And then you come out in the second half and both offenses kind of get going.”
K-State took a 6-3 lead into the locker room, and the plays that led to that score were every bit as dull as you might expect.
Both teams began the night with a pair of three-and-outs. It took 18 plays before fans saw a first down, and once the teams started to move the ball they had trouble getting the ball in the end zone.
Lynch connected on a pair of field goals and missed a third as time expired in the second quarter, while Trey Wolff kicked one field goal for Texas Tech.
The Wildcats left some points on the field, coming up empty on a pair of red-zone trips and dropping a potential touchdown pass in the end zone. On that play, Thompson hit Gill in stride as he beat his defender in the final minute of the second quarter, but Gill couldn’t hold on to the pass.
Things got much more exciting in the second half, but the scoring margin didn’t change. K-State won an important game.
The Wildcats will next be in action next week at 6 p.m. at home against Iowa State.
This story was originally published November 23, 2019 at 9:46 PM.