Kansas State enjoyed its first game at home in a month, blowing out TCU, 41-3.
The Wildcats move to 5-2 overall, and 3-1 in the Big 12.
Kansas State offense finished with nearly 600 total yards including over 300 yards on the ground.
It was a question all week about who we would see at quarterback for Kansas State. However, it didn't end up mattering, as TCU had problems defending both.
Will Howard and Avery Johnson both enjoyed success on the ground and in the air. Although Collin Klein hasn't opened up the playbook with Johnson in the air yet, Johnson showed he can throw the rock.
Johnson finished with 90 passing yards and one touchdown. Johnson also added 93 yards on the ground. Howard threw for 154 yards and ran for 62 yards. Howard threw for two touchdowns on the night, including a 61-yard touchdown to D.J. Giddens.
Howard and Johnson alternated drives the whole game, which appeared to be the plan heading into the game.
"Collin [Klein] and I had a good plan overall," head coach Chris Klieman. "Coming from myself being a defensive guy, that’s hard to plan for."
We saw flashes from Jayce Brown against Texas Tech. The true freshman hauled in a pass in Lubbock and showed today that he may be Kansas State’s best receiver.
Brown made an acrobatic 43-yard catch from Johnson in the first quarter. He later had his first career touchdown, hauling in an 11-yard pass from Howard. He finished the game as the the team's leading receiver, finishing with 88 receiving yards. Brown is providing quite the spark as a true freshman.
"He’s a guy who came in and made an impact immediately," Howard said on Jayce Brown. "As a true freshman, it’s hard, but that kid is special and will be special for a while."
While the Wildcats controlled the game on the offensive side, the defense enjoyed a strong showing. Emani Bailey had a couple of long rushes, finishing with over 100 rushing yards, but the Wildcats' defense did a great job getting the Horned Frogs off the field, as TCU finished 2-for-13 on 3rd down.
TCU quarterback Josh Hoover had to throw the ball a lot as they were trailing most of the game but did not have any big plays over the air. Big plays are something the Kansas State defense has struggled with, but the Wildcats fixed that tonight.
“I thought we dominated the game up front with our pass rush, and I thought our guys in the secondary covered very well,” Klieman said about the defensive performance.
Desmond Purnell had the only takeaway of the game, as he picked off Hoover on a third down. Klieman says Purnell is playing “at an all-conference level.”
The secondary is finally healthy again, as Will Lee was back out there, and Josh Parrish looked more comfortable in his second game back.
This was a massive win for Kansas State to keep pace in the Big 12 conference race. They are tied for second with three other Big 12 teams. Kansas State will take on Houston next week in Manhattan at 11 a.m.
