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.
Kansas (2-6, 1-4) got the ball back after Tennant’s field goal and picked up a quick first down. But Jalon Daniels bookended a short completion with a couple of incomplete passes, and he was tracked down on fourth down with less than a minute to go, giving the Wildcats the ball back and the chance to run out the clock.
Daniels threw for 209 yards and accounted for two touchdowns and an interception. Devin Neal ran for 66 yards and a score.
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.
Daniels calmed the Jayhawks, though, and his touchdown throw to Luke Grimm got them within 16-14 at the break.
The teams swapped touchdowns to begin the second half, then traded punts, before the Jayhawks regained the lead on Daniels’ touchdown run late in the third quarter — the second year in a row they have led Kansas State in the second half.
The outcome 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 takeaway
Kansas dominated the game for long stretches but was forced to overcome itself. Daniels had two turnovers, something that was a problem for him earlier in the season, and the Jayhawks made too many special teams blunders.
Kansas State had 479 yards of total offense but struggled on third down. It also had a chance to score a go-ahead TD early in the fourth quarter, but Johnson’s pass sailed high and the Wildcats kicked a chip-shot field goal that nearly cost them.
Up next
Kansa: Plays No. 10 Iowa State on Nov. 9 at Arrowhead Stadium.
Kansas State: At Houston next Saturday.
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