K-State Rights Ship in Rout of Cincinnati

The Kansas State Wildcats snapped a two-game losing skid with a 41-15 thrashing of the Cincinnati Bearcats on Senior Night at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan.

DJ Giddens rushed for two touchdowns and Avery Johnson threw for two and ran for another as the Wildcats improved to 8-3 (5-3 Big 12) with one game remaining this season.

K-State never trailed in the game. After forcing a Bearcat three-and-out on the game’s first possession, the Wildcats marched down the field and scored on a 21 yard run by Johnson at 11:25 of the first quarter. It was the start of four straight scoring drives for K-State to open the contest, with a pair of Chris Tennant field goals and a 32-yard dash by Giddens staking the Wildcats to a 20-0 lead with 7:02 left in the first half.

Cincinnati got on the board with a field goal and had the ball in the final seconds of the first half, but a Brennan Sorsby pass was intercepted by Brendan Mott and returned to the Cincinnati 6 yard line. Three plays later, Johnson connected with Tre Spivey for a six-yard score with just eight seconds remaining in the half and the Wildcats had a 27-3 lead at intermission.

The Bearcats drew within 27-9 and kept K-State off the board in the third quarter, but the Wildcats would put the game away with a pair of scoring drives. Giddens rushed in from 17 yards and Johnson hit Will Swanson for an eight-yard passing score to make it 41-9 with 7:57 to play.

Giddens finished the night with 143 rushing yards on just 15 carries. Johnson threw for 147 yards and rushed for72 more.

Cincinnati got a pair of touchdown receptions from Tony Johnson, both from Sorsby, in the loss. K-State held the Bearcat offense to 3-for-12 on third down and 0-for-5 on fourth down in the contest.

K-State wraps up the regular season in Ames against Iowa State next Saturday at a time yet to be announced.