Kansas State finds its stride: Wildcats secure first Big 12 win with 34-20 victory over UCF
MANHATTAN Kan AP Avery Johnson threw for yards and two touchdowns Dylan Edwards ran for yards and another sum and Kansas State held on to beat UCF - on Saturday for its first Big win of the season Johnson also ran for yards and the Wildcats - - piled up yards on the ground while their defense made a critical fourth-down stop with just over minutes left after the Knights - - had closed to within - Tayven Jackson who missed a chunk of the challenge with an injury returned to throw for yards for UCF which had won its last games under Scott Frost dating to his first tenure with the project Myles Montgomery had yards rushing Kansas State has never lost to UCF in three meetings The Knights were rolling off a - rout of North Carolina but Kansas State must have had plenty of time to scout them during their bye The Wildcats shut down the UCF offense even before Jackson got hurt with left in the first half Jacurri Brown entered the encounter and right away threw an interception leading to Joe Jackson s TD run and a - lead UCF completely got a big play moments later when Brown hit DJ Black down the sideline Kansas State s Wesley Fair missed a tackle and the resulting -yard TD reception was the longest by a Knights contestant since Doug Gabriel s -yarder in But the Wildcats answered with a -yard touchdown march and Will Anciaux s catch gave them a - lead at the break Not much changed after halftime Brown and the Knights went three-and-out to start the third quarter and Kansas State added to the lead with another long touchdown drive And when Jackson s surprising return sparked the UCF offense Brown came in to run a sneak on fourth down and the backup quarterback promptly fumbled the ball away Edwards added a -yard touchdown run later in the third quarter helping to put the championship out of UCF s reach Fond farewell The Knights were playing for the first time since offensive line coach Shawn Clark died unexpectedly on Sunday The -year-old Clark was hospitalized after a healthcare urgency on Sept but the school revealed last week that he had been stable The takeaway UCF struggled mightily to move the ball when Jackson was out of the championship Once he returned the ground championship got going and the Knights began to resemble the offense that scored points in a rout of North Carolina A T Kansas State turned loose Johnson to run the ball for the first time this season and that seemed to open up an offense that had struggled with inconsistency The athletic QB finished with the third-best rushing total of his -game career Up next UCF returns home to face Kansas on Saturday night Kansas State heads to Baylor on Saturday Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top throughout the season Sign up here and here AP News mobile app AP college football https apnews com hub ap-top- -college-football-poll and https apnews com hub college-football Source
