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| Kansas State’s Stephen Harrison (8) and Ulla Pomele wrap up Kansas receiver Dezmon Briscoe on Saturday. Staff Photo by Michael Schweitzer. |
But K-State, which maintains its lead in the Big 12 North, won the game with defense and against a potent Jayhawks offense, becoming the first team to hold Kansas to 10 points in almost a year's time. It was the Jayhawks' fourth straight loss dating back to mid-October.
The defensive effort that held KU to 301 yards of total offense — including 60 rushing yards — was none bigger than the masterful job of containing Jayhawks' quarterback Todd Reesing, who turned the ball over three times. While Reesing still completed 27-of-41 passes, he was held nearly 60 yards under his average, finishing with 241 yards. The senior was pressured all day, which led to a pair of sacks, one interception and two costly fumbles — all in the first half.
"I was proud, so proud of our defense — you look and time and time again — three turnovers in the first half, and two out of three in all likelihood prevented scores... they gave up some yardage and some field position, but they got the breaks put on," KSU coach Bill Snyder said. "For the University of Kansas to score 10 points, means that somebody played pretty well on the other side of the ball."
Reesing's last miscue proved to hurt the most as he scrambled away from a broken pocket to pick up 7 yards before KSU linebacker John Houlik forced a fumble at his own 43 that was recovered by Emmanuel Lamur with 36 seconds to go in the first half.
K-State (6-4, 4-2 Big 12) took advantage of the prime field position and scored its first touchdown of the game on a 31-yard pass from Grant Gregory to Lamark Brown with 16 seconds left, giving the Wildcats a 10-7 lead at the break. The only KSU score to that point was a 47-yard field goal by Josh Cherry, who also missed a 39-yard try.
"It was a major happening, to go in at halftime with that score — it wasn't anything that was going to break KU's back, but it probably gave our youngsters a little bit of space, a little bit of breathing room," Snyder said.
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| Kansas State’s Jeff Fitzgerald knocks down a pass by Kansas’ Todd Reesing on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. K-State held the Jayhawks to 301 total yards of offense and just 10 points, the lowest scoring output by KU in nearly a year. Staff photo by Michael Schweitzer. |
It was Gregory's lone TD of the day as he finished 7-of-16 for 66 yards, while rushing 12 times for 51 additional yards. Though Gregory had his share of trouble on Saturday, it didn't seem to matter because running back Daniel Thomas did more than enough to pick up the slack. Thomas, who eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing on the season — totaled a career-high 185 yards on the ground on 24 touches, averaging better than 7 yards per carry.
Thomas was the catalyst for a K-State rushing attack that produced 266 yards of the Wildcats' 332 total yards.
"What I really appreciated about Daniel were the second and third efforts," Snyder said. "He carried a lot of tacklers today... He is not an easy guy to get down, and that is for one reason and one reason alone. It does not have anything to do with speed or size or anything else, it is just tenacity and a desire to get that extra inch or foot."
Behind Thomas, K-State added to its score on its first possession of the second half, as the bruising tailback totaled 63 yards on five carries — including a 40-yard scamper — before punching the ball in from 5 yards out with 10:27 to go in the third quarter, which extended the lead to 17-7.
Both teams then exchanged punts before Kansas (5-4, 1-4) pieced together a slow, methodical 16-play drive that chewed up more than six minutes and covered 78 yards. It was KU's chance to chip away at the lead, but proved inconsequential as Jayhawks' kicker Jacob Branstetter missed a 30-yard field goal — his second miss of the game.
K-State was unable to do much on the ensuing possession, giving KU another chance. This time, it wasn't for nothing as Branstetter converted on a 46-yard kick to make it 17-10 with 5:20 to go in the game — capping another 16-play drive over 57 yards.
The win marks K-State's first over Kansas since 2005 when the Wildcats topped the Jayhawks 12-3 in Manhattan. K-State will look to extend its lead on the North when it hosts Missouri in another 11:30 kickoff next Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
"It's huge, I've been a part of a few big upsets and what not, but this is probably the sweetest win, even better than the two Texas wins because the in-state rivalry and having to hear from Kansas fans back in Wichita where I'm from," Houlik said. "I get grief from all my friends when I go home. So at some point, enough is enough, and we played and got the win today."
