SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 21, 2013
Texas 31, Kansas State 21: Sophomore running back Johnathan Gray rushed for a career-high 141 yards and two touchdowns as the host Longhorns won their Big 12 Conference opener.
David Ash went 14-of-25 for 166 yards and a touchdown for Texas (2-2, 1-0 Big 12) but was evaluated for a head injury during halftime and did not play the second half. Case McCoy went 5-of-9 for 59 yards in his place.
Kansas State's Jake Waters went 19-of-30 for 275 yards, including 13 passes for 237 yards to Tyler Lockett. The Wildcats (2-2, 0-1) got two rushing touchdowns from John Hubert and cut the lead to 31-21 on Waters' 1-yard rush with seven minutes left.
Texas built a 17-0 lead in the first half on Ash's 63-yard touchdown to Kendall Sanders and Gray's 21-yard touchdown run. Hubert's 15-yard touchdown run got Kansas State within 17-7 late in the first half after Waters hit Lockett for two long passes.
Texas recovered a fumble and converted a fake punt to set up Gray's 15-yard touchdown early in the third quarter. The Longhorns quickly answered Hubert's second touchdown with Malcolm Brown's 1-yard run in the fourth quarter for a 31-14 lead with 9:11 left and forced two fumbles in the final 2:03 to prevent a Kansas State comeback.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Texas has six touchdowns of longer than 50 yards by six different players (Ash, Sanders, Mike Davis, Brown, Daje Johnson and John Harris). ... Texas is 55-0 in the past 10 seasons when it has a double-digit halftime lead. ... LB Dalton Santos and DT Chris Whaley recovered the fumbles deep in Texas territory in the final minutes to seal the win.