Kansas State University Athletics
SE: Dominant Ground Game Propels K-State to Cactus Bowl Win vs. UCLA
Dec 27, 2017 | Football, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
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PHOENIX, Arizona — K-State ran for records while outscoring UCLA 28-0 in the second half of a 35-17 Cactus Bowl victory on Tuesday night.
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Sophomore quarterback Alex Delton and sophomore running back Alex Barnes headed up a historic night on the ground for K-State. The two combined for 275 yards and four rushing touchdowns.
"You can't beat them," K-State center Adam Holtorf said of Delton and Barnes. "They played great together."
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Delton's 158 rushing yards on the ground set a new K-State record for a bowl game, surpassing Josh Scobey's 153-yard outing in the 2001 Cotton Bowl. It also earned him the Cactus Bowl Offensive MVP award.
"He was great. He got his opportunity, got his number called, and he took full advantage of it," Holtorf said. "He played phenomenally."
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Barnes added 117 yards on 12 carries, giving K-State its first pair of 100-yard rushers in a bowl game ever. He busted off three runs of 20 yards or longer against the Bruins en route to his fifth career 100-yard game and third of the season.
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"It's a really special feeling and we're really happy we were able to get it accomplished and get everything to come together in the ground game for us," said Barnes, whose night was highlighted by a 41-yard score early in the fourth quarter. "It was just a great read by Delton to give me the ball with a little hole there. Scott Frantz was able to give a little jab fake to the d-end to still his feet. He was able to get up to the linebacker and there was nobody in the secondary. It was just a great all-around team play."
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Collectively, the Wildcats finished with 344 yards on the ground to break another program bowl record set in the 2001 Cotton Bowl, when K-State ran for 329 against Tennessee.
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"They showed up to play today," Barnes said of the offensive line. "That's really a testament to their hard work."
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With left tackle Nick Kaltmayer making his first start in place of Dalton Risner, K-State's offensive line managed to produce its most dominant performance of the season. Â
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"I can't say enough about the job Nick did, stepping in and filling that role," Holtorf said. "Obviously Dalton's been a two-year captain for us and he's a great leader. You lose a lot when someone like that's not able to play and Nick did a great job of stepping in and filling that spot. We didn't miss a beat."
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K-State also did not miss a beat when Delton, whose last action was on November 4, stepped into the game. In fact, he provided an instant spark. Â
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Delton took his first snap and broke off a 68-yard touchdown run — the longest rush in a bowl game in program history — to put the Wildcats up 7-3 on the last play of the first quarter.
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"I think any time your number is called you're anxious and ready to make a play. It was a huge play for us offensively," Delton said. "There were some big holes there. I really did the easy part of just running the ball in."
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Behind Delton, K-State rode a stout rushing attack to overcome a 17-7 halftime deficit, its third double-digit comeback of the season.
By the end of the game, Delton had accumulated a career-high in rushing yards and four total touchdowns — three rushing and one passing — to lead K-State to its second bowl victory in a row. In the process, the Hays native became only the sixth Wildcat to rush for more than 100 yards in a bowl game.
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"It's a huge credit to those guys up front," Delton said. "Those guys don't get enough credit. Those guys worked their butts off. They're great, hard-nosed guys. Those guys made my job easy tonight."
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Down 17-7 at halftime, Delton helped engineer and finish two scoring drives in the third quarter. The first saw him muscle his way into the end zone for a 1-yard sneak on fourth-and-goal. The second, after a UCLA turnover, came about two minutes later when he connected with Dominique Heath for an 8-yard touchdown pass to claim a 21-17 lead.
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Delton capped off the dominant second half with a 3-yard touchdown in the fourth, which finished a 15-play, 98-yard drive that ate up 8:06 of the clock.
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"Coming out of halftime, we definitely got into a rhythm with the run game," Holtorf said, as K-State won its first back-to-back bowl games since 1999-2000. "We were able to keep running it and running it and became really effective with it."
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PHOENIX, Arizona — K-State ran for records while outscoring UCLA 28-0 in the second half of a 35-17 Cactus Bowl victory on Tuesday night.
