Kansas State's Big 12 Title, CFP Hopes Take Hit With Loss To Houston
The Kansas State Wildcats had proven they could play through adversity this season.
On Saturday, it just wasn't enough.
The Wildcats blew a nine-point, fourth quarter lead in a 24-19 loss to the Houston Cougars. They were outscored 14-0 in the final quarter.
“It just felt like we were flat offensively,” K-State quarterback Avery Johnson said. “We couldn’t get anything going. We stalled a lot in the second half. We didn’t really play collectively as well as we wanted to.”
The loss likely ends K-State's chance of the Big 12 title or making the College Football Playoffs. Johnson finished 23 of 39 for 238 yards with a touchdown but threw two interceptions. The Wildcats never seemed to get going after the game was delayed nearly an hour because of lightning.
Still, Kansas State held a 327-232 advantage in total yards and led 19-10 in the fourth before things fell apart. Houston quarter Zeon Chriss, who threw for 103 yards, accounted for both touchdowns in the final quarter. He threw a one-yard strike to Maliq Carr before running for a 41-yard score with 2 minutes, 31 seconds remaining.
“I don’t want to take anything away from them, but I feel like the words to describe it was we let it slip away,” K-State receiver Keagan Johnson said. “They’re a good team. They played better today. It comes down to that. We didn’t execute when we needed to.”
Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Kansas State Wildcats On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com
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