Two weeks ago, no football team in the country had a longer streak of success when leading at halftime than Kansas State.
After the Wildcats’ second straight loss in such fashion, that streak is a distant memory.
K-State fell to No. 2 TCU, 52-45, Saturday night at Bill Snyder Family Stadium after hitting the locker room with an 18-point lead.
TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin gave his team the lead on a 69-yard touchdown run with 6:07 left, then connected with Josh Doctson on a 55-yard strike to recapture it with 1:10 to go after K-State’s game-tying field goal.
The Wildcats (3-2, 0-2 Big 12) trailed right out of the gate when Aaron Green took the game’s first play 86 yards for a score. From that point on, the first half was dominated by the Wildcats.
Joe Hubener had three touchdown runs as K-State controlled the clock with its slow, methodical run game. The Wildcats’ time of possession in the first half tripled that of their opponent.
When combined with some timely stops from the defense, K-State looked as good as it has all season.
The second half was a very different story.
The Wildcats failed to melt the clock as effectively, partially because of an increased effort to throw the ball rather than run it.
As a result, the dangerous and electric TCU offense was given more possessions. The Horned Frogs scored when it mattered.
“They played better defensively than we did offensively in the second half,” K-State coach Bill Snyder said.
K-State faced fourth and one at the TCU 20 yard line with 1:52 left, trailing 45-42. After a timeout, the Wildcats, who averaged nearly five yards per rushing attempt in the game, elected to go for the tie.
“Obviously, the field goal was the wrong thing to do,” Snyder said. “It was one of those choices… It’s a hard choice.”
It took mere moments for the Horned Frogs to take the lead for good and keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Hubener finished the game with 111 yards rushing and 157 more through the air. Jones complimented him with 79 yards on 13 carries.
“I was proud of our youngsters because they didn’t give in,” Snyder said. “We didn’t play well enough to win. But I liked the way they came back from last week’s ball game. They played with a passion and spirit I hadn’t seen this year.”
K-State hosts No. 10 Oklahoma next week with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m.
