Field Level Media
Sep 15, 2018
It took about a quarter to get rolling, but Kansas State pulled away for a 41-17 victory over Texas-San Antonio on a steamy Saturday afternoon at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan.
The Wildcats (2-1) scored 17 second-quarter points and never looked back.
Skylar Thompson was 13 of 18 for 213 yards and two touchdowns in 2 1/2 quarters. He also had a nifty 27-yard rushing touchdown where he juked a defender at the 25 and raced in untouched. He finished with 66 yards on the ground.
The Wildcats, who struggled on both sides of the ball in their first two games, outgained the Road Runners (0-3) 449-300. The biggest advantage was through the air, where KSU held a 285-157 advantage.
Cordale Grundy was 14 of 23 for 108 yards and a touchdown for UTSA.
K-State scored two second-half touchdowns to increase the lead to 41-7 before UTSA scored 10 points late in the fourth quarter. The big play was a 72-yard scoring strike from backup quarterback Alex Delton to Isaiah Zuber up the left sideline.
After not scoring a first-half touchdown in their first two games, the Wildcats took the opening kickoff 78 yards in 12 plays for a 7-0 lead. Alex Barnes scored K-State's first rushing touchdown of the season from the 3-yard line to cap the drive.
The lead didn't last long. After an exchange of punts, UTSA had a seven-play, 50-yard drive to tie the score on a 2-yard pass from Grundy to fullback Halen Steward.
The Wildcats got a 33-yard field goal by Blake Lynch but still struggled to move the ball in the first half, especially on the ground. Prior to a 10-yard run by Barnes, they had gained just 40 yards on 18 carries.
But Barnes' run seemed to get things clicking. Thompson hit Dalton Schoen with a 42-yard, over-the-shoulder touchdown pass to give the Wildcats their biggest lead so far this season at 17-7 with 6:59 left in the first half.
Another Lynch field goal (42 yards) gave the Wildcats a 20-7 halftime lead, or so it appeared. But when D.J. Gillins fumbled on the first play from scrimmage, Kendall Adams recovered and set up K-State at the UTSA 34. Two plays later, Thompson found Zuber wide open in the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown and a 27-7 lead.
--Field Level Media