MANHATTAN — Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman said after the Wildcats’ narrow escape at Tulane last week that they had to get better in all three phases of the game.
Done, done and done.
Quarterback Avery Johnson led an efficient second-half offensive performance, the defense held down one of the nation’s top passing combinations, and Dylan Edwards cashed in on behalf of the special teams.
It was Edwards who gave K-State its first lead, 14-7, early in the second guarter when he fielded a punt at his own 29-yard line, turned the corner down the left sideline and ran 71 yards for the touchdown.
K-State extended its 14-7 halftime advantage with two long scoring drives, capping the first with a 9-yard pass from Johnson to tight end Brayden Loftin and the second with a 1-yard DJ Giddens run.
Defensively, the Wildcats got a big end zone by Keenan Garber in the second quarter and made several big stops. The also limited Arizona’s explosive plays, a big problem the week before.
K-State finished with 391 yards total offense to 324 for Arizona.
Johnson completed 14 of 23 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns, plus rushed for 110 on 17 carries. Giddens added 86 yards rushing.
For Arizona, Noah Fifita completed 26 of 42 passes for 268, including 11 to Tetairoa McMillan for 138.
K-State plays its first Big 12 game next Saturday at Brigham Young.
Watch Kansas State football vs. Arizona live on Fubo (free trial)
Related: What channel is Kansas State football vs Arizona on today? Time, TV schedule for the game
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FINAL: K-State 31, Arizona 7
A nice way for K-State to head into Big 12 play next week at BYU.
Kansas State pushed its lead to 31-7 with 7:04 left when Chris Tennant booted a 35-yard field goal.
The scoring drive covered 46 yards in seven plays, but more importantly ate up 4 minutes, 41 seconds of game clock.
Kansas State will take a 28-7 lead to the fourth quarter after outscoring Arizona in the third, 14-0.
Kansas State gets another nice scoring drive, marching 83 yards in 11 plays and taking 5:51 off the clock with DJ Giddens scoring from a yard out. Avery Johnson with several nice runs on the drive.
That’s the first rushing touchdown this season for Giddens, who now is 27 yards short of his seventh straight 100-yard game.
Kansas State extends its lead on a 9-yard to 21-7 pass from Avery Johnson to tight end Brayden Loftin with 9:29 left in the third quarter. Earlier, Will Swanson caught a touchdown pass, giving the tight ends two in the game.
The touchdown, which capped an 86-yard drive, was set up by a 48-yard pass play to Jayce Brown.
K-State and Arizona were almost dead even statistically in the first half with two big exceptions. Arizona had 187 total yards to 180 for K-State, but the home Wildcats got a 71-yard punt return touchdown from Dylan Edwards early in the second quarter to account for their 14-7 halftime lead.
K-State also stopped an Arizona scoring opportunity when Keenan Garber came up with an end zone interception.
For K-State, Avery Johnson completed 8 of 15 passes for 69 yards with a 3-yard TD pass to Will Swanson. DJ Giddens had 55 yards rushing on eight carries. Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita completed 12 of 19 passes in the first half for 143 yards, including six for 91 yards to Tretairoa McMillan, while Quali Conley ran 11 times for 44 yards and a touchdown.
K-State had first down at the Arizona 14-yard line with a timeout remaining, but Avery Johnson scrambles and keeps instead of getting rid of the ball, allowing time to expire in the half before he gets out of bounds. A missed opportunity for K-State, which leads 14-7.
Kansas State cornerback Keenan Garber covered a lot of ground to step in front of Arizona’s Malachi Riley in the end zone for an interception.
He returns it to his own 24-yard line, where the Wildcats take over with 12:20 left in the half, leading 14-7.
After the defense holds, K-State gets the ball back and Dylan Edwards returns Tyler Loop’s punt 71 yards for a touchdown down the left sideline.
This is why the Wildcats welcomed Edwards back from Colorado. K-State leads 14-7 with 14:37 left in the half.
We’re through one quarter, tied at 7-7.
Not to be outdone, K-State goes 75 yards in 15 plays with Avery Johnson hitting Will Swanson for a 3-yard TD.
The K-State drive took 6:25 and we’re tied 7-7 with 1:01 left in the first.
Arizona made good use of its opening possession, driving 73 yards in 14 play and eating up half of the first quarter before K-State gets its hands on the ball.
Quali Conley gets the touchdown on a 1-yard run with 7:26 left in the quarter.
Arizona will get the ball first to start the game after K-State wins the coin toss and defers.
Kansas City Chiefs announcerl Mitch Holthus, former voice of the Wildcats and a K-State Hall of Famer, opened the door to the K-State locker room to door to bring on the Cats tonight.
It just got noisy at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, thanks to the annual Harley night, featuring a seeminly endless parade of motorcycles circling the playing field.
We’re 10 minutes from kickoff.
K-State and Arizona — not to mention the fans — could not have asked for better weather for tonight’s game at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
The temperature is 86 degrees under clear skies with a southeast wind at 10 mph.
Kansas State left offensive guard Hadley Panzer and right tackle Carver Willis both wee suited up and went through pregame warmups ahead of tonight’s game. That’s good news for the Wildcats after both suffered injuries last week at Tulane.
Kansas State vs Arizona time todayDate: Friday, Sept. 13Time: 7 p.m.Location: Bill Snyder Family Stadium, ManhattanWhat channel is Kansas State vs Arizona game on today?
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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.
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Publish date : 2024-09-13 11:59:00
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