Five takeaways from Kansas State’s much-needed victory over the UCF Knights
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Avery Johnson led six scoring drives, adding 243 total yards and two TDs.
- Dylan Edwards rushed for 168 yards and a TD in return from ankle injury.
- K-State defense forced three turnovers and held UCF to 3-of-13 on third downs.
The Kansas State football team took out weeks of frustration on UCF during a 34-20 victory over the Knights on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
K-State fans everywhere breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the Wildcats (2-3, 1-1 Big 12) shake off a disappointing start to the season. K-State played like the team those fans expected to see when their team was ranked No. 17 in the preseason polls.
Head coach Chris Klieman had K-State ready to play after a week off, and the Wildcats were able to build a large lead over the Knights (3-1, 0-1 Big 12) in front of a loud home crowd.
For the first time all season, K-State played with swagger. The hosts also never trailed as quarterback Avery Johnson led the Wildcats on six scoring drives and starting running back Dylan Edwards made his healthy return to the starting lineup.
K-State still has a long way to go before it can start dreaming about reaching its preseason goal of contending for a Big 12 championship, but this was a step in the right direction for a team that seemed lifeless during the first four weeks of the season.
The Wildcats will try to build off this performance when they return to action next week at Baylor.
Until then, here are five takeaways from Saturday’s action:
Avery Johnson finally got aggressive as a runner
Avery Johnson gave K-State fans what they have been longing for all season.
After weeks of clamoring for more running plays from their quarterback, Johnson made plays with his feet early and often against UCF.
It was immediately clear that he entered this game with an aggressive mindset on the ground. Johnson took off running on a QB draw with K-State facing an early third-and-long and he easily moved the chains with a 25-yard gain.
Johnson ran the ball on designed QB keepers with a lead blocker, he refused to hand the ball off on RPOs and he got creative as a scrambler.
At one point, UCF defender Malchi Lawrence was caught completely out of sorts trying to keep up with Johnson. So much so that he fell over backward as if the ground was moving beneath him as Johnson juked his way into the open field.
The junior from Wichita ended the day with 75 yards on 12 carries.
His production on the ground helped open things up through the air, as he finished with 168 yards and two touchdowns as a passer.
This was his most complete game of the year. Perhaps it is also a sign of what he can accomplish as a dual-threat player moving forward.
Dylan Edwards made a big difference in his healthy return
One thing became very clear for the Wildcats in this game.
They have missed Dylan Edwards.
The junior running back was limited to just a handful of snaps in the first four games of the season because of an ankle injury. But he was fully healthy for this one. And it showed.
Edwards sprinted his way to 166 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.
His biggest play of the day came on a 75-yard scamper in the third quarter in which he found a hole on the right side of the field and then beat everyone to the end zone.
But he affected the game even when he didn’t have the ball in his hands. The threat of his speed forced UCF to pay attention to him at all times and defend more ground than other teams did when Edwards was limited or out.
The difference felt like night and day.
K-State ran for 266 yards against UCF. Edwards was a big reason why.
Matt Wells pulled out all the stops with his play calls
K-State’s offensive coordinator didn’t hold anything back.
Matt Wells showed off all sorts of new formations and aggressive plays that no one could have seen coming beforehand.
Not only did the K-State game plan feature more QB runs for Johnson, it included a pass from freshman tight end Linkon Cure, a package of gadget plays for backup quarterback Blake Barnett and a pair of misdirection passes to tight ends.
Some of those plays worked better than others.
Cure threw an ill-advised pass into double coverage that resulted in an interception in the first quarter.
But Barnett rushed for 23 yards on five carries and both Will Anciaux and Garrett Oakley found themselves wide open for touchdown passes from Johnson.
The K-State offense looked much more dynamic than it has all season and ended the day with 434 total yards.
K-State took advantage of its bye week on defense
The Wildcats haven’t found many opportunities to flex their muscles on defense this season, but things changed after coordinator Joe Klanderman’s unit had two weeks to prepare for this game.
K-State showed across-the-board improvement on defense against UCF.
The Knights gained 402 on the afternoon, but the vast majority of them came on a handful of big plays. UCF quarterback Jacurri Brown found DJ Black for an 82-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. UCF running back Myles Montgomery broke free for a 45-yard gain in the third quarter. And Jaden Nixon had a 54-yard run for a touchdown.
Take those away, and K-State limited UCF to 221 yards on 56 plays.
That is a stingy effort.
K-State won at the line of scrimmage and got a great game from linebacker Austin Romaine. Gunner Maldonado and Qua Moss both had an interception. And VJ Payne was in position to grab another. Justice Clemons recovered a fumble for another touchdown.
UCF went 3-of-13 on third down.
This was a step in the right direction for K-State’s defense, despite a handful of big plays from the Knights.
Jayce Brown was limited to a handful of plays
K-State can’t seem to keep all its best playmakers healthy and together on the field at the same time.
Shortly after Edwards made his healthy return to the starting lineup, top wide receiver Jayce Brown exited with an unknown injury.
Brown started the game and ran a few routes on the opening drive of the day. But he was curiously absent for every other series of the first half. Brown remained active on the sideline and held his helmet as if there was a chance he could return to the game.
But it wasn’t to be. He watched the second half in sweatpants.
K-State will hope he can return to action next week. Brown was far and away the team’s best offensive weapon in the first four games of the year.
This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 2:39 PM with the headline "Five takeaways from Kansas State’s much-needed victory over the UCF Knights."