From The Couch – Trojans No Match For The Wildcats
The 15th ranked Kansas State Wildcats took care of the Troy Trojans on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium by the score of 42 to 13. K-State won the coin toss, elected to receive, and marched down the field and scored a touchdown on a pass from Will Howard to Jadon Jackson to take a 7-0 lead. The Wildcats never looked back, taking a 21 to 10 lead into halftime and extending the lead in the second half to get the 29-point victory.
Here is what Coach Klieman and the players were saying after the game…
“I told the guys in the locker room two things; in our first two games we are 2-0 against teams that I really believe are going eight, nine, ten games. I think we really did a nice job against two quality opponents and the second thing was we needed that game. We had a lot of adversity especially in the first half and we kind of rose above it. We got to a 14-0 lead and then turned the football over on a play and gave them credit. The momentum flipped a little bit.”…Head coach Chris Klieman, post-game
JM: After getting a 14-0 lead, K-State let Troy back in the game, giving up 10 unanswered points. K-State answered with a touchdown pass from Will Howard to Phillip Brooks right before halftime to take a 21-10 lead.
“Yeah, I know that he (Will Howard) was kicking himself for the one pick that he threw in the endzone, probably taking the shot getting a little a little bit greedy, potentially. I thought he really settled in after that and said, “Okay, I made a mistake. Now I’ve got to own it and I’ve got to come back and play really well” and I thought he made some really good plays in that second half.”…Chris Klieman, post-game
JM: Will Howard was a little “off” today. His accuracy wasn’t up to par and he threw some bad passes. He made some good plays here and there and got the job done, but he will have to be much better next week against Missouri.
“Honestly, I just tried to go out there and play the best game I can. These guys work extremely hard at practice every day and the least I can do is go out there and do my part.”…Wide receiver Jadon Jackson, post-game
JM: Jackson scored the first touchdown of the game on a 9-yard pass from Will Howard. Below is a video highlight of a great run by Treshaun Ward to put K-State in position for the opening touchdown followed by the touchdown to Jackson.
“Yeah, I’m not gonna lie. I’m old, a little bit old for college football, but it’s a good win. I think we went through some adversity, they challenged us. They were a good football team, they had good defense. So we went three and out a couple of times. So we needed to go through that as we face more opponents.”…Wide receiver Phillip Brooks, post-game
JM: Brooks is NOT too old for college football. He had a great game today with seven catches for 94 yards and a receiving touchdown. He even added a rushing touchdown to put K-State ahead 14-0, which you can watch below…
“It was big. We talked about four over four, last four minutes in the first half and the first four minutes out in the second half. We gotta go and execute. So that was like a big, big turnaround for us because it was like okay, well, we have more momentum rolling in. And then we just go out there and just keep playing.”…Receiver Jadon Jackson, post-game
JM: Jackson was referring to the touchdown reception by Phillip Brooks right before halftime to put the Wildcats ahead 21-10. It was a key play in the game to swing the momentum back in K-State’s favor. See a clip of that play below…
JM: Will Howard’s touchdown run in the third quarter put the Wildcats ahead 28-10 and they never looked back….
“It feels great. Defense played fast. Everybody was in their key, everybody was making the right plays, and in the right position. So we do that, we’re going to be fine every time.”…Will Lee, cornerback, post-game
JM: Lee was a monster in the first half blanketing Troy’s receivers, making tackles, breaking up passes, and getting an interception. With Lee and Jacob Parrish, K-State may have the best set of corners in the Big 12. Lee and Austin Moore led K-State in tackles with six apiece.
K-State travels to Missouri next Saturday for an 11:00 AM match-up with the Tigers. This will be another huge test for the Wildcats. Will Howard will have to be on top of his game for K-State to win. The Wildcat defense looks stellar so far, but this game will truly show what they are capable of. I will be in Columbia cheering them on. Hope to see you there!
