MANHATTAN, Kan. – Avery Johnson threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score, Chris Tennant kicked a 51-yard go-ahead field goal with 1:42 to go and No. 16 Kansas State stopped Kansas on fourth down to preserve a 29-27 victory Saturday night.
D.J. Giddens added 102 yards rushing for the Wildcats (7-1, 4-1 Big 12), who kept alive their chances of playing for a conference title and in the College Football Playoff by beating their biggest rival for the 16th consecutive time.
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“You know, we missed opportunities. I think they missed opportunities. It was a game of who could make another play,” said Kansas State coach Chris Klieman, who dealt with some dizziness during the game that sent him to the locker room at one point.
“I was proud at the end that offense, defense and special teams came through.”
Kansas (2-6, 1-4) had a chance to answer Tennant's field goal in the final minute. But after a quick first down, Jalon Daniels bookended a short completion with a couple of incomplete passes. Then, on fourth down, he was flushed from the pocket and tracked down near the Jayhawks' sideline, giving Kansas State the ball back with an opportunity to run out the clock.
Daniels finished with 209 yards passing while accounting for two TDs and two turnovers. Devin Neal ran for 66 yards and a score, leaving him a mere six yards away from breaking June Henley's career rushing record at Kansas.
“This one stings as much as any of them,” said Jayhawks coach Lance Leipold, whose team must now win out to reach its third straight bowl game. “But I told them again I was proud of the way we fought and competed for four quarters.”
Nevertheless, the Jayhawks have not beaten Kansas State since Nov. 1, 2008.
“They're a great team. It doesn't matter what their record is,” said the Wildcats' Marques Sigle, who picked off a pass in his second straight Sunflower Showdown. “They had nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
Kansas opened the game with a 75-yard touchdown drive, then looked as if it would take control a few minutes later, when Daniels spotted Quentin Skinner running open down the middle of the field. But the senior wide receiver dropped the would-be 49-yard touchdown throw, and the Jayhawks ultimately were forced to punt.
The Wildcats seized on the opening, then took advantage of another Kansas blunder.
After Johnson led a 95-yard drive to knot the game, Kansas freshman Jameel Croft Jr. inexplicably caught the ensuing kickoff at the 1-yard line and stepped out of bounds. Neal was stuffed for a safety on the very next play, and Kansas State followed with a 59-yard drive and its second touchdown in a matter of minutes.
“I don’t want to get into criticizing a player,” Leipold said. “A young man was trying to make a play and make a mistake.”
The Jayhawks recovered, and Daniels threw a touchdown pass to Luke Grimm to get within 16-14 at the break. And after the teams traded touchdowns to begin the second half, they finally regained the lead late in the third quarter when Daniels bullied his way into the end zone — the second year in a row that it led the Wildcats in the second half.
The outcome ultimately would be the same, too.
The Jayhawks still led 27-26 with 3:44 to go when Daniels, trying to scramble near midfield, went airborne and had the ball pop loose. Brendan Mott was there to recover it for the Wildcats, giving Johnson and Co. one last chance with the ball.
They did just enough to set up Tennant's go-ahead field goal inside the final 2 minutes.
“The last month of watching Chris Tennant, I knew that was going in," Klieman said. "I had no doubt in my mind. There was nobody on our sideline that had any doubt. It was exciting for him to be able to do that, being a senior from Kansas.”
The takeaway
Kansas dominated the game for long stretches but couldn't overcome itself. Daniels, who was plagued by turnovers early in the season, had two more, and the Jayhawks missed a PAT among their many special teams blunders.
Kansas State had 479 yards of total offense, despite struggling on third downs. The Wildcats also had to kick a chip-shot field goal early in the fourth quarter and that missed opportunity nearly cost them.
Up next
Kansas: Plays No. 10 Iowa State on Nov. 9 at Arrowhead Stadium.
Kansas State: At Houston next Saturday.
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