Jake Waters’ big night sparks Kansas State’s 45-13 victory over Texas Tech

There is no way around the numbers Kansas State quarterback Jake Waters put up in Saturday night’s 45-13 win over Texas Tech.

His 395 yards of total offense – 290 passing and 105 rushing – combined with five touchdowns approached rarefied air in Wildcat history.

Just 10 passing yards short of becoming the first K-State quarterback to go over 300 passing and 100 rushing since Michael Bishop in 1998.

But it was something else that struck Waters, something that happened with the game well out of reach.

Something that even got K-State coach Bill Snyder to crack a joke.

“Curry’s catch was the best catch I’ve ever seen,” Waters said. “Kind of unbelievable.”

Kansas State (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) hammered Texas Tech (2-3, 0-2) behind Waters’ big night, but it was also the play of wide receivers Curry Sexton (128 receiving yards, two touchdowns) and Tyler Lockett (125 yards, two touchdowns). Add a focused defensive effort and it propelled the Wildcats into an off week with a full head of steam from back-to-back blowout wins.

And Sexton’s catch? One-handed, for a touchdown, over the top of a Texas Tech defender for a 38-13 lead early in the fourth quarter.

“That’s gonna be on … what’s the show?” Snyder asked, smiling. “The one with the top 10 plays of the day. That better make it.”

K-State’s defense continued its run of great outings by holding Texas Tech’s vaunted passing game to 245 yards – 99 yards below its season average – and keeping quarterback Davis Webb on his heels almost the entire game. He was 22 of 43 for 247 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions.

“It was a little bit of everything,” Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “We keep hammering away, practicing and working hard to get better, but then we get out to the games and it is not connecting.

“That is coaching, that is on me.”

Wichita cornerback Morgan Burns intercepted Webb twice, as did safety Travis Green, who left late in the game with an apparent injury after hurting his knee on one of the interception returns.

“I think (the defense) did an excellent job with the exception of two long drives they had,” Snyder said. “They had some extended plays … and it wasn’t so much that they scored, it’s that we made some nonsensical errors that allowed it to happen.”

Texas Tech seemed sharp on its first drive, moving the ball from its own 30 to K-State’s 7-yard line before Webb was intercepted by Burns in the end zone in Burns’ first action since a Sept. 18 injury against Auburn.

“I was just making sure he didn’t get the inside route, turned around and the ball was coming toward me and then it was in my hands,” Burns said. “It was so fast and I can’t really even tell you exactly what happened.”

Waters consistently kept the Red Raiders off balance on defense in the first half with his ability to run the ball – the senior set up K-State’s second touchdown with a 50-yard run to the Texas Tech 8-yard line, and finished off the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 lead.

On defense, the Wildcats’ got another interception – this one by Green – that set up a 27-yard field goal by Mitch McCrane for a 17-0 lead, but miscommunication between defensive backs Dante Barnett and Randall Evans let Jakeem Grant get open for a 22-yard touchdown pass from Webb that cut K-State’s lead to 17-7 with 4:11 left in the second quarter.

The Wildcats weren’t done scoring, however. Waters went 6 of 7 passing on K-State’s final drive before halftime – and added a 19-yard run – before finding Lockett for a 15-yard touchdown pass and a 24-7 lead at halftime.

“We got into rhythm pretty early, got some good drives going and everybody was on the same page,” Waters said. “Every game brings different dynamics to it. Against UTEP, we barely threw it and we had a great day running. Every team you play ... it’s not going to be the same way to beat everybody. You’ve got to find different ways.”

Waters and Lockett connected for another touchdown in the third quarter – this one from 14 yards for a 31-7 lead and aided by a pair of Texas Tech miscues. The Red Raiders were penalized twice when the Wildcats got the ball past midfield, once for unsportsmanlike conduct and once for pass interference.

Sexton followed with his one-handed grab for a touchdown and Wichita native DeMarcus Robinson added a 3-yard touchdown for the final margin.

Kansas State gets two weeks to think about its showdown at No. 4 Oklahoma on Oct. 18. The Sooners lost to TCU on Saturday.

“Not playing next week might be a good thing, I don’t know,” Snyder said. “Ask me in two weeks.”

This story was originally published October 4, 2014 at 7:40 PM with the headline "Jake Waters’ big night sparks Kansas State’s 45-13 victory over Texas Tech."