K-State Scores Late to Top Colorado

Avery Johnson connected with Jayce Brown on a 50-yard touchdown pass with 2:14 left in the fourth quarter to lift the #18 Kansas State Wildcats to a 31-28 victory over the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field in Boulder on Saturday night.

The game nearly got away from the Wildcats as Colorado scored 14 points in a span of 3:32 in the fourth quarter to rally for the lead, but Johnson’s long bomb to Brown capped a three-play, 84-yard drive that took only 51 seconds off the clock and the K-State defense forced a turnover on downs on Colorado’s final possession.

Kansas State led 14-7 at the half and opened up a 21-7 lead after a 16-play, 81-yard drive that ate up nearly the first eight minutes of the third quarter. After suffering an injury earlier on the drive that forced him to leave the game, Johnson returned and threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Brown that gave K-State their largest lead. The Wildcats led 24-14 late in the fourth quarter but the Buffaloes fought back, getting within three points on a two-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Augustave with 6:44 to go and then, after intercepting a Johnson pass on a fourth down and returning it deep into Wildcat territory, taking the lead with 3:12 left on a touchdown pass from Shedeur Sanders to LaJohntay Wester.

Johnson was 15-of-23 passing for 224 yards and the two touchdowns to Brown, while also adding an eight-yard rushing touchdown. Brown tallied 121 yards on his six receptions on the night. DJ Giddens carried the load on the ground for K-State, racking up 182 yards on 25 rushes. Those three helped the Wildcats withstand a huge game from Sanders, as the Buffs’ QB threw for 388 yards and three TDs on 34-for-40 passing.

The win moves K-State to 5-1 on the season and 2-1 in Big 12 play, while dropping Colorado to 4-2 and 2-1 in the league. Next up for the Wildcats is another tough road trip, this one to Morgantown to battle the West Virginia Mountaineers. The game kicks off at 6:30pm this Saturday.