Wildcats blow out Bowling Green

Manhattan, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–After a dominating opening game of the season last Saturday, Kansas State looked to duplicate their week one performance at home against Bowling Green on a sunny Saturday. The Wildcats were dominant in every aspect of the game, as they held the Falcons to just five first downs in a 52-0 win in front of 46,075 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

Kansas State scored on their opening drive of the game for the second straight game. This time it was a Blake Lynch 24-yard field goal with 11:46 left in the opening quarter to take the early 3-0 lead. On their next series, a seven-play, 84-yard drive in less than four minutes was capped by Jordon Brown’s 50-yard touchdown run with 5:57 left in the first quarter to go up 10-0 with the Lynch PAT. Late in the first quarter, it was James Gilbert finding the end zone from 17 yards out to give the Cats a 17-0 lead with 40 seconds left in the opening period.

Following a recovered kick at the Bowling Green 24, the Wildcats would strike again on the ground. Harry Trotter would go around the left side from a yard out with 12:26 left in the first half to go up 24-0 following the Lynch kick. Five minutes later, it was Gilbert again finding the end zone. His five-yard run and the Lynch PAT would put K-State up 31-0 with 7:42 left in the half. Three minutes later, the Wildcats found the end zone again through the air. Skylar Thompson connected with Malik Knowles from 34 yards out to give them a 38-0 lead with four minutes left in the half.

On their opening possession of the second half, Kansas State would find the end zone for a second time through the air. A fourth down pass play from Thompson to Knowles from 20 yards out put them up 45-0 with 11:37 left in the third quarter. With the backups playing a majority of the second half, it would be true freshman Joe Ervin closing the scoring out with a six-yard touchdown run with 9:45 remaining in the game to push the score to 52-0 with the Lynch PAT, which would be the final.

Skylar Thompson was 10-13 passing for 151 yards with two touchdowns. His leading receiver was Malik Knowles, who had five catches for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Cimarron native Nick Ast went 3-3 passing for 28 yards in the second half. James Gilbert had eight rushes for 103 yards and two touchdowns. The Wildcats rushed for 333 yards and had 188 passing yards for a total of 521 yards of offense. It’s the first time in school history that Kansas State has started the first two games with over 500 yards of offense.

Darius Wade was 8-19 passing for 79 yards. Rodell Rahmaan had one reception for 34 yards to lead the team, while Davon Jones finished with 47 yards rushing on eight carries. Bowling Green finished 140 yards, and had only five first downs. That was the fewest that K-State has allowed since North Texas in 2005.

A total of 88 players participated in the game for K-State, including Holcomb linebacker Blake Richmeier, who had a fourth quarter tackle, Cimarron defensive lineman Jaylen Pickle, and quarterback Nick Ast.

Up next for Kansas State is a road trip to SEC member Mississippi State at 11 am Saturday. The Bulldogs are 2-0 after defeating Southern Miss 38-15 Saturday afternoon.

Head Coach Chris Kleiman