Kansas State’s Felix Anudike-Uzomah loses share of FBS sack record after stat correction
Near the end of Kansas State’s 31-12 victory over TCU on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, the Wildcats announced that Felix Anudike-Uzomah had made history.
They showed a close-up of him on the video boards and declared to a crowd of 44,339 that the sophomore defensive end was going into the record books after matching the FBS high mark for sacks in a game with six.
Anudike-Uzomah smiled from ear to ear, and his teammates danced all around him. The celebration didn’t stop there. The Wildcats kept honoring their teammate in the locker room and spoke highly of him during the postgame news conference.
“What Felix did today,” K-State defensive back Reggie Stubblefield said. “That was the first time I had ever witnessed something like that.”
Alas, his impressive day will not be remembered the way anyone at K-State originally hoped. Why? A stat correction made by the NCAA late Saturday night reduced his sack total from six to four.
That means Anudike-Uzomah tied the school record for sacks in a game and continued his push for all Big 12 consideration as a pass-rusher, but came up two short of the FBS record.
K-State officials explained the change after unsuccessfully arguing with NCAA stat experts that he deserved six sacks.
Here’s why a stat correction was made: Anudike-Uzomah forced fumbles on two of the plays when he hit TCU quarterback Chandler Morris from behind and was originally credited with sacks. Both of those fumbles, however, went forward and crossed the line of scrimmage before K-State jumped on them for turnovers, technically resulting in positive rushing yards for the Horned Frogs.
The plays happened on fourth-and-goal early in the third quarter and on second-and-9 early in the fourth quarter.
Had both of those fumbles been recovered behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of yardage, Anudike-Uzomah would have been credited with a pair of sacks. Instead, he wasn’t even credited with a tackle.
K-State fans will likely argue that both plays should go down as sacks, because the fumbles were initiated behind the line of scrimmage. But that doesn’t matter.
NCAA rules state “for plays that end either on the line of scrimmage or beyond, there is no pass sack credited, but rather it is considered a rushing play. There can be no pass sack (or tackle for loss) without loss of yardage.”
The stat correction takes some shine away from Anudike-Uzomah’s stellar game. He said he was blessed when he thought he matched the FBS record and was upset he didn’t break it.
Still, the Wildcats were still proud of the way he played.
His final line: Eight tackles, including four sacks and two forced fumbles.
“He’s just relentless,” K-State coach Chris Klieman said.
“He’s a terrific pass rusher. He lets the game come to him. He doesn’t just rush the passer. He lets the game come to him. If it’s a run play, he’s playing it like a run. He counters and gets up field. Some of those sacks were off a three-man rush, so you can credit some of it to some coverages that we’re playing that the quarterbacks had to hold it, and then other times he’s just got speed. He’s got explosiveness, he’s strong. He works his craft, and it was fun to see it come through to fruition.”