Kansas State beats Texas A&M 33-28 in Texas Bowl
Kansas State has another nine-win season.
The Wildcats beat Texas A&M 33-28 in Wednesday night’s Texas Bowl to finish the season at 9-4. It’s the 14th time in 25 years that coach Bill Snyder’s team has finished with nine wins or more in a season.
Kansas State got big plays from wide receivers Dominique Heath — a 52-yard run — and Byron Pringle — a 79-yard catch — for touchdowns, but dominated the Aggies with a run game led by quarterback Jesse Ertz.
Ertz’s final stats (24 carries for 67 yards) aren’t too pretty, but he scored twice and got a key first down late in the game to seal the win for Kansas State after Texas A&M turned the ball over on downs. The Wildcats took over with 2:14 to go after quarterback Trevor Knight’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
A&M lost despite a strong effort from wide receiver Josh Reynolds, who finished with 12 catches for 154 yards and two scores. And the edge in a dispute with Kansas State cornerback Donnie Starks.
Starks was called for a personal foul after taking down Reynolds and then squatting on top of him after a Hail Mary play at the end of the first half. Oh, and then Reynolds tried to punch Starks in the groin.
But the edge doesn’t go to an attempted low blow. Reynolds got the advantage because of this touchdown catch in the third quarter that pulled Texas A&M to within five of Kansas State.
The Aggies never got any closer, however.
As Kansas State wins nine-plus games more often than not under Snyder, A&M fans are once again seething about an 8-5 season that had a bunch of promise. The Aggies were No. 4 in the first set of College Football Playoff rankings before losing five of its final seven games.
It’s the third-straight season A&M has finished 8-5 under coach Kevin Sumlin. And all three seasons have had similar structures. In the two previous years, A&M started the season 5-0 before finishing 3-5.
Lots of teams would settle for consistent eight-win seasons, but A&M fans (and boosters) don’t think their school is just any team given its presence in the state of Texas and in the SEC West. Expect Sumlin’s name to be on coaching hot seat lists entering 2017 as the Aggies look for a different starting quarterback to open the season for the fourth-straight season.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
