From The Couch – K-State Decimates Oklahoma State
Five touchdowns from quarterback Avery Johnson and 187 yards rushing from running back DJ Giddens made it a great day for K-State football and their fans. K-State beat Oklahoma State 42-20 on Saturday in front of another sellout crowd of 51,741. It was a huge victory in the race for the Big 12 championship, as league front-runner Utah lost to Arizona Saturday night. The Big 12 race has gotten much more complicated than I once thought, and K-State still has a good shot to win it. Just have to keep winning, baby.
Here are the sights, sounds, and quotes from Saturday’s huge victory over Oklahoma State….
JM: K-State got on the board first with this 11-yard touchdown run by Avery Johnson. The funny thing about this play is that Avery REALLY wanted to pass the ball and had a lane to run for the touchdown, but hesitated before finally deciding to try to run for it and reach the end zone anyway. K-State’s coaching staff decided before the game to set up the run with the pass. At the very least they decided to air it out more. There were eight passes and seven runs on their first drive of the game. Chris Klieman confirmed this strategy in his post-game press conference.
“On Thursday, [co-offensive coordinator] [Matt] Wells and I talked about this, he (Johnson) may have been like 32 of 35 on Thursday, and I grabbed him on Friday morning and I said, ‘that’s as on point as I’ve seen you in a practice.’ And it was really good throws in tight windows. And so I see a guy that’s gaining a lot of confidence, and so we were going to be more aggressive, especially on some early downs. And I thought he really delivered today.”…K-State head coach Chris Klieman, post-game
JM: Avery Johnson was 19 of 31 passing on the day for 259 yards and three touchdowns with one bad interception. Let’s not forget about the interception. It happened early in the game when the outcome was still in doubt. He added 60 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
JM: K-State punted on their next two possessions. Oklahoma State missed a field goal, kicked a field goal, scored a touchdown, and kicked another field goal after Johnson’s interception to take a 13-7 lead over K-State with seven minutes and 30 seconds left in the second quarter. At the time, I commented to my Dad and son that K-State was very lucky at that point in the game to be behind by only six points.
JM: The interception didn’t phase Johnson at all. K-State bounced right back, starting with a 37-yard run by DJ Giddens. A horse collar penalty put K-State in scoring position and K-State took advantage of the penalty, with this touchdown pass from Avery Johnson to tight end Garrett Oakley.
JM: What a dart from Avery Johnson. The game turned after this play and K-State never looked back. Oklahoma State drove down the field on their next drive, but K-State recovered a fumble by Cowboy quarterback Alan Bowman and took advantage of the penalty with this 55-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to wide receiver Jayce Brown.
JM: That was a tough catch by Brown. Credit to him for keeping his eye on the ball, catching it, and running for the touchdown. K-State went into halftime with a 21-13 lead. The K-State defense held Oklahoma State to a three-and-out to start the second half, and it was time for DJ Giddens to get to work again.
JM: What a run. The 66-yard touchdown put K-State ahead 28-13. The juke move on the safety must have made Deuce Vaughn, who was in attendance at the game, proud. I think I saw a jock strap laying on the field after this play, but I may be mistaken.
Oklahoma State started moving the ball on their next drive, getting a couple of first downs before this Marcus Sigle interception of Alan Bowman gave the ball back to K-State.
JM: Bowman didn’t have his best day throwing the ball. He completed 26 of 50 passes for 364 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. To be perfectly honest he missed on some wide-open receivers all game long.
The game became a punting contest in the third quarter until Avery Johnson found tight end Will Anciaux on a two-yard jump pass touchdown with a couple of minutes left in the quarter.
JM: K-State was ahead 35-13, scoring 28 unanswered points. Oklahoma State was driving again, but Jacob Parrish denied the Cowboys a touchdown…
JM: The officials could have easily called offensive pass interference on this play, but it didn’t matter. Parrish made a spectacular play on the ball to come down with the interception. Big-time play. More bad news for Oklahoma State, because they gave Avery Johnson the ball back.
JM: Did Chris Klieman pull a switcheroo and dress Patrick Mahomes in a K-State uniform and put him on the field? Nope, that was Avery Johnson.
The game was effectively over at this point. Oklahoma State scored a garbage touchdown late, but it didn’t matter. Final score: K-State 42 Oklahoma State 20.
I am going to do something a little different going forward and name a K-State offense and defensive player of each game. First, the offense…
“I know there’s only one ball, and we wanted to get it to everybody, but when 31 [DJ Giddens] got it his hands guys, he’s pretty dang good. And we talk about all of our guys having a role, the kids got a big role. And I think he hears things, and he wants to prove a point as well. DJ Giddens is a great football player, and we made a check on his 66 yard run. It was a run, different run, play. Credit to [offensive coordinator] coach [Conor] Riley. Riles changed the play at the line of scrimmage, Avery helped him, he changed it, and we got him one on one with the safety, and he made him miss and scored. Really pleased with how DJ played.”…Chris Klieman, post-game
JM: Offensive player of the game: DJ Giddens.
It’s hard not to give it to Avery Johnson, but that bad interception he threw sticks in my craw a bit. I think this may be the game where Johnson turns the corner and becomes the player we all know he can be. He played with tons of confidence and poise and made some remarkable plays. However, Giddens was unbelievable. Check out this graphic from the third quarter…
Giddens was averaging almost 19 yards per carry at this point. For the game, he had 187 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, averaging 12.5 yards per carry. Is anyone clamoring for Dylan Edwards to get the ball more after this game? I don’t think so.
Defensive player of the game: Jacob Parrish.
Parrish tied for the team lead with seven tackles and had a magnificent interception to prevent an Oklahoma State touchdown. Parrish is going to be playing on Sundays someday, so enjoy watching him while he is in Manhattan.
JM: “Keep pounding the stone.” It feels much better being a K-State fan this week than last week. Win out and a Big 12 championship game appearance is likely. That is exciting.
That said, I am not sure how to feel about this blowout win. K-State had wide-open receivers all day long and K-State’s running backs and quarterback had gaping holes to run through. Is Oklahoma State’s defense that putrid or does K-State deserve some credit for out-scheming them? I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. The Wildcats have to find a way to build off of this victory when they visit Colorado to play Deion Sanders’ Buffaloes in two weeks. Jacob Parrish vs. Travis Hunter? Yes, please!
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