Balanced attack propels K-State to 34-14 win

MANHATTAN, Kan.(AP) -- Josh Freeman threw for 272 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score in Kansas State's 34-14 victory over San Jose State on Saturday night.

James Johnson ran for 111 yards and one TD for Kansas State (1-1), which won its 18th straight home opener and avoided its first 0-2 start since losing its first three games in 1989.

Deon Murphy caught Freeman's touchdown pass and ran 21 yards on a reverse for a 34-7 lead for the Wildcats, who had 153 yards rushing Saturday night after being held to 27 in last week's 23-13 loss at Auburn.

San Jose State, 9-4 last season, dropped to 0-2 and lost quarterback Adam Tafralis to a shoulder injury in the third quarter -- a week after returning 1,000-yard rusher Yonus Davis injured his ankle on the first play of a 45-3 loss at Arizona State.

Before his 15-yard scoring pass to Murphy late in the first period put the Wildcats up 10-0, Freeman had gone 13 straight quarters without a TD throw since passing for three touchdowns in a 45-42 upset of Texas on Nov. 11, 2006.

Freeman was 6-for-6 for 88 yards on Kansas States first touchdown drive, part of a longer stretch in which he completed eight straight passes for 106 yards. He was perfect on the Wildcats' other TD drives, too. Freeman was 6-for-6 for 66 yards to set up his own 1-yard run for a 17-7 lead with just under 1 1/2 minutes left in the first half. And he was 5-for-5 for 34 yards before Johnson's 4-yard run made it 24-7 early in the fourth quarter.

He attempted only one pass on the last touchdown drive, completing it for 10 yards. The sophomore continued to struggle with interceptions, though, throwing two on Saturday night -- giving him 19 picks to seven TD passes for his career. After two games this season, the ratio is 4-to-1.

With Davis out, Tafralis had to do triple duty for the Spartans until he left the game.

He threw for 134 yards and one score on 16-for-20 passing, connecting with Jalal Beauchman on a 20-yard score that got San Jose State within 10-7 in the second quarter. He also ran eight times for 20 yards and lined up as a receiver to start the second half, catching the first three passes from backup quarterback Myles Eden.

It was his fourth career game with at least an 80 percent completion rate.

The Spartans used four quarterbacks Saturday: Tafralis, Eden, Sean Flynn and freshman Jordan LaSecla, who threw a 21-yard TD pass to Jacob French to get San Jose State within 34-14 late in the game.

Brooks Rossman kicked field goals of 26 yards in the first quarter and 43 yards in the fourth for Kansas State.

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Team Stats

Josh Freeman

Players Mentioned

Josh Freeman

James Johnson

Deon Murphy

Brooks Rossman

Players Mentioned

Josh Freeman

James Johnson

Deon Murphy

Brooks Rossman

Kansas State University Athletics