Quarterback Jake Waters leads No. 23 Kansas State to 45-13 rout of Texas Tech

There is no way around the numbers Kansas State quarterback Jake Waters put up in Saturday night’s 45-13 win over Texas Tech.

His 395 yards of total offense — 290 passing and 105 rushing — combined with five touchdowns approached rarefied air in Wildcat history. He was just 10 passing yards short of becoming the first K-State quarterback to go over 300 passing and 100 rushing since Michael Bishop in 1998.

But it was something else that struck Waters after the game, something that happened with the game well out of reach. Something that even got K-State coach Bill Snyder to crack a joke, if you can believe that.

“Curry’s catch was the best catch I’ve ever seen,” Waters said of wide receiver Curry Sexton’s one-handed grab for a touchdown over the top of a Texas Tech defender for a 38-13 lead early in the fourth quarter. “Kind of unbelievable.”

And Snyder’s response?

“That’s gonna be on … what’s the show?” Snyder asked, smiling. “The one with the top 10 plays of the day. That better make it.”

Kansas State, 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12, hammered Texas Tech, 2-3 and 0-2, behind Waters’ big night. But it was also the play of receivers Sexton (128 receiving yards, two touchdowns) and Tyler Lockett (125 yards, two touchdowns), along with a focused defensive effort that propelled the Wildcats into their bye week with a head full of steam from back-to-back blowout wins.

K-State’s defense also continued its run of great outings by holding Texas Tech’s vaunted passing game to 245 yards, 99 yards below its season average. The Wildcats kept quarterback Davis Webb on his heels almost the entire game. Webb finished 22 of 43 for 247 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions.

“It was a little bit of everything,” Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “We keep hammering away, practicing and working hard to get better, but then we get out to the games and it is not connecting

“That is coaching, that is on me.”

Cornerback Morgan Burns picked Webb off twice, as did safety Travis Green, who left late in the game because of an apparent injury after tweaking his knee on one of the interception returns.

“I think (the defense) did an excellent job with the exception of two long drives they had,” Snyder said. “They had some extended plays … and it wasn’t so much that they scored, it’s that we made some nonsensical errors that allowed it to happen.”

Texas Tech seemed sharp on its first drive, moving the ball from its 30 to K-State’s 7-yard line before Webb was intercepted by Burns in the end zone. This was Burns’ first game since an injury on Sept. 18 against Auburn.

“I was just making sure he didn’t get the inside route, turned around and the ball was coming toward me and then it was in my hands,” Burns said. “It was so fast and I can’t really even tell you exactly what happened.”

Waters consistently kept the Red Raiders off balance on defense in the first half with his ability to run the ball. He set up K-State’s second touchdown with a 50-yard run to the Texas Tech 8, and finished off the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 lead.

The Wildcats got another interception, this one by Green, that set up a 27-yard field goal by Mitch McCrane for a 17-0 lead. But miscommunication by defensive backs Dante Barnett and Randall Evans let Jakeem Grant get wide open for a 22-yard touchdown pass from Webb that cut K-State’s lead to 17-7 with 4:11 left in the second quarter.

The Wildcats weren’t done scoring, however. Waters was six of seven on K-State’s final drive before halftime, and added a 19-yard run, before hitting Lockett for a 15-yard touchdown pass and a 24-7 lead at halftime.

“We got into rhythm pretty early, got some good drives going and everybody was on the same page,” Waters said. “Every game brings different dynamics to it. Against UTEP, we barely threw it and we had a great day running. Every team you play ... it’s not going to be the same way to beat everybody. You’ve got to find different ways.”

Waters and Lockett connected for another touchdown in the third quarter, this one from 14 yards out for a 31-7 lead. The Red Raiders were penalized twice once the Wildcats got the ball past midfield, once for unsportsmanlike conduct and once for pass interference.

Sexton followed with his one-handed grab for a touchdown, and Demarcus Robinson added a 3-yard touchdown for the final margin.

Kansas State now gets two weeks to think about its showdown at No. 4 Oklahoma on Oct. 18. The Sooners lost to TCU on Saturday.

“Not playing next week might be a good thing, I don’t know,” Snyder said. “Ask me in two weeks.”

This story was originally published October 4, 2014 at 7:44 PM with the headline "Quarterback Jake Waters leads No. 23 Kansas State to 45-13 rout of Texas Tech."