K-State gave Chris Klieman another first on Saturday. His first Big 12 win.
The Cats never trailed in the game and scored after Jonathan Alexander blocked a TCU punt and started the drive at the TCU 20-yard line. After a loss of one, the very next play off of the play-action pass, Skylar Thompson hit tight end Nick Lenners for a 21-yard touchdown. It was the first touchdown by a Wildcat tight end since Zach Trujillo in 2014.
TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson referred to this situation after the game, saying “one play” is what made the game 24-17 as opposed to 17-17.
TCU would eventually answer early in the 2nd quarter, after an 8-yard run by Sewo Olonilua.
For K-State, Thompson would strike again with just over five minutes left in the 1st half when Wykeen Gill got open and waltzed into the endzone from 13 yards out. It was Gill’s first touchdown as a Wildcat. TCU’s Brendan Song made the score 14-10 just before the half.
K-State produced a field goal on their first drive of the second half to go up by a touchdown, that would not hold after TCU QB Max Duggan bounced off of defenders and stiff armed his way into the endzone for a 46-yard touchdown run.
K-State’s biggest play of the day came from Skylar Thompson who had been huge all game long. Thompson burst through the TCU defense from the K-State 10-yard line and went 61 yards to set the Wildcats up in TCU territory.
TCU’s Gary Patterson said after the game that “[he]called one too many zone blitz.”
K-State would face a 4th & 1 at the TCU 18, and despite prior decisions to play conservative by Klieman, Thompson would save the day after the Wildcats went for it. A few plays later, Thompson would turn a broken play into a go-ahead rushing touchdown.
The K-State defense held strong on a TCU drive and almost held on the rest of the way. TCU got one play with two seconds on the clock, but K-State’s defense came through and pushed the Cats to 4-2 on the season.
Up Next: K-State (4-2, 1-2) will host #5 Oklahoma (7-0, 4-0) at Bill Snyder Family Stadium next Saturday at 11 AM, Powercat Gameday will start at 7 AM on News Radio KMAN and 101.5 K-Rock.
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | FINAL |
| TCU | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| K-State | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 24 |
Number to Know: TCU totaled 100 more yards than K-State (366-266) despite the losing effort.
