KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the second straight year, Kansas State vs. Iowa State at Arrowhead Stadium produced some late-game heroics by the Wildcats.
It wasn’t a carbon copy of last season, when Kansas State’s Emmanuel Lamur blocked Cyclones place-kicker Grant Mahoney’s extra-point kick with 32 seconds remaining, enabling the ’Cats to avoid overtime and escape with a 24-23 victory.
This time, Kansas State defensive end Brandon Harold snuffed out the Cyclones, coming up with the equivalency of the KC Strip, made famous by the late, great NFL Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas — on the same exact field where Thomas terrorized opposing quarterbacks from his linebacker position for the Kansas City Chiefs during the 1990s before tragically dying from injuries sustained in an automobile accident.
Harold’s hat trick  — a sack, strip and recovery of Iowa State quarterback Austen Arnaud’s fumble with 1:58 left — propelled the Wildcats to a 27-20 victory before 38,468 fans in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams.
“It was a major play in the ballgame and for me, it kind of reaffirmed his effort at a critical time,” Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder said of Harold, a 6-foot-5, 264-pound junior from East St. Louis, Ill. “He has played well and has not weakened our defense by any stretch of the imagination.
“He gives us some range and someone who has the opportunity to get his hands up and challenge the pass sometimes. I am happy with him.”
Kansas State running back Daniel Thomas entered the game as the No. 3-leading rusher in the nation. Averaging 185.5 yards per game, he accumulated 181 yards in a career-high 34 carries Saturday, scoring a pair of touchdowns for the Wildcats ( 3-0, 1-0). Iowa State dropped to 1-2, 0-1.
Harold’s big play was one of only two sacks the Wildcats had in the game.
“We don’t put on a lot of pressure,” Harold said. “We don’t have a lot of sacks as a unit and as a defense.
“We really need to improve that. I don’t know what we rank in the nation for sacks. It’s not real high at all, but we’re trying to improve on that every day.”
Trailing K-State 24-20 and faced with third-and-10 from their own 32, Arnaud dropped back to pass and readied to scramble before Harold burst in from the left side, knocking Arnaud down and jarring the ball from his grasp. Harold then pounced on the ball for the fumble recovery.
“I just got hitched up in the pocket,” Arnaud said, “and had the ball rolling. (Harold) hit me where it was. He made a great play.”
Harold explained his read.
“I actually saw that when I was coming free (off the edge), he was looking and then he made a decision to scramble,” Harold said. “I was just happy that he still had the ball and then the ball was exposed.
“I hit it and the ball came loose and I made a big play.”
Four plays later, Kansas State’s Josh Cherry kicked a 42-yard field goal with 1:38 left to give it a seven-point cushion.
Iowa State, which returned the ensuing kickoff to its own 24, drove to the Kansas State 36. The Cyclones were aided by a 23-yard completion to Darius Reynolds at their own 49, along with a pass interference call on the Wildcats’ Alex Hrebec on the next play, planting the ball at the KSU 40.
But ISU would get only four yards closer on a keeper by Arnaud on second down and the game clock melting. However, Arnaud’s third- and fourth-down passes fell incomplete and K-State escaped — again.