Wildcats unable to rally against Texas

Manhattan, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The Kansas State Wildcats were looking to get back on the winning side of things in their home conference opener against the Texas Longhorns. After being held scoreless, the Wildcats came out on fire on their opening drive, but fell five points short in a 19-14 setback at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in front of 49,916.

The first touchdown of the day was scored via special teams. Texas got a 90-yard punt return from D’Shawn Jamison with 5:25 left in the first quarter to take the early 7-0 lead after the Cameron Dicker PAT.

Texas added to their score in the second quarter. Their first came on a Sam Ehlinger pass to Collin Johnson from four yards out with 14:03 left in the first half to go up 14-0 after the Dicker kick. A little over a minute later, Kansas State was pinned deep in their own territory, as Alex Delton was sacked in the end zone for a safety to push the Longhorn lead to 16-0 with 12:56 left in the half. Texas would score on the ensuing drove, getting Cameron Dicker 28-yard field goal to extend their lead to 19-0 with 7:15 left in the first half. That would also be the halftime score.

Kansas State would score on their opening drive of the second half to get on the board. Skylar Thompson, who took over for Delton in the second half, hit the right pylon on a seven-yard touchdown run with 11:13 left in the third quarter to cut the lead to 19-7 Longhorns.

In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats continued their rally efforts. On fourth and goal at the one, Alex Barnes jumped over the pile out of the “Wildcat” formation to pull them to within 19-14 after the Nick McLellan kick.

K-State had one more chance after holding Texas in the fourth quarter, but punted on a three-and-out with a little over five minutes left. The Longhorns were able to convert a pair of third downs, and run out the clock to pick up their first win in Manhattan since 2002.

For Texas, Sam Ehlinger was 29-36 passing for 207 yards with a touchdown pass to Collin Johnshon, who was their leading receiver with 51 yards on four catches. Keontay Ingram led the Longhorns with 68 yards on 10 carries. Texas rushed for 111 yards and finished with 339 yards of offense.

Kansas State had Skylar Thompson go 8-18 passing for 96 yards and Alex Delton go 3-7 for 14 yards. Dalton Shoen led the team with 67 receiving yards on five receptions and Alex Barnes rush for 80 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown. K-State rushed for 107 yards and finished with 227 yards of offense.

K-State drops to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in Big 12 play. They’ll play at Baylor on Saturday at 2:30. Texas improves to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play, and will face Oklahoma on Saturday at 11 am in Dallas in the Red River Rivalry.

Coach Bill Snyder Postgame