How Kansas State came from behind to win its most satisfying game over KU in years

This was new territory for the Sunflower Showdown.

The Kansas State football team, which hasn’t lost a game in this rivalry since 2008, was genuinely in trouble for much of Saturday evening against a scrappy Kansas opponent that was starting a third-string freshman at quarterback. Unlike previous seasons, when the Wildcats beat the Jayhawks on cruise control, they had to fight for every yard.

K-State eventually clawed its way to a 31-27 victory and extended its winning streak to 15 games against KU. It wasn’t pretty. But it was satisfying. In fact, this was arguably the most pleasing rivalry win that the Wildcats have pulled off in recent memory.

“It was one of the best feelings,” K-State offensive lineman Cooper Beebe said. “I will give them credit, man. This is one of the best environments I have ever been in today at this stadium. There is nothing like this rivalry in college football and I just love to be here.”

Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman said it took guts to win this type of game.

He also compared it to other recent losses when K-State fell behind top-25 teams Missouri, Oklahoma State and Texas. The Wildcats were unable to come all the way back and win those matchups. Things were different against Kansas. That made this a big deal for them.

“Resolve, toughness and battling for your brothers,” Klieman said. “That was a really good football team that we beat in a really good environment. We knew we were going to get their best shot, and I think we did get their best shot. For a while, it didn’t look very good. We were struggling to slow them down ... but we hung in there.”

Things looked bleak for the Wildcats when they trailed the Jayhawks at halftime and then allowed KU to immediately score a touchdown early in the third quarter and surge ahead 27-16.

Kansas was improbably moving the ball at will against K-State, even without Jason Bean or Jalon Daniels at quarterback. The Jayhawks went on to win the yardage battle 396 to 331. The home fans could smell an upset.

Everything was going against K-State. The situation could have gotten even worse for the Wildcats when quarterback Will Howard threw a turnover-worthy pass across the middle of the field to Phillip Brooks and KU defender Rich Miller jumped the route. The ball hit Miller in both hands and no one was between him and the end zone. He could have scored. Instead, he dropped the ball.

That play gave K-State new life, and it took advantage. Running back Treshaun Ward rumbled for a 52-yard gain on the very next play.

The Wildcats were the better team the rest of the way and walked away with the Governor’s Cup for one more year.

Why? They were ready for the big moments. Every time they had an opportunity to make a key play they came through. Will Howard threw for 165 yards and two touchdowns but scored the game’s go-ahead touchdown when he scampered 15 yards on a QB keeper in the fourth quarter.

KU had a chance to regain the lead, but the K-State defense was just as clutch. Marques Sigle came up with an interception in the end zone.

From there, K-State took over with 5 minutes, 33 seconds remaining and ran out the clock with a mixture of punishing runs from DJ Giddens and a timely pass from Howard to Brooks.

The Wildcats were able to make all those plays, because they never panicked when things were going against them.

“Nobody flinched,” Klieman said. “We were down in Texas and nobody flinched. We were really down at Oklahoma State and nobody flinched. We felt like we had a chance to get the game to the fourth quarter. That’s what we’re always asking for is, man, keep fighting. That’s the culture of our team. Everybody talks about, what is culture? You see it right there? That’s our culture on display.”

The Wildcats also had motivation on their side.

No one in their locker room wanted to be part of the team that ended the winning streak over Kansas. Howard went out of his way to refer to KU as “little brother” when the game was over.

“We knew how big of a game this was,” Howard said. “You guys saw. It was a dogfight. Those guys are a good team. We had to gut it out. It wasn’t a pretty game. It wasn’t perfect by any stretch. But we knew we had to get the win. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”

This could end up being a very meaningful win for the Wildcats (8-3, 6-2 Big 12).

It kept them alive in the conference championship race. If they beat Iowa State (7 p.m. next week at Bill Snyder Family Stadium) they can earn a berth in the league title game if the right combination of losses come from Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

More than that, though, this game proved the Wildcats are capable of winning important games against solid competition. As Klieman mentioned, K-State had come up short in all of its other marquee games this year.

The Wildcats changed that narrative on Saturday and got to celebrate another Sunflower Showdown win in the process.