Wildcats Stunned by Tulane

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The Kansas State Wildcats suffered their first loss of the 2022 season on Saturday in Manhattan, falling to Tulane by a 17-10 score.

K-State’s offense struggled throughout the contest, and could not sustain drives, going two-for-fifteen on third down and one-for-five on fourth down in the game.

“Put that on me, don’t put that on the kids,” said head coach Chris Klieman after the game. “I believe in our offense, and I believe in Coach (Collin) Klein. We had some plays out there we thought we should have had, and we just didn’t get ’em.”

A four-yard touchdown pass from Michael Pratt to Tyrick James with 4:27 left provided the winning margin for the Green Wave, who hadn’t beaten a G5 opponent since 2010.

K-State fell behind 7-0 in the first quarter after Tyjae Spears scored a one-yard touchdown run for Tulane, but tied the score on an Adrian Martinez touchdown pass to Kade Warner from 21 yard with 2:43 left in the first half. Then, after a Daniel Green interception and long return, Chris Tennant’s 22-yard field goal on the final play of the half sent K-State to the locker room with a 10-7 lead.

The Cats wouldn’t score again as drive after drive was short-circuited by the inability to convert on third down. A failed fourth-down conversion gave Tulane the short field they used to score the winning touchdown on a 52-yard drive.

Deuce Vaughn was held below 100 yards rushing for the first time in nine games, rushing for just 81 yards on his 20 carries. He was also kept out of the end zone for the first time in ten games. Martinez finished 21-of-31 passing for 150 yards with a touchdown.

“Now we’ve got adversity,” Klieman said after the game. “Let’s see how we respond.”

The Wildcats fall to 2-1 on the season. They open Big 12 play at Oklahoma next week.

POSTGAME AUDIO:

Chris Klieman