Hall, Purdy Lift Cyclones Over K-State 33-20

MANHATTAN, Kansas – Kansas State found itself playing from behind after Iowa State's very first play from scrimmage, suffered sweeping frustration in all three phases of the game, and proved unable to keep running back Breece Hall from enjoying the best game of his career in a 33-20 loss at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. It was the Wildcats' first home loss to the Cyclones since 2004.

Hall rushed for a career-high 197 yards on 30 carries and scored his first of two touchdowns just 12 seconds into the game when he bounced outside and raced 75 yards into the end zone, quieting a crowd that saw the Wildcats, 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the Big 12 Conference.

"We missed a fit and two guys ran into each other, and it popped a big play," K-State head coach Chris Klieman said of Hall's touchdown. "We can't make the critical errors and give a kid of that ability the space to make a big run."

After winning 10 straight in the series, K-State has lost two straight against Iowa State for the first time in 16 years. After starting this season at 3-0 and ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press Poll, the Wildcats have suffered their bumps against arguably the top three teams in the league in Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Iowa State.

Asked if he had concern regarding his team's mental ability to bounce back, Klieman replied, "No, not at all."

The Wildcats' inability to slow one of the top rushers in the nation served as only one frustration in a contest that featured inconsistencies on offense, defense, and special teams. K-State struggled to execute the big play, couldn't prevent lengthy Iowa State drives, and a normally excellent kicking game endured a missed field goal and extra point.

Sixth-year senior quarterback Skylar Thompson afterward suggested that he and his teammates needed to take an introspective approach before moving ahead, which begins with Saturday's game at Texas Tech.

"Everybody on our team has to look at themselves in the mirror," he said. "There's more to give. There's more we can do. We have to execute better. We have to find those inches. There are a handful of plays in the game that are dictating the outcomes of the games and we're not making those plays. It's obviously frustrating. I hate to lose."

K-State did gain 342 total yards against Iowa State, which entered the game allowing a modest 234.2 yards per game, but the Wildcats were inconsistent in the first half and saw their deficit swell. The Cyclones, 4-2 and 2-1, who ranked no worse than No. 11 nationally in the four major defensive categories — total defense, scoring defense, rushing defense, and passing defense — clamped down while their offense thumped the Wildcats.

The Wildcats trailed 30-13 in the fourth quarter before they finally were able to strike for the first time in the second half. Thompson threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Malik Knowles, who raced left to right inside the end zone, and was able to secure the football after cornerback T.J. Tampa tipped it before sailing out of bounds.

But the damage had long been done by Hall and the Cyclones, who have rebounded nicely since dropping out of the rankings, and now enter a big game against Oklahoma State on Saturday in Ames, Iowa.

The Wildcats are still in search for their rebound.

"We just have to put this one in the trash and focus on what makes us a great football team, because we are a great football team," K-State defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah said. "We need to play physical and do everything better. We need to throw this in the trash and focus on next week."

The Wildcats would like to forget Brock Purdy, as the senior completed 22 of 25 passes for 208 yards and 1 touchdown while engineering seven scoring drives, including a pair of particularly time-consuming possessions of 80 and 93 yards that resulted in touchdowns.

Thompson went 15 of 23 passing for 206 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, and Deuce Vaughn had 87 yards on 18 carries but could never quite escape the last defender. When Thompson late in the first quarter hit Phillip Brooks on their longest play of the game — a 40-yard scoring strike as Brooks caught the pass in stride and reached the front of the end zone — the Wildcats could never knot it up.

K-State had a chance to potentially take the lead early in the second quarter when Brooks leaned down to catch a short pass and then turned upfield for a 20-yard gain to the 7-yard line. Officials wiped away Brooks' catch upon replay when they ruled that the ball hit the ground.

"That's going to be one that's going to haunt me in my sleep tonight," Thompson said.

The Wildcats then missed a 43-yard field goal wide right to dash any possible momentum.

How frustrating did it get? Even after Thompson scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter to trim the deficit to 27-13, the Wildcats hit another obstacle when their extra-point attempt clanked off a goal post.

K-State sabotaged itself early in the third quarter as Iowa State, which led 20-7 at halftime, churned out the longest drive against the Wildcats all season. Facing third-and-12 at the K-State 23-yard line, Purdy threw an incompletion, but the defense was penalized for having 12 players on the field.

"It was a huge communication error, very frustrating, and it cannot happen," Klieman said. "And it did."

That gave the Cyclones new life and their 18-play, 93-yard drive that consumed 10 minutes, 2 seconds slowly drained the life out of the Wildcats, who had not allowed an opponent to hold the ball for at least 10 minutes on any possession since at least 1999.

Iowa State showed little flash on the drive — it didn't gain more than 13 yards on any play — yet methodically chipped away, as Purdy completed 6-of-7 passes and Hall carried the ball nine times. The drive, which included four third-down conversions, eventually ended when Purdy roped a beautiful pass to 6-foot-6, 220-pound wide receiver Sean Shaw near the front right pylon from 11 yards out with 2:55 remaining in the third quarter.

That made it 27-7, as time, along with the Cyclones, became the Wildcats' enemy.

"We've got to be able to get off the field on third down and we didn't do it," Klieman said.

Iowa State opened the 105^th meeting between the two schools by scoring the first 10 points of the game before Thompson's long touchdown pass to Brooks. Iowa State's most devastating drive in the first half came when it rode Hall on a 13-play, 80-yard drive that he finished with a 1-yard run to cap the 7-minute, 8-seccond possession for a 17-7 lead.

Needing to respond, K-State lost 10 yards on three plays and Iowa State took over at its own 36-yard line following a 49-yard punt by Ty Zentner. Purdy completed all three of his passing attempts while guiding the Cyclones down the field in the final two minutes before a 41-yard field goal by Andrew Melvis on the final play of the first half sent the Wildcats to the locker room with a 20-7 deficit.

They could never fully respond and enter another week seeking answers.

"I believe in our teammates, our leaders, our coaches that we have, and we're going to stay positive and we're going to keep grinding and have no regrets," Thompson said. "That's the way I look at it every day."

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Team Stats

Skylar Thompson

Players Mentioned

Felix Anudike-Uzomah

Phillip Brooks

Malik Knowles

Skylar Thompson

Deuce Vaughn

Ty Zentner

Players Mentioned

Felix Anudike-Uzomah

Phillip Brooks

Malik Knowles

Skylar Thompson

Deuce Vaughn

Ty Zentner

Kansas State University Athletics