200 wins! Wildcats outlast Jayhawks, Snyder hits milestone in victory

Manhattan, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Chris Ault, Frank Beamer, Bobby Bowden, Paul “Bear” Bryant, Vince Dooley, LaVell Edwards, Woody Hayes, Tom Osborne, Joe Paterno, Bill Snyder. What do they all have in common? Each one of them have 200 wins at one school. Saturday on Senior day at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, the Wildcats jumped out to a 20-3 second quarter lead, and coasted to a 34-19 win over the Kansas Jayhawks. The win gave Snyder his 200th win in his 25th season at Kansas State.

Kansas scored the opening points of the game on their opening drive. Matthew Wyman connected on a 34-yard field goal with 10:30 left in the first quarter. K-State quickly captured the lead, and never surrendered. A quick six-play drive was capped off by a Winston Dimel one-yard run with 7:24 remaining in the opening period to give the Cats a 6-3 lead. The extra point attempt was blocked.

In the second quarter, the Wildcats scored all 14 points in a 40-second span. The first came on an impressive 31-yard run by Alex Barnes, to push the K-State (7-4, 5-3 Big 12) lead to 13-6 with the Ian Patterson PAT. Barnes dove from the three-yard line and hit the right pylon to score. Two plays later, senior Donnie Starks intercepted Carter Stanley, and returned it for a 39-yard touchdown to add to the Wildcats lead at 20-3, including the Patterson kick, with 13:12 remaining in the half.

Kansas State opened up the second half on a scoring drive. Dimel scored on a seven-yard run with 9:47 remaining in the third quarter to push the lead to 27-3, with the Patterson PAT. Following a punt by the Wildcats on their next drive to the Jayhawk five, Kansas (2-10, 1-8) struck on a deep pass play. Stanley connected with LaQuvionte Gonzalez on a 95-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 27-9, after the Hawks missed the two-point conversion.

K-State scored on the ensuing drive, and on the first play in the fourth quarter. Joe Hubener punched it in from one yard out four seconds in to the final frame to extend the Wildcat lead to 34-9, with the Patterson extra point. However, the Jayhawks would not give up. They scored on the ensuing drive with 11:29 left, on a Stanley four-yard pass to Michael Zunica, and Wyman’s PAT made it 34-16. KU finished the scoring off with a Wyman 44-yard field goal into a stiff wind to make the score 34-19. Both teams traded fumbles in the final minutes of the game, and Kansas State won their eighth straight in the Sunflower Showdown.

Kansas State finished with 441 yards of offense, with 342 on the ground. Jesse Ertz was 4-6 passing for 59 yards, and had 99 yards rushing on 12 carries, all in the first half. Ertz was in on only one snap in the second half, after an apparent injury. Alex Barnes had 103 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown, before leaving the game early in the fourth quarter. Byron Pringle had five receptions for 77 yards.

For Kansas, Carter Stanley was 24-44 passing for 302 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also led the team in rushing with 52 yards on 10 carries, and LaQuvionte Gonzalez had five grabs for 127 yards and a touchdown. The Jayhawks rushed for 101 yards and finished with 403 yards of offense.

Saturday’s game was K-State’s 33rd consecutive sellout at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, as 52,637 was the announced paid attendance. The 15-point margin has been the closest in the since the Wildcats won over Kansas 17-10 in 2009 in Manhattan. Bill Snyder now has averaged eight wins a season over 25 years. Kansas State had 200 wins from 1921-1988 before Snyder arrived.

K-State finishes their regular season on Saturday, December 3, at TCU, in an 11 am kickoff.

Coach Bill Snyder