Recap: Kansas State football throttles LSU 42-20 in the 2022 Texas Bowl. Here's how it happened.

Arne Green, Topeka Capital-Journal

January 5, 2022 at 12:41 AM·6 min read

HOUSTON — Kansas State football squared off against LSU for just the second time in program history on Tuesday night in the Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium.

The Wildcats took down the Tigers 42-20, giving head coach Chris Klieman his first bowl victory as Kansas State's head coach. K-State running back Deuce Vaughn exploded for 146 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Skylar Thompson threw for 259 yards and a trio of scores, including one to Vaughn.

Here's how the Texas Bowl unfolded on Tuesday night.

Deuce Vaughn scores again

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Skylar Thompson threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Deuce Vaughn with 14:56 left to play.

The scoring drive was three plays for 55 yards and took 1 minute, 3 seconds. It was set up by a Ross Elder interception and 32-yard return.

More: Skylar Thompson, Deuce Vaughn lead Kansas State football to Texas Bowl win over LSU. Here's what stood out.

K-State leads 28-7 after three quarters

Ross Elder came up with Kansas State's second interception and returned it 32 yards to his own 45-yard line late in the third quarter, killing an LSU drive and preserving a 28-7 lead as we head to the fourth.

Skylar Thompson then hit Daniel Imatorbhebhe for 26 yards and Deuce Vaugh ran for 26 to give the Wildcats first and goal at the 2 as we start the fourth quarter.

Deuce, Part Deux

Kansas State gets the defensive stop to start the second half, then answers with a seven-play, 61-yard drive and Deuce Vaughn's second touchdown, an 18-yarder up the middle where he sidesteps a defender and runs in untouched.

Skylar Thompson had another third-down completion and is now 8 of 8, plus he ran 18 yards for another first down.

LSU on the board, but K-State leads 21-7 at the half

Backup kicker Ty Zentner missed a 54-yard field goal try as time expired, but Kansas State still leads LSU at halftime, 21-7.

After doing nothing on its first three possessions, LSU put together a nice 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive late in the second quarter with Jontre Kirklin finding Jaray Jenkins on a 23-yard touchdown pass with 20 seconds left.

Kansas State dominated the half statistically, racking up 198 yards in 36 plays. Skylar Thompson completed 13 of 19 passes for 198 yards, including touchdown strikes of 25 and 5 yards to Malik Knolwes.

Deuce Vaughn rushed 14 times for 40 yards and a touchdown.

LSU had 70 yards rushiing and Kirklin was 3 of 4 passing for 27 yards. But his one miss was costly as Russ Yeast intercepted to set up the Wildcats' third score.

Thompson to Knowles, Part II

Skylar Thompson finds Malik Knowles in the back left corner of the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown with 7:01 left in the half and Kansas State goes up 21-0 on LSU.

The six-play, 43-yard drive was set up by a Russ Yeast interception at the LSU 43.

Skylar Thompson now is 7 of 7 passing for 97 yards on third downs. The Wildcats have converted 6 of 8 third downs, and on the third-down misses, they succeeded on fourth down.

Deuce Vaughn scores, K-State leads 14-0

Deuce Vaughn's 1-yard run and Ty Zentner's PAT puts Kansas State up 14-0 with 11:39 left in the half.

The scoring drive took 9 minutes, 16 seconds off the clock and covered 71 yards in 18 plays. The time of the drive and number of plays were both Texas Bowl records.

At the end of the drive, Kansas State had run 29 plays to three for LSU.

Kansas State leads 7-0 after one quarter

Kansas State controlled the ball for much of the first quarter and takes a 7-0 lead to the second.

The Wildcats, who start the second quarter with second down and 8 at the LSU 23-yard line, had the ball for more than 11 1/2 minutes in the opening period.

Jontre Kirkland starts at QB for LSU

Wide receiver Jontre Kirkland got the start at quarterback for LSU. The Tigers had two penalties on their opening drive and did not pick up a first down.

Kirkland was a quarterback in high school. Apparently Garrett Nussmeier will not burn his redshirt for LSU in this game.

Kansas State draws first blood

Kansas State elected to receive to start the game and it paid off with an 11-play, 75-yard drive as Skylar Thompson found Malik Knowles for a 25-yard touchdown with 9:13 left in the first quarter.

Knowles took the pass on the left side and sprinted to the sideline, outrunning Todd Harris Jr., who missed an ankle tackle. Knowles completed the play by diving and stretching the ball inside the pylon.

Oh, and Ty Zentner kicked the point after in place of Chris Tennant.

K-State to get the ball first

Kansas State won the coin toss and elected to receive.

Not typical for the Wildcats, who usually defer. Apparently they want to set the tone early.

Roster updates

Pregame notes had two roster scratches for Kansas State: Defensive tackle Timmy Horne, whose wife had a baby Monday night, and kicker Chris Tennant, presumably for health reasons. It will be interesting to see who handles the kicking duties for the Wildcats.

Senior Ty Zentner is listed as the backup, but he already is the punter and handles kickoffs.

No scratches for LSU, though the big question remains who will start at quarterback for the Tigers. Freshman Garrett Nussmeier, the team's only remaining scholarship quarterback is listed as the starter, but reports have circulated that he will not play and lose his redshirt year.

Nussmeier has appeared in the maximum allowable four games so far.

Battle of the bands

LSU's marching band took the field first and now it's Kansas State's turn as we're 15 minutes from kickoff here at NRG Stadium.

Oh baby, baby

Kansas State super-senior defensive tackle Timmy Horne made it to Houston for the Texas Bowl, but returned home after his wife gave birth Monday night, a week ahead of schedule.

Horne, a senior transfer from Charlotte, has been a regular in the Wildcats' defensive line rotation all year, starting one game against Iowa State, and recorded 20 tackles, including three tackles for loss, two sacks and a fumble recovery.

More: Kansas State football defensive tackle Timmy Horne feeling right at home

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