QB Avery Johnson Points to 'Plus Territory Interception' In Comeback Loss
Leading 19-10 early in the fourth quarter, Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Avery Johnson made a game-changing mistake by throwing an interception in Houston Cougars territory Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) had a chance to cling for a Big 12 title game berth next month. Now it's a logjam to get to first place with three games remaining. The Cougars (4-5, 3-3 Big 12) used the turnover to rally for the 24-19 win. It was capped by Zeon Chriss' touchdown with 2:31 left in regulation.
Johnson said he takes full responsibility for the mistake. Up until the interception, he had thrown a touchdown while completing 17-of-27 passes for 177 yards.
"Starts with that interception and giving them the ball in plus territory," Johnson said. "They score right there, put our defense in a horrible position, and then they score again. Putting our defense in bad positions too much."
Johnson said the poor weather was another factor in the game's unraveling. However, he admitted longer drives would have been paramount to prevent the defense from fatiguing in the final minutes.
"You know when it rains hard, when it pours like that, it's hard to grip the ball sometimes," Johnson said. "The playbook isn't as wide open because of conditions, but we just have to do a better job of sustaining drives and not having three-and-outs, leaving our defense on the field like we did in the second half."
Kansas State continues its two-game road trip against Arizona State next Saturday. Kickoff times and network designations have not been announced.
Zain Bando is a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats On SI. He can be reached at zainbando99@gmail.com and on Instagram/'X' @zainbando99.
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