MANHATTAN, Kan. — The Kansas State Wildcats continued their dominance over Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown after eking out a 29-27 win.
It’s the Wildcats 16th straight win over the Jayhawks.
Kansas struck first on an impressive 38-yard touchdown run from Sevion Morris down the right sideline on their opening drive.
After punts from both teams, K-State evened things up with an Avery Johnson 24-yard touchdown pass to tight end Will Anciaux early in the second quarter.
A few plays later, K-State forced a safety with the Jayhawks at one yard line after tackling Devin Neal in the endzone to go up 9-7.
The momentum continued for the Wildcats. On their next drive, they scored on a Johnson two yard pass to Garrett Oakley.
But Kansas did not fold, keeping themselves in the game on a Jalon Daniels 10-yard touchdown pass to Luke Grimm to make it 16-14.
The Wildcats opened the second half with a touchdown on a 10-yard touchdown run from Johnson, taking a 23-14 lead.
Kansas responded on their next drive with a 24-yard touchdown run from Devin Neal.
KU regained the lead later in the 3rd quarter thanks to a Daniels eight yard TD run to go up 27-23.
Things really started to pick up late in the fourth, after Kansas forced a turnover downs with 3:59 remaining.
But K-State found a way to get the ball back with 3:44 left when Daniels fumbled after diving in the air on a nine-yard run and K-State defensive end Brendan Mott recovered at the KU 48.
The Wildcats took advantage of the turnover after Chris Tennant knocked down a 51-yard field goal to take a 29-27 lead with 1:42 remaining.
Kansas had one more opportunity to take the lead but K-State stopped the Jayhawks on 4th & 7 with 48 seconds left when Daniels was stopped on a run after trying to escape the Wildcat pressure and hit the edge.
Daniels finished 18/31 with 239 yards with 66 rushing yards and two total touchdowns (one rushing, one passing) and one interception. Neal had 13 carries for 66 yards (5.1 ypc) with one score.
Johnson was 19/34 with 253 yards and three total touchdowns (two passing, one rushing). He also had 67 rushing yards. DJ Giddens had 18 carries for 102 yards (5.7 ypc).
Kansas goes to 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12. They host 10th-ranked Iowa State next Saturday.
K-State improves to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the conference. Next up for them is a road matchup with Houston at 2:30 p.m.
