Kansas State ends regular season with 30-6 win at TCU

Kansas State’s 30-6 victory over TCU on Saturday was yet another reminder of the danger that comes with expecting mediocre results from the Wildcats.

You may remember K-State was picked to finish eighth in the preseason Big 12 poll, ahead of just Iowa State and Kansas. They finished fourth, a play or two away from second, and now enter bowl season as one of the nation’s hottest teams.

K-State (8-4, 6-3 Big 12) has won five of its past six games after putting the finishing touches on a solid regular season by overpowering TCU (6-6, 4-5) on a wet day. The victory will likely earn K-State an invitation to the Texas Bowl, which is Dec. 28 in Houston against an SEC opponent, possibly Texas A&M.

“I wish I could go find the guy who chose us to finish eighth and give him a call,” K-State right tackle Dalton Risner said. “It feels really good to finish fourth. I am so proud of the guys, so proud of the team. We finally put a complete game together. When we needed that long drive at the end, we got it. When we needed a defensive stop, we got it. It’s a great way to end at 8-4 and we have a great opportuntity to go 9-4. We are ready for the bowl game.”

This won’t go down as one of coach Bill Snyder’s best regular seasons — he’s won 10 or more games nine times — but it is K-State’s fourth-best record in the past 13 seasons. Not bad for a team that finished eighth last season and was expected there again.

“Everyone picks us seventh, eighth, or ninth every year it seems like,” linebacker Trent Tanking said.”It’s very rewarding to come out and just prove them wrong and prove that we can play with anybody.”

K-State continued to defy expectations with an impressive second half against TCU.

The Wildcats led 10-6 at halftime, and the Horned Frogs had momentum after scooping up a Winston Dimel fumble at midfield. But that changed when quarterback Jesse Ertz did something he hadn’t done all season: throw a long touchdown pass.

Facing third-and-10 from the 17, Ertz found Byron Pringle on a crossing route and the sophomore receiver broke free for a catch-and-run score of 83 yards.

It was easily K-State’s best passing play of the season. Ertz’s previous long was 44 yards, and that came in the opening game at Stanford. Since then, he’s mostly thrown short. It was K-State’s longest passing play since 2013, when Jake Waters found Tyler Lockett for a 90-yard score against Oklahoma.

“It was extremely nice,” Ertz said after completing 9 of 21 passes for 159 yards. “We were close all year many times, we just haven’t hit the big play. To finally get one was big for all of us. If teams keep playing us tight down low, you have to hit them with a big punch and scare them out of it. That’s what we did today.”

The quick-strike score gave K-State a 17-6 lead and put considerable pressure on TCU to respond. They flinched. When the Horned Frogs quickly punted, the Wildcats gave the ball to running back Justin Silmon and he muscled his way into the end zone to make the score 23-6.

Top running back Alex Barnes was withheld from the game for an undisclosed injury he suffered in practice, but it hardly mattered. The way K-State’s offensive line is blocking, seemingly any runner is capable of a strong day. The Wildcats have eclipsed 200 rushing yards in six straight games.

“We constantly have fresh backs in there and the offensive line is communicating and playing extremly well,” Ertz said. “Overall, we are hitting on all cylinders. We are really hard to stop in the run game. We have a lot of different schemes and a lot of different things we do.”

K-State finished this day with a pair of 100-yard rushers for the first time since 2012.

Ertz led the way with 170 yards and a touchdown. Silmon rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns. He was at his best shedding tacklers on a five-yard score.

“When you get that close to the end zone you have to fight for anyway to get in,” Silmon said. “I was just trying to keep pushing, make guys miss. I said, ‘I have to get in on this play. There is no excuse.’ So I kept running until I scored.”

K-State was also strong on defense, holding TCU without a touchdown for the first time since 2006.

The Frogs managed 280 total yards behind quarterbacks Foster Sawyer and Kenny Hill. Their best hope for a touchdown came on the final play. They were in the red zone, it was garbage time and K-State was going to win. But Tanking, a backup playing for injured Charmeachealle Moore, made an interception.

It was a fitting end to a regular season in which K-State once again exceeded expectations.

“I would suggest we were probably one of the two-best teams in the conference, in regards to how we finished,” Snyder said, “and maybe one of the top teams in the country.”

Kansas State 30, TCU 6

TableStyle: SP-byperiodsCCI Template: SP-byperiods

First Quarter

KSU: FG Patterson 27, 9:56

TCU: FG Hatfield 31, 2:12

Second Quarter

KSU: Ertz 32 run (Patterson kick), 9:17

TCU: FG Hatfield 40, :09

Third Quarter

KSU: Pringle 83 pass from Ertz (Patterson kick), 13:01

KSU: Silmon 5 run (kick failed), 8:22

Fourth Quarter

KSU: Silmon 3 run (Patterson kick), 2:38

Attendance: 42,746.

TableStyle: SP-footballstatsCCI Template: SP-footballstats

RUSHING: Kansas St., Ertz 19-170, Silmon 22-133, Dimel 2-16, C.Jones 4-15, Warmack 3-3, (Team) 1-(minus 1). TCU, Hicks 17-60, Hill 7-50, Anderson 4-22, Sawyer 8-10, Gray 1-0.

PASSING: Kansas St., Ertz 9-21-0-159. TCU, Hill 5-11-0-52, Sawyer 12-25-1-86.

RECEIVING: Kansas St., Pringle 6-126, Harris 3-33. TCU, D.White 3-16, Gray 2-59, Stewart 2-18, Diarse 2-13, Hicks 2-2, D.Walsh 1-13, Slanina 1-7, Tr.Johnson 1-4, T.Williams 1-4, I.Graham 1-3, Turpin 1-(minus 1).

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.

AP-WF-12-03-16 2129GMT

This story was originally published December 3, 2016 at 2:37 PM with the headline "Kansas State ends regular season with 30-6 win at TCU."