A late fourth quarter touchdown and subsequent fumble recovery secured Kansas State’s 21-17 victory over Kansas in the Dillon’s Sunflower Showdown. Saturday’s victory over the Jayhawks was K-State’s tenth consecutive win in the series, and the 23rd of Bill Snyder’s career.
The Wildcat offense struggled for most of the day, going scoreless in the first half. With 5:02 left in the game, the Wildcats took control on their own 40-yard line. On that drive, K-State handed to Alex Barnes on a 4th and 2, and Barnes hurdled a Jayhawk defender to get a new set of downs. On the next play, Delton threw a 21-yard pass to Wildcat wide-receiver Dalton Schoen. Delton then scampered for a 21-yard touchdown run to give the Wildcats the lead.
On the ensuing possession for the Jayhawks, quarterback Peyton Bender took the Jayhawks to the Kansas State 32-yard line before surrendering a fumble, recovered by K-State defensive end Bronson Massie. On the day, Bender completed 21 of 34 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns.
Delton finished the day completing 11 of 17 passes for 126 yards and added 51 yards on the ground. Barnes ran for 117 on 22 carries, bringing his season total to more than 1,000 yards.
The K-State defense was lead by junior linebacker Justin Hughes. Hughes forced a fumble and had five tackles, three of which were behind the line of scrimmage.
K-State’s special teams unit, which had numerous errors in the loss against TCU last Saturday, continued to struggle. Kicker Andrew Hicks missed a field goal in the first quarter. The Jayhawks recovered the second half kickoff after K-State’s return unit failed to field the kick. Then, the Wildcats botched a third quarter field goal attempt. “We’ve got to do a better job of understanding where to be and that’s coaching,” Snyder remarked.
After the game, Snyder acknowledged the significance of K-State’s win. “Obviously it was meaningful in a variety of ways,” Snyder said. “In particular because of young players we have in our program.”
Despite the special teams, K-State’s performance on Saturday was good enough to avoid a loss to KU. During a season in which K-State has faced its share of disappointments, Saturday’s victory was a welcome bit of optimism for the Wildcats. “It’s huge given where we’re at in the season right now,” Schoen said. “It’s also huge because it’s KU, and I think that just means so much more to all of the guys on this team, all the guys from the state of Kansas, and all these fans.”
The Wildcats face Texas Tech next weekend in Manhattan. K-State must win out to achieve bowl eligibility.
