Avery Johnson threw two touchdowns, DJ Giddens returned to the 100-yard club and Chris Tennant drilled a 51-yard field goal that would have been good from 60 to give Kansas State a late lead, and the defense was swarming by Jalon Daniels to secure a 29-27 win at Bill Snyder Family Stadium tonight.

The next time Kansas and Kansas State meet on the football field, it will have been over 6,000 days since the Jayhawks emerged victorious; The win is the 16th in a row for the Wildcats.

The Jayhawk offense fueled K-State (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) on its first drive, which ended with a 38-yard rushing touchdown by Sevion Morrison in just six minutes after three attempts by Kansas in the third Stopping Down had failed.

The Cats got a few first downs but had to punt from midfield. They once again had trouble stopping the Jayhawks’ offense, thanks in part to Brendan Mott being held on every single play without any laundry coming onto the field. Only a drop from Quentin Skinner after a bomb from Jaylon Daniels prevented Kansas (2-6, 1-4 Big 12) from extending the lead. The defense was eventually able to stop the following play and forced a punt.

Johnson pushed his way downfield and faced Keagan Johnson and Will Anciaux twice; The latter’s second catch was a 24-yard touchdown that tied the game and gave Anciaux the team lead in touchdown receptions by a tight end. Entering the game, the four primary tight ends were tied with two touchdowns each.

On the ensuing kick-off, Jameel Croft caught the ball and stepped to first pitch. The referees originally ruled the free kick out of bounds, but upon review it was confirmed that Croft had landed in possession of the ball before leaving the pitch. One play later, Devin Neal was pushed behind the line of scrimmage by Damian Ilalio for a safety, and the Cats had the lead and the ball.

Johnson used his legs to convert a long third down near midfield, then found Dante Cephas for the 13th and Jayce Brown for the 25th, landing in front of the Kansas 2. Two plays later, Johnson threw a pop pass Garrett Oakley and tight end tied the race again, giving K-State a 16-7 lead.

Kansas simply raced downfield, starting with a 36-yard completion to Trevor Wilson on the first play of the drive and later aided by a pass interference call on VJ Payne that put the Jayhawks in the red zone. Then Daniels threw a 10-yard pass to Luke Grimm on 3rd-and-7, cutting the deficit to 16-14.

K-State couldn’t get going with less than three minutes left in the half and was forced to punt shortly after the two-minute timeout. Daniels threw down, but Marquis Sigle picked him off in the end zone and returned the ball to midfield. However, K-State was unable to capitalize, and the half ended with K-State still clinging to a two-point lead.

On the second play of the half, after weeks of never sending DJ Giddens outside, K-State finally got it done and he ran 54 yards before being corralled. Two plays later, Johnson scored on a 10-yard run.

Kansas answered, pushing downfield again before Neal scored on a 24-yard run. However, Tabor Allen hit the extra point to give K-State a 23-20 lead.

Another 40-yard run set the stage for the next Wildcat drive as Dylan Edwards ran 44 yards to the Kansas 21, but Johnson failed on the next play and the Jayhawks recovered. The Cats held third down just at midfield and Kansas hit a punt that went wide and returned to the 20.

A 3-and-out essentially gave Kansas the ball back from where they punted, and Daniels passed it to Grimm for 42 yards and into the red zone. Two plays later, the Jayhawks took the lead when Daniels inbounded the ball from eight yards out.

Johnson and Johnson responded with a 34-yard catch-and-run, then Avery added another first down, ending the third quarter at the Jayhawk 30. Johnson then hit Edwards for 19, and the drive immediately stalled. Two incompletions against Anciaux forced a 28-yard field goal by Chris Tennant, but Kansas still led 27-26.

A beautiful pass breakdown by Keenan Garber saved a three-and-out and gave K-State another shot, which they couldn’t take advantage of, instead hitting the ball right back. The defense eventually came to Daniels, and Desmond Purnell was blamed for sacking him for a big loss on third-and-long when Daniels was cautioned for intentional grounding. A bad punt gave the Cats possession at midfield.

