Another dominant rushing effort propelled K-State to a 34-19 win over the Kansas Jayhawks, giving head coach Bill Snyder his 200th career victory in front of a sellout crowd of 52,637 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Saturday.
Snyder becomes the 26th coach in FBS history to eclipse the 200-win mark, but is only the sixth coach to have all of his career victories at one school. It was Snyder’s eighth-straight win over KU and 21st overall in his 25 seasons, tying his 21 wins against Iowa State for the most victories by a current FBS coach over any one opponent.
K-State (7-4, 5-3 Big 12) trailed by three in the opening minutes but took off running and did not look back, utilizing 160 first-half rushing yards and a defensive touchdown to pull ahead before intermission, 20-3. Kansas (2-10, 1-7 Big 12) was held to just 127 yards of total offense, while turning it over twice in the first half.
The Wildcats added a touchdown on their first possession of the third quarter and just seconds into the fourth to put the game out of reach as K-State rushed for more than 200 yards for the fifth-consecutive game, its longest such streak since 2003.
Junior quarterback Jesse Ertz led the way for K-State out of the gate, rushing 12 times for 99 yards – including a long of 34 to set up K-State’s second touchdown. Ertz played only one snap in the second half before being replaced by senior Joe Hubener, who completed 2-of-4 passes for 40 yards while adding seven rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. Redshirt freshman Alex Delton also appeared and was the Wildcats’ third-leading rusher with 53 yards on 12 carries.
Out of the backfield, senior Charles Jones earned the start, but ran only five times for seven yards. Redshirt freshman Alex Barnes, fresh off his four-touchdown effort against Baylor, carried 10 times for 103 yards and one touchdown, a 31-yarder in which he leaped over a defender and touched the right pylon with the nose of the football. Barnes’ 103 rushing yards moved his season total to 442 yards, pushing him into second place in school history among freshmen rushers.
K-State also received ground game contributions from sophomore Winston Dimel, who had two touchdowns, his 11th and 12th of the season, while sophomore Dalvin Warmack had K-State’s longest run of the day for 36 yards on one of his five rushes.
The stout rushing attack lent for minimal pass plays as K-State’s quarterbacks combined to complete just 6-of-11 passes. Sophomore Byron Pringle was on the receiving end of five passes for 77 yards, while Jones brought in the other completion on a screen play for 22 yards.
The Wildcats finished the day with 441 yards of total offense, including 342 on the ground, surpassing the 300-yard rushing mark for the third time this season. With today’s rushing effort, K-State’s season total ballooned to 2,459 yards, good enough for eighth on the all-time list for rushing yards in a season and the most since 2012. K-State ran two fewer plays (71-69) than the Jayhawks, but mustered up 25 first downs while holding more than 36 minutes of possession.
On the defensive side of the ball, K-State allowed 403 yards to the Kansas offense, including 302 passing yards, but forced three Jayhawk turnovers while holding them to just 4-of-14 on third down conversions.Image may be NSFW.
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Junior linebacker Elijah Lee led the charge for K-State’s defensive players with eight tackles and one interception – the fifth of his career, which is the most all-time by a linebacker under Snyder. Sophomore safety Kendall Adams and senior linebacker Charmeachealle Moore were up next, each adding six tackles apiece. In their last home games, seniors Dante Barnett and Jordan Willis secured four tackles. Willis tallied 1.5 sacks, giving him 10.5 on the year and 25 for his career, which places him third in school history and seventh in Big 12 history on the career sacks list.
Senior Donnie Starks came up with K-State’s only non-offensive touchdown with his third interception in two weeks, returning it 39 yards for the score in the second quarter. Redshirt freshman Trey Dishon and sophomore D.J. Reed were credited with the forced fumble with Moore coming up with the recovery.
To begin the game, the Wildcats won the opening toss and deferred until the second half. Propelled by a 30-yard completion on 2nd and 21, the Jayhawks moved into K-State’s red zone on their opening possession but settled for a 34-yard field goal from Matthew Wyman at the 10:30 mark of the first quarter.
The Wildcats wasted no time on their opening drive, traveling 70 yards in six plays for the score. K-State’s first play from scrimmage resulted in an 18-yard run from Ertz, who also gashed KU’s defense for a 21-yarder to the KU 1-yard line. Dimel ran right and rolled into the end zone to put K-State ahead, 6-3, with 7:24 to play in the first quarter, before the PAT was blocked.
K-State’s defense forced two punts before adding to its lead to begin the second quarter. The Wildcats had back-to-back runs of 30 yards or more, first a 34-yarder from Ertz and then a 31-yard touchdown score from Barnes as he dove in from the 5-yard line to make the score 13-3 with 13:52 to play in the first half.
On the second play of the ensuing KU drive, Starks stepped in front of Carter Stanley’s throw for a 39-yard pick-six, the first of his career, as K-State’s advantage jumped to 20-3 with 13:12 remaining in the second.
Lee snagged his fifth career interception just over a minute later when Craig Settles tipped Stanley’s pass into the air. K-State could not capitalize with the short field, clanging a 36-yard field goal off the upright. Neither team put points on the board to end the half as K-State carried a 20-3 into the break.
K-State received the ball to begin the second half and used an 11 play, 75-yard touchdown drive to go up 27-3. Dimel capped it off from seven yards out for his second rushing score of the day with 9:47 to go in the third, ending a scoring drive that featured one play at quarterback for Ertz, two for Hubener and eight plays under center for Delton.
The Jayhawks answered with their first touchdown of the afternoon as Stanley dropped a ball over the top to LaQuvionte Gonzalez for a 95-yard touchdown with 4:18 to play in the third quarter. KU’s two-point conversion failed, keeping the score at 27-9.
K-State’s following drive included runs of 15 and 27 yards by Barnes, who eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark for the second-straight game. Hubener’s quarterback sneak from one yard out put the Wildcats ahead, 34-9, within seconds of beginning the fourth quarter.
A 10 play, 75-yard drive in 3:27 pulled KU within 18 points again, 34-16. Stanley rolled out and completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Michael Zunica with 11:29 left in the game. Another Wyman field goal, this time from 44 yards, chipped into K-State’s lead, 34-19, at the 6:30 mark of the fourth quarter, but K-State shut down any further comeback from the Jayhawks and walked away with a 34-19 win.
K-State rounds out Big 12 play next Saturday as it heads to Fort Worth, Texas, to take on the TCU Horned Frogs. Kickoff is slated for 11 a.m., and can be seen nationally on FS1.