The Kansas State Wildcats hosted the Kansas Jayhawks in the Sunflower Showdown on Saturday night in Manhattan. Kansas State had dominated the series coming in, winning every meeting between the teams dating back to 2008.
On Saturday night, K-State was looking to stay as a one-loss team and remain in the thick of the race for a Big 12 Championship game appearance, and KU was looking to put together two-straight wins to follow up on their disappointing five-game losing streak.
It was the Wildcats pulling off a late 29-27 win over the Jayhawks. Here are the top three takeaways on the game.
Late Momentum Swing
This game turned in the final few of minutes. Trailing 27-26, Kansas State faced a fourth-and-long just in KU territory and elected to go for it, rather than play the field position game with over four minutes remaining and all three timeouts. K-State did not convert the fourth down and that gave KU the ball up by one point with 3:59 to play.
After a Devin Neal two-yard rush, K-State called a time out and was on its heels. The very next play resulted in Jalon Daniels trying to scramble up the middle, when he was hit hard, fumbled, and Kansas State recovered with well over three minutes remaining. The K-State drive ended with Chris Tennant hitting a 51-yard field goal with 1:49 to play.
Kansas started its drive at its own 25-yard line and moved the ball to their own 46-yard line where the drive stalled out on a Jalon Daniels fumble out of bounds on fourth down.
The Kansas State winning streak over Kansas reached 16 with the win. The last time Kansas beat Kansas State, the No. 1 Billboard song was T.I.’s “Whatever You Like” and the brand new iPhone 3G was $199.
With the win, the Cats improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in Big 12 play, while Kansas fell to 2-6 on the season and 1-4 in the Big 12.
Jalon Daniels is Finding his Groove
Despite some of the late mistakes, Jalon Daniels is starting to look more like the player we expected him to be in 2024. After a bye week which was preceded by five-straight losses, all games KU led in the second half, Jalon Daniels clearly started to find his groove. Last week, he had his best game of the season against Houston, when he had a QBR of 95.6, finishing 16/21 for 247 yards, along with three touchdown, while rushing for 58 yards and one score.
Well this week, Daniels carried that momentum over with an explosive performance for the Jayhawks. Daniels finished 18/31 for 209 yard, one touchdown, one interception, while rushing for 66 yards on 11 carries.
If Daniels keeps this up, Kansas is going to be a tough out down the stretch of the Big 12 football season.
Big 12 Title Implications
The win puts Kansas State in a much better position to reach the Big 12 Championship Game in Arlington. A loss would have been devastating for the Cats entering the final month of the season.
Kansas State is 4-1 in the conference, trailing BYU, who is 5-0 and Iowa State, who is 4-0. BYU beat UCF on Saturday, while Iowa State had a bye week. Pending the outcome of Colorado vs. Cincinnati, K-State will be one of only two teams with one loss in the Big 12, along with the two undefeated teams.
The Wildcats also have a huge match up to end the regular season against Iowa State, which might very well be a play-in game for the Big 12 Championship Game. But before that, K-State needs to get past Houston, Arizona State and Cincinnati.
