#17 K-State Lets Late Lead Slip in Loss at Houston
The Houston Cougars rallied from a 19-10 fourth quarter deficit to upset the #17 Kansas State Wildcats 24-19 at TDECU Stadium in Houston on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
The loss deals K-State’s hopes for reaching the Big 12 Championship Game a significant blow, as they drop to 4-2 in league play and fall behind Colorado in the league standings into fourth place.
The Wildcats led by nine points with just over 12 minutes to play when K-State quarterback Avery Johnson was intercepted by Houston’s Jeremiah Wilson, who returned the pick inside the K-State 10 yard line. Houston scored three plays later to cut the deficit to 19-17. After K-State punted on their next two possessions, the Cougars grabbed the lead on quarterback Zeon Chriss’s 58-yard touchdown run with 2:31 remaining. Johnson was intercepted again on K-State’s ensuing possession, and though the Wildcats got one more chance with time running out and advanced the ball to the Houston 39 yard line, the last ditch Hail Mary pass sailed out of the back of the end zone.
Johnson was 23-for-39 passing for 238 yards and one touchdown, along with the two interceptions. The Cougars defense smothered K-State’s rushing attack, limiting DJ Giddens to just 50 yards on 17 carries and keeping K-State as a whole to 2.6 yards per carry. Chriss was a perfect 11-for-11 passing for 103 yards and a touchdown and also ran for 75 yards and the deciding score.
K-State is now 7-2 on the season and is off next week before back to back home contests against Arizona State and Cincinnati.