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Sophomore quarterback Alex Delton and sophomore running back Alex Barnes headed up a historic night on the ground for K-State. The two combined for 275 yards and four rushing touchdowns.
"You can't beat them," K-State center Adam Holtorf said of Delton and Barnes. "They played great together."
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Delton's 158 rushing yards on the ground set a new K-State record for a bowl game, surpassing Josh Scobey's 153-yard outing in the 2001 Cotton Bowl. It also earned him the Cactus Bowl Offensive MVP award.
ÂThat MVP #mood #EMAW #KStateFB pic.twitter.com/q8nVRsYMFv
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) December 27, 2017
"He was great. He got his opportunity, got his number called, and he took full advantage of it," Holtorf said. "He played phenomenally."
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Barnes added 117 yards on 12 carries, giving K-State its first pair of 100-yard rushers in a bowl game ever. He busted off three runs of 20 yards or longer against the Bruins en route to his fifth career 100-yard game and third of the season.
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"It's a really special feeling and we're really happy we were able to get it accomplished and get everything to come together in the ground game for us," said Barnes, whose night was highlighted by a 41-yard score early in the fourth quarter. "It was just a great read by Delton to give me the ball with a little hole there. Scott Frantz was able to give a little jab fake to the d-end to still his feet. He was able to get up to the linebacker and there was nobody in the secondary. It was just a great all-around team play."
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Collectively, the Wildcats finished with 344 yards on the ground to break another program bowl record set in the 2001 Cotton Bowl, when K-State ran for 329 against Tennessee.
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"They showed up to play today," Barnes said of the offensive line. "That's really a testament to their hard work."
Â
With left tackle Nick Kaltmayer making his first start in place of Dalton Risner, K-State's offensive line managed to produce its most dominant performance of the season. Â
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"I can't say enough about the job Nick did, stepping in and filling that role," Holtorf said. "Obviously Dalton's been a two-year captain for us and he's a great leader. You lose a lot when someone like that's not able to play and Nick did a great job of stepping in and filling that spot. We didn't miss a beat."
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K-State also did not miss a beat when Delton, whose last action was on November 4, stepped into the game. In fact, he provided an instant spark. Â
Â
Delton took his first snap and broke off a 68-yard touchdown run — the longest rush in a bowl game in program history — to put the Wildcats up 7-3 on the last play of the first quarter.
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"I think any time your number is called you're anxious and ready to make a play. It was a huge play for us offensively," Delton said. "There were some big holes there. I really did the easy part of just running the ball in."
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Behind Delton, K-State rode a stout rushing attack to overcome a 17-7 halftime deficit, its third double-digit comeback of the season.
ÂFamily.
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) December 27, 2017
University.
Teammates.
Wildcat Nation. #KStateFB #EMAW pic.twitter.com/WlEiTVEgsR
By the end of the game, Delton had accumulated a career-high in rushing yards and four total touchdowns — three rushing and one passing — to lead K-State to its second bowl victory in a row. In the process, the Hays native became only the sixth Wildcat to rush for more than 100 yards in a bowl game.
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"It's a huge credit to those guys up front," Delton said. "Those guys don't get enough credit. Those guys worked their butts off. They're great, hard-nosed guys. Those guys made my job easy tonight."
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Down 17-7 at halftime, Delton helped engineer and finish two scoring drives in the third quarter. The first saw him muscle his way into the end zone for a 1-yard sneak on fourth-and-goal. The second, after a UCLA turnover, came about two minutes later when he connected with Dominique Heath for an 8-yard touchdown pass to claim a 21-17 lead.
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Delton capped off the dominant second half with a 3-yard touchdown in the fourth, which finished a 15-play, 98-yard drive that ate up 8:06 of the clock.
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"Coming out of halftime, we definitely got into a rhythm with the run game," Holtorf said, as K-State won its first back-to-back bowl games since 1999-2000. "We were able to keep running it and running it and became really effective with it."
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Everything is better with family!
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) December 27, 2017
Thank you for showing out in Phoenix tonight.#EMAW #KStateFB pic.twitter.com/fpWdraBkgf
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