Cephas made a nice sideline grab for the first down, but Johnson grabbed a 13-yard sack two plays later, setting up 3rd-and-20. Two plays later, Cephas failed to catch a pass in his hands and the Cats turned it over on downs with four minutes left. Even the broadcasters admitted that it should have been passport interference.

Trying to kill the clock, Daniels ran the ball on 2nd-and-13 and fumbled; Brendan Mott recovered in midfield. Giddens fought his way forward 7 yards and reached the 100-yard mark. Two plays later, Johnson collected six to move the chains and get into Tennant field goal range.

They got nowhere and Johnson nearly threw an interception on 3rd-and-8.

And then Tennant scored from 51 yards to give K-State a 29-27 lead.

Kansas picked up a first down, but the Wildcats forced a 3rd-and-7 at the 49th minute. K-State threw a full-on attack, and Daniels initially escaped, but was hit and fumbled the ball short out of the sticks, allowing K-State to run down the clock.

Johnson was 19-24 for 253 yards and two touchdowns. Giddens had 102 yards on 18 carries, while Johnson added 67 on 14 and Edwards had 60 on 3. Brown again led receivers with 98 yards on 5 catches; Keagan Johnson was 4-57, Anciaux, Cephas and Edwards each had two catches, while Giddens, Oakley, Will Swanson and Jadon Jackson each had one.

The Cats outscored Kansas in every category: 479-401 overall, 253-209 through the air and 226-192 rushing. K-State was penalized four times for 50 yards, while KU was 5-25. After starting the game 7-8 on third down, the Cats closed it out and held the Jayhawks to 1-5 the rest of the game. The Wildcats won the turnover battle 2-1, as well as time of possession 32:20-27:40.

WHAT WE LEARNED

1) DJ Giddens MUST be played outside.

Look, no one in the nation is tougher in the middle than Giddens. But if he’s running back and forth between tackles every time you give him the ball, the defense is planning to stop him.

We saw it last week against West Virginia, and K-State continued to do it in the first half. They eventually called an edge rush for Giddens, which netted 54 yards.

2) K-State’s defense still struggles with mobile quarterbacks.

In the first five games, the Wildcats faced quarterbacks who weren’t a real running threat. Two weeks in a row now they faced dual-threat guys and suffered serious injuries. One has to wonder if defenses based on blitzing and tracking leave themselves open to this kind of abuse.

However, the Wildcat defense was in complete jeopardy in the fourth quarter, and things may have been complicated because Asa Newsom was injured on the first kickoff and did not return to the field.

3) Do the officials still know what holding is?

We really hate to complain about the zebras in this room, but in the first 20 minutes of this game, Brendan Mott was stopped on every single pass, and most of them were obvious – including Mott, who was literally tackled twice. No flags.

Something has to be done, and don’t get it twisted, K-State is probably getting away with its share of the stake too. Maybe another official in the offensive backfield or an official in the locker room. It’s one thing that ticky-tack holds aren’t called. It’s a whole different thing when guys are being attacked at full speed by offensive linemen.

4) The receiving corps overall is making rapid progress.

Most of Johnson’s incompletions were overturned balls. The receivers became more open in space and the tight ends formed a formidable unit. At the beginning of the season, we blamed receivers for passing problems, and that was true at the time. Tonight it was Avery who missed his targets. But still, eight guys caught balls tonight, suggesting Avery is capable of spreading the love.

Except for the second red zone incompletion against Anciaux on the drive, which ended in a field goal, which was just… bad.

5) We will no longer tolerate slander against Chris Tennant.

You have been warned.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

Attack? Defense? Sit down. No one stood out enough to deserve the award over their teammates. The offense was perfectly balanced tonight, while the defense was very mediocre for three quarters and then perfect in the final fifteen minutes, with nearly every member of the unit contributing.

No, our player of the game this week is neither. It’s Chris Tennant who deserves it all.

NEXT

What is that? An afternoon game? The Cats are back on the road and the Houston Cougars await a 2:30 kickoff on FOX.