From The Couch: Nail-biter In Nola
You might want to take something to help keep your blood pressure down when watching K-State football this season. The game Saturday was a nail-biter that came down to a somewhat controversial offensive pass interference call on Tulane after what everyone thought was the game-tying touchdown pass from Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah to wide receiver Yulkeith Brown. The call backed up Tulane fifteen yards. Two plays later, K-State safety VJ Payne intercepted a Mensah pass into the end zone, sealing the 34-27 victory for K-State.
Here are all the sights, sounds, quotes, and commentary from the game. Let’s get into this…
It was evident from the outset that Tulane wouldn’t be a pushover. They drove 41 yards in seven plays after receiving the opening kickoff. Only a fourth down stop by the K-State defense throttled the drive. The teams exchanged punts before K-State’s Chris Tennant kicked a 48-yard field goal to go ahead 3-0. K-State’s offense was very conservative from the outset, running the ball up the middle and throwing a lot of screen passes. The 3-0 lead would be short-lived…
JM: Mensah shredded the K-State secondary most of the day. He finished 19 of 29 passing for 342 yards with two touchdowns and and the interception at the end of the game. Some are saying the redshirt freshman has NFL talent. He sure looked better than Avery Johnson at times.
JM: The K-State defense also gave up 149 rushing yards on the day. In total, they gave up 491 yards. Yikes. They need to get some things fixed.
JM: Bauman had two catches for two touchdowns on the day. This one sure looked like a busted coverage.
JM: K-State answered the Tulane score with a six-play, 75-yard drive, capped off by the touchdown pass from Avery Johnson to Will Swanson. This play by Johnson was Patrick Mahomes-esque. You can see his athletic ability and feel for the game watching the play.
Tulane added a field goal before the half, and Chris Tennant missed a 53-yard field goal as time expired. Tulane led 20-10 at halftime. I was still confident that K-State was going to win and placed a wager on K-State and the money line during halftime. I was sweating that wager the entire second half.
“Halftime in the locker room was something special, just looking around talking to dudes. It wasn’t just one person. It was every section, man. Everyone was pumping each other up and getting each other going. That was a culture win. That was everyone in that locker room stepping up and doing everything we could to get the W.”…K-State defensive end Brendan Mott, post-game
JM: It appears the K-State players and coaches shared my confidence, but the Wildcats didn’t immediately respond after receiving the second half kickoff. Play calling was suspect all game long, and the Wildcats went three and out after a four-yard run by DJ Giddens, a run for no gain by Giddens, and a four-yard screen pass to Giddens. Hey, I’m all for getting Giddens involved in the offense, but these calls didn’t make much sense when K-State was down 10 points in the second half.
K-State’s defense responded, however, holding Tulane to a three and out. K-State’s offense got going a bit on the ensuing drive, driving 65 yards on seven plays, capped off by a 28-yard field goal by Chris Tennant to cut the lead to 20-13. Dylan Edwards had rushes of 10 yards and 27 yards on the drive.
K-State’s defense held Tulane to another punt, and K-State was able to tie the game on this Avery Johnson pass to DJ Giddens….
JM: Giddens finished the game with 114 yards rushing, averaging six yards per carry, and 63 yards receiving and a touchdown, which led the team. He is an unheralded hero on this team. He fills up the box score every game. He has rushed for 100 yards or more in six straight games, which is tied for third best in school history.
JM: Tulane immediately answered, driving 56 yards in six plays for this touchdown to go back ahead by seven points. K-State’s offense was humming at this point, and they once again answered with a touchdown to tie the game…
JM: Dylan Edwards finished the game with 54 yards rushing on just four carries, a 13.5 yard per carry average. Should he be getting more touches? A look at the numbers would say yes!
JM: The strip sack by K-State linebacker Austin Romaine and touchdown return of the fumble by safety Jack Fabris was the play of the game. K-State was up a touchdown with eight minutes left in the game, but the drama was not over.
JM: The ESPN camera guy was having trouble throughout the game, but this was too egregious not to share. Guess the camera people are also in “early season” mode.
After the scoop and score for a touchdown, K-State’s defense forced Tulane to punt. K-State got the ball back with five minutes left in the game. A long, sustained drive would have put the game away. Instead, we got a three and out with some suspect play calling. On first down, they ran DJ Giddens up the middle for a loss of one. On second down, they ran DJ Giddens up the middle for a gain of one. On third down, Johnson threw a screen pass to Giddens for a gain of two. Three plays, two yards, and a punt.
I was shaking my head at this play calling. Very conservative play-calling when they have the ability to put games away is a common theme of Chris Klieman’s K-State teams, no matter who the offensive coordinator is. Three-and-outs at the most inopportune times. One of these days I’m going to go back through all my columns and document how many times it has happened. It is frustrating to watch, but it worked out for K-State in this game. Barely.
Tulane got the ball back on their own 40-yard line with three minutes left in the game. They promptly drove down the field to the K-State one-yard line. With 21 seconds left, Tulane scored what appeared to be the game-tying touchdown, but it was called back by an offensive pass interference call…
JM: This penalty was controversial from the perspective of Tulane fans, but I saw it as obvious pass interference on the offense. Also, I’m not sure the receiver got the ball over the goal line in the first place. It would have had to be reviewed. Regardless, the penalty moved Tulane back 15 yards and two plays later, VJ Payne intercepted Mensah in the end zone, preserving the victory.
JM: Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall was not very happy at the offensive pass interference call…
JM: In case you couldn’t make out what he said…”It was a Big 12 crew, in case you were wondering.”
Sorry, Jon, but that is sour grapes. I think any officiating crew could have, and probably would have, made that call.
JM: K-State fans showed up in New Orleans like they always do!
“We made enough plays. I don’t think we played our best football. Tulane is a good football team. Their quarterback is the real deal. This is a good, big win for us.”…K-State head coach Chris Klieman, post-game
JM: I think that quote from Chris Klieman about sums it up. A lot of K-State fans on social media after the game bitched and moaned like K-State lost the game. Only they didn’t lose. They won. Be happy with the win. This offense will continue to get better and better with each game. There were bound to be growing pains at the beginning of this season with a new starting quarterback and new offensive coordinators. Be patient. It will all come together.
Even though they gave up way too many yards, the defense made enough plays to win. In my opinion, there were a lot of coverage mistakes in the secondary that can be fixed. At this point, I’m choosing to be optimistic. It’s great being 2-0. Much better than the alternative. How do you think KU fans are feeling today?
Arizona comes to town Friday night. The game will not be easy, but it is winnable. Arizona struggled a bit with Northern Arizona last night, winning 22-10. They were behind 10-6 at halftime.
See you all in Manhattan Friday night!
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