Five takeaways as Kansas State avoids disaster with narrow win over North Dakota
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas State needed a last-minute touchdown to secure a 38-35 win over North Dakota.
- Quarterback Avery Johnson threw for 318 yards but narrowly avoided key turnovers.
- Special teams errors and a weak ground game exposed ongoing depth and execution issues.
Kansas State football players heard boos instead of cheers as they ran off the field at halftime of their home opener against North Dakota on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
The crowd was just getting started.
The purple-clad supporters were downright angry as they watched a massive underdog outplay their Wildcats in many different areas and possess a lead deep into the game. But those emotions eventually turned into relief as K-State avoided disaster and won 38-35 thanks to a clutch touchdown drive in the final minute.
This was supposed to be an opportunity for K-State to effortlessly bounce back from an opening loss to Iowa State in Dublin. Instead, the Wildcats had to fight and claw their way to a nail-biting victory after they fell behind 21-17 at intermission and later trailed 35-31 with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Avery Johnson engineered a game-winning drive that featured a nifty QB run to get the Wildcats into the red zone and then a touchdown pass to Joe Jackson with 42 seconds remaining.
Those big plays allowed K-State fans everywhere to exhale.
Still, this result left us with just as many questions as answers.
Here’s a pertinent one: Is this K-State team in trouble? The Wildcats were favored by nearly four touchdowns Saturday, yet they found themselves in a knife fight. North Dakota went toe-to-toe with K-State for longer stretches than just about anyone imagined. That’s not a good omen.
But the Wildcats were able to dig deep and escape a humiliating loss with a strong second half. That’s something. Perhaps it was also harder than some expected for K-State to play one week after traveling home from Ireland. Maybe this was a fluke. Only time will tell.
K-State will next be in action next week at home against Army.
Until then, here are takeaways from Saturday’s game:
The Wildcats showed maturity in the second half
K-State was able to fight back from a 21-17 deficit at halftime to take a 31-21 lead in the third quarter.
The game seemed over at that point, and it certainly was not a good sign that North Dakota reeled off a pair of touchdown drives to pull ahead 35-31 in the closing moments. But you have to give the Wildcats credit for making clutch plays with their backs against the wall.
K-State had to do everything perfectly on both offense and defense when it turned the ball over on downs with 2:05 remaining. North Dakota had the ball near midfield with an opportunity to run out the clock. The Wildcats needed a three-and-out and then a touchdown drive to survive.
They got both.
The Wildcats were on the wrong end of clutch plays against Iowa State. The opposite was true here.
Avery Johnson didn’t play as well as his stats suggest
At first glance, Kansas State’s starting quarterback had a sensational performance against the Fighting Hawks.
Johnson completed 28 of 43 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns. It was his second straight game of the season in which he surpassed 270 yards and helped the Wildcats move the ball efficiently through the air.
But those stats don’t tell the complete story. Johnson was not as accurate as his numbers may indicate. Many of his passes were way off the mark. So much so that North Dakota defenders were in position to grab at least four interceptions against him. Fortunately for Johnson and K-State, every time his passes hit a North Dakota player in the hands, the ball fell harmlessly to the turf ... or into the hands of a K-State receiver.
The best example of Johnson’s up-and-down day came in the second quarter when he connected with Jaron Tibbs for a 30-yard touchdown catch. Tibbs was open in the end zone, but Johnson put so much loft on his pass that a pair of North Dakota defenders were able to converge on the ball. One dived and got two hands on the pass. But instead of coming down with an interception, the ball popped up in the air and Tibbs grabbed it for a score.
Johnson eventually saved the day with a game-winning drive that Klieman said should define the junior from Wichita as a quarterback. But Johnson might not have had that opportunity had North Dakota picked off a few of his throws. He will need to be sharper to avoid turnovers against the best teams on K-State’s schedule.
K-State continues to struggle on special teams
Few things frustrate K-State football fans more than mistakes on special teams.
With that in mind, they must feel uneasy watching the Wildcats in that area right now.
K-State had a pair of costly blunders on special teams against North Dakota. The first came on a kick return midway through the second quarter when Bryce Noernberg lost a fumble to give the Fighting Hawks excellent field position. Later in the same quarter, the Wildcats extended a North Dakota drive when they were penalized for running into the punter.
Cody Stufflebean forced a North Dakota fumble to make up for the first miscue. But the Fighting Hawks scored a touchdown after the punting penalty.
This K-State team isn’t playing well enough at the moment to overcome unforced errors like that.
Cody Stufflebean was K-State’s MVP on defense
Speaking of Stufflebean, nobody in a white uniform made more big plays on defense than him.
The Wildcats were in serious trouble after they lost a fumble midway through the second quarter. The Fighting Hawks led 14-10 and were threatening to go ahead by two scores until Stufflebean burst into the North Dakota backfield and forced quarterback Jerry Kaminski to fumble.
K-State pounced on the loose ball and mounted a touchdown drive to calm the home crowd.
Later, Stufflebean added another sack to his stat sheet. He caused havoc for the North Dakota offense on a night when the Wildcats needed someone to step up.
DeVon Rice gave K-State’s backfield a spark
The Wildcats once again struggled to run the ball without starting running back Dylan Edwards.
K-State was only able to rush for 143 yards on 29 attempts. Most of the big gains came through the air.
That being said, K-State may have found a backfield spark in DeVon Rice. The redshirt freshman ran with both speed and power when he touched the ball in the second half on his way to 40 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries.
Rice punched it into the end zone twice when K-State needed someone to lean on in the running game. He averaged 5.7 yards per carry. The Wildcats may need more of that until Edwards is able to return from an ankle injury.
This story was originally published August 30, 2025 at 10:01 PM with the headline "Five takeaways as Kansas State avoids disaster with narrow win over North Dakota."