K-State beat Texas Tech 25-24 yesterday to improve to 4-3 on the season and 1-3 in the Big 12. The win was the first Big 12 conference win for Kansas State in a year. It sure wasn’t easy. The Wildcats got behind 14-0 early and were down 24-10 at halftime before coming back to take the lead in the 4th quarter and holding on for the win. It was a nerve-wracking game to watch and K-State took us on quite the roller coaster ride. Here’s what the coaches and players were saying after the game…

“Congratulations Kansas State. Hard fought game right down to the wire. Tale of two halves. We did what we wanted to do right out of the gate. We started 14-0. Played good football for the rest of that half.”…Matt Wells, Texas Tech head coach, 10/23/2021

JM: Last week against Iowa State the Wildcat defense gave up a touchdown on the first play of the game. Yesterday they gave up a touchdown on the second play of the game. Following the touchdown, Malik Knowles fumbled the kickoff return and Texas Tech recovered on the 23-yard line. Six plays later they scored a touchdown and took a 14-0 lead before Skylar Thompson and the K-State offense had run one play in the game.

“You open the 3rd quarter with a stop on defense, then that punt gets all the way down inside the five there tight. You can’t give up a safety, you’ve got to get the ball out, get two first downs, you’ve got to flip the field. We gave up a safety, then a touchdown, on back-to-back drives.”…Matt Wells, Texas Tech head coach, 10/23/2021

JM: The safety by Felix Anudike-Uzomah was the play of the game because it changed the momentum and allowed K-State to get the ball back and score a touchdown, cutting the lead to 24-19. K-State got the ball after halftime down 24-10 and had one of Courtney Messingham’s signature “three-and-outs at a bad time.” A great punt by Ty Zentner was downed by Tyrone Howell and pinned the Red Raiders deep in their own territory, which allowed for the safety. Had the Red Raiders gotten the ball back in decent field position up 14 points, the game might have gone completely differently.

“Too many penalties and the crowd was a little bit a factor but we work silent count all the time. Too many discipline penalties you can’t have but we were able to overcome them.”…Chris Klieman, Kansas State head coach, 10/23/2021

JM K-State had a season-high 12 penalties for 93 yards. The team looked very undisciplined with so many penalties. Good thing they got the win, otherwise the penalties may have been the story of the game.

“I hope that the way we won the game, in the fact that we were down two scores for how many weeks in a row, but we found a way to win give the guys some confidence that what we are doing is right.”…Chris Klieman, Kansas State head coach, 10/23/2021

JM: This was an odd statement to make. Sure, they came back and won the game, but the fact they were down so big is not what I’d consider “right.”

“Credit to my teammates and this team, we got a lot of fighters. Really we didn’t make a whole lot of adjustments we just said we gotta go out there and play hard. We knew we were going to win the game the whole time, we never faltered.”…K-State defensive back Russ Yeast, 10/23/2021

JM: K-State’s defense played great in the second half, holding Texas Tech scoreless. I wish they could have played that way from the beginning of the game. Slow starts are starting to become an unwelcome trend with this team.

“Everybody was locked in, and everybody was in it for each other. It’s a group effort. That’s what’s going to make us successful. We’ve got to keep building. We can never be satisfied. This is a great feeling when everybody contributes, and everyone puts in the work during the week, and we see the hard work pay off. We can’t shy away. We have to stay hungry. Let’s keep fighting.”…K-State quarterback Skylar Thompson, 10/23/2021

JM: Skylar Thompson played great once again. He was 24 of 30 passing for 296 yards and a touchdown. If he continues to play well, K-State will have a shot to win every game down the stretch.

“2,238 – Career all-purpose yards by Deuce Vaughn, the third player in school history to hit the 2,000-yard mark prior to the end of his sophomore season.”…www.kstatesports.com

JM: Deuce played great again as well. He had 52 yards rushing and two touchdowns and added 68 yards receiving and another touchdown through the air, which ended up being the game-winner. Check out his run of the game here:

Up next for K-State is a home game against TCU at 2:30 next Saturday. TCU just lost at home 29-17 to West Virginia, so this appears to be a very winnable game for K-State. After the TCU game is a trip to Lawrence to play KU and then a home game against West Virginia. A short winning streak may be on the horizon, which would make us all feel pretty good about where this team is at.

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