Kansas State football holds off Kansas in Sunflower Showdown
LAWRENCE — Kansas State scored the go-ahead touchdown on Will Howard's 14-yard run with 10:22 left and the Wildcats held on the rest of the way for a 31-27 victory over Kansas on Saturday night at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
The Wildcats (8-3, 6-2 Big 12) preserved the lead when Marques Sigle intercepted KU's fourth-down pass in the end zone with 5:33 left, and ran out the clock from there. KU fell to 7-4, 4-4 in the league.
Here are three takeaways from the Wildcats' 15th straight Sunflower Showdown victory.
Wildcats opportunistic
K-State dodged a few bullets and crated its own opportunities in knocking off a persistent Kansas team.
The Wildcats' second touchdown to go up 16-13 came after Will Howard threw an incomplete pass on fourth down, only to get another chance when KU was called for defensive holding.
That's after the Wildcats' Nate Matlack blocked a KU extra point and Keenan Garber returned it 91 yards for two K-State points.
A dropped interception by KU that would have been a pick six again gave K-State new life on an 87-yard Wildcat drive to cut the Jayhawk lead to 27-24.
Jayhawks play keepaway
Kansas gave K-State a lesson in ball control offense in the first half, eating up 19 minutes, 50 seconds. The Jayhawks had scoring drives of 7 minutes and 6:10 in the half, with another taking 4:28 for a total of 17:38.
The Jayhawks had 144 yards rushing in the first half, and then on the first play of the third quarter, Cole Ballard found tight end Mason Fairchild all alone in the right flat for 59 yards. Two plays later, Devin Neal was in the end zone on a 2-yard run for his third touchdown of the game.
Another fast start for K-State's offense
Kansas State got the ball to start the game, and, has been the case all season, the Wildcats went 75 yards for a touchdown.
Will Howard found Ben Sinnott for 11 yards in the back of the end zone on a five-play drive that included a 46-yard pass to Jayce Brown and an 18-yard DJ Giddens run.
The Wildcats have now scored eight touchdowns and one field goal on their opening possessions. The only two times they did not score to start the game were in losses at Oklahoma State and Texas.
Related: Kansas State football players continue to revel in Sunflower Showdown rivalry with Kansas
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Takeaways from Kansas State football vs. Kansas in Sunflower Showdown
