The Manhattan Miracle; K-State stuns Iowa State in final minute

Manhattan, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–For everthing that has gone wrong for Kansas State during their six-game losing streak, the ball finally bounced their way. Of Coach Bill Sndyder’s 16 Goals for Success, goal No. 10 is “Never Give Up”. The Wildcat defense forced two fumbles in the final 90 seconds, which resulted in the games final 10 points, highlighted by Jack Cantele’s game-winning 42-yard field goal with three seconds remaining, to stun the Iowa State Cyclones 38-35 go give the Cats their eighth straight win over Iowa State.

Both teans traded scores in the first quarter with Iowa State scoring first. Following a good punt return, the Cyclones scored on their third play of the drive, Joel Lanning found a wide open Trever Ryen from 21 yards out with 9:36 remaining in the first quarter to give them the early 7-0 lead, following the Cole Netten extra point. K-State bounced back on their ensuing drive, capped off by some trickery. At the 4:50 mark of the opening quarter, it was a fullback to fullback pass play, as Glenn Gronkowski connected with Winston Dimel on a four-yard pass to tie the game at seven, following the Jack Cantele PAT.

Iowa State (3-8, 2-6) would explode for 28 second quarter points. Their first came with 12:21 left in the first half, on a Joel Lanning one-yard run. Four minutes later, it was a 30-yard touchdown reception to Allen Lazard from Lanning to push the Cyclone lead to 21-7. The very next play, Morgan Burns returned the kickoff 100 yards for a Wilcat touchdown to cut their deficit to 21-14 with 7:59 remaining in the half. It was Burns’ second kickoff return for a score in as many weeks, and the third of the season. Iowa State, however, would strike back two plays later. Freshman standout Mike Warren found an opening, and scored on a 76-yard touchdown run to give the Cyclones the 28-14 lead. And with 29 seconds before halftime, it was the second Lanning to Lazard touchdown connection of the half, this one frim 16 yards to give ISU the 35-14 halftime lead.

Kansas State would not go down without a fight. They scored on their opening possession of the third quarter. With 8:49 left, Charles Jones found the end zone from eight yards out to cut the deficit to 35-21, on a drive that took over six minutes.

On their second straight 12-play drive of the half, the Wildcats cut ISU’s lead to 35-28 with 13:13 left on a Joe Hubener to Kody Cook seven-yard reception on fourth down. After a series of punts and fumbles by both teams, a series of events that would seem unbelieveable happened.

After K-State (4-6, 1-6) turned the ball over on downs, Iowa State took over with 1:36 remainining in the game. The Cyclones’s first play saw Mike Warren get stripped of the ball by Elijah Lee, and the Cats recovered the ball at their own 45 yard line. Four plays later, it was a tie game. Charles Jones punched it in from five yards out, as Cantele’s extra point tied the game at 35 with 42 seconds remaining. Instead of playing for overtime, Iowa State went into their hurry up to go for the win. On a second down scramble with 10 seconds left, Joel Lanning was stripped of the ball, and the Wildcats recovered the ball at the Cyclone 22 yard line. After Joe Hubener centered the ball at the ISU 25, Jack Cantele calmly drilled a 42-yard field goal with three seconds left to give the Wildcats the 38-35 win, and give them their first lead since the fourth quarter of the TCU game on October 10. An Iowa State series of laterals was downed at the K-State 37-yard line on the final play of the game.

Iowa State finished with 448 yards on the day. Joel Lanning was 15-20 passing for 210 yards with three touchdowns. Mike Warren rushed 195 yards and a touchdown. The Cyclones had 238 yards of rushing. Allen Lazard had five catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Cyclone receivers. Overall, Iowa State finished with eight fumbles, four they coughed up.

Kansas State saw Joe Hubener go 18-31 for 216 yards and a touchdown. He also led the team with 90 yards on 20 carries. Charles Jones added 65 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns. Kody Cook caught the lone touchdown pass, and led the team with five catches for 68 yards. The Wildcats netted 385 yards of offense with one turnover and five sacks.

K-State is still alive for a bowl game, as they will play at in-state rival Kansas on Saturday at 3 pm, while Iowa State wraps up their seaosn at West Virginia.

Coach Bill Snyder Postgame