Quick Recap: Kansas falls 47-27 to K-State in Manhattan

Kansas State held off Kansas 47-27 in the Sunflower Showdown on Saturday night in Manhattan. The Wildcats led for the entire game and kept the Jayhawks off the scoreboard for most of the second half in the regular-season finale.

Trailing by nine at the half, Kansas couldn’t nudge itself far enough into the range of a K-State offense that dropped 443 total yards on the Jayhawks. All four KU scores came on the ground between Devin Neal (2), Torry Locklin (1), and Jalon Daniels (1). Daniels, in his second game back, completed 20 of 32 passes for 168 yards on the night.

1Q:

After Kansas won the opening coin toss and deferred, K-State opened the game with possession. The Wildcats were held to a punt on the first drive of the game, but a muffed punt by O.J. Burroughs on the KU return set up an easy K-State ground score by Malik Knowles.

The Jayhawks responded to Burrough’s special teams' folly after the K-State score, tying it up at 7-7 on a 12-yard TD run by Torry Locklin with 7:49 to go in the first quarter. A 42-yard TD pass from Will Howard to Sam Wheeler reclaimed the lead for K-State, 14-7, seven plays and 75 yards into the next drive.

An illegal block-in-the-back penalty called against Kansas special teams opened the second KU drive deep in blue territory. A holding penalty against Bryce Cabeldue applied on a fourth-down try resulted in a safety for the Wildcats with 4:11 left in the first quarter.

Carrying momentum off the two-point play, K-State added to its lead, 23-7, on a short-yardage score by Knowles. The drive took nine plays and spanned 61 yards, bringing the first-quarter clock down to 1:37. After the K-State score, Kansas made its way up to the KU 38-yard line on a pair of carries from Devin Neal.

2Q:

Kansas opened the second quarter with a scoring drive – an 11-yard TD run by Neal – with 11:56 left to play in the first half. The drive featured a 25-yard run by Jalon Daniels that pushed the KU offense into scoring territory.

What started as a sluggish drive for K-State after the KU score swung the Wildcats into scoring territory when Deuce Vaughn broke loose on 3rd and 11 and set up a 14-yard TD pass from Howard to Philip Brooks, advancing the K-State lead to 29-14 with 9:09 left in the first half.

Fighting back, Kansas worked its way up to the KSU 9-yard line on a pass interference penalty called against the Wildcats. The drive, spanning seven plays and 75 yards, resulted in a short-yardage TD run by Neal with 4:57 left in the first half.

Ahead 30-21, K-State couldn’t move the sticks after the KU score and settled for its second punt of the night, this one coming from the KSU 23-yard line. Starting deep, Kansas couldn’t make anything of its next drive but got the ball back soon on K-State’s next offensive run when Lonnie Phelps stripped the ball from Howard and Caleb Sampson recovered with little over one minute left before halftime.

Even with the defensive takeaway, Kansas was stalled again just before the break and punted away to the Wildcats with 55 seconds to go. K-State didn’t find much traction on the final drive of the half, as the final first-half seconds slipped away.

3Q:

Receiving the second-half kickoff, Kansas couldn’t move the sticks on its opening drive but managed to stall the K-State offense and retrieve possession on a punt with 12:37 still to go in the third quarter. Little over a minute later, Torry Locklin fumbled two plays into the KU drive and handed the ball back to the Wildcats.

K-State took advantage of the KU turnover, scoring on 4th and Goal with a quick, left-side toss to Vaughn for six with 6:59 left in the third quarter. Kansas, now down 37-21, scored and pulled itself up to the goal line as the game progressed into the fourth quarter.

4Q:

Kansas scored with 13:39 still to play in the fourth quarter, missing the 2-point toss from Bean to Fairchild, to trail K-State 37-27. Knowles returned a big kickoff after the KU score, placing the Wildcats at the KU 31-yard line to start the drive. K-State added a field goal to its lead with 11 minutes remaining.

K-State scored, again, with 4:30 left on a short-yardage TD rush by DJ Giddens to improve its lead to 47-27 before the final whistle.

We will have much more to come in our postgame coverage.