Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, October 11
Manhattan, Kan.
2:30 p.m.
Kansas State University
3-4 , 2-2
41
vs
28
TCU
4-2 , 1-2
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
TCU
0
7
7
14
28
Kansas State
0
14
14
13
41
Defense Paces K-State in 41-28 Win over TCU
Oct 11, 2025 | Football
By: D. Scott Fritchen
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Avery Johnson threw three touchdowns, including two to tight end Garrett Oakley to reach a milestone, and an opportunistic Kansas State defense accounted for two touchdowns as well, as the Wildcats blew past TCU 41-28 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Playing without leading rusher Dylan Edwards and sack leader Tobi Osunsanmi, K-State, 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the Big 12, showed it had more than enough talented bodies to get past TCU, 4-2 and 1-2, which historically has had a tough time against the Wildcats.
K-State has now won six of its last seven meetings against TCU and hasn't lost to the Horned Frogs in Manhattan since 2017. K-State beat TCU, 41-3, the last time the teams met on October 21, 2023.
This win was plenty big.
"We knew this was going to be a battle against a really good team," K-State head coach Chris Klieman said. "They have one of the best teams in the Big 12. The Big 12 is all over the place, as everybody knows. You have to play your best football every day."
Klieman added that K-State wasn't perfect. And K-State isn't a finished product as it heads into its bye week before a showdown at Kansas on October 25 in Lawrence.
But after a chain of past heartbreaks for a team still busting with potential, the Wildcats cut it loose, scored their most points all season, and recorded a pair of defensive touchdowns in a single game for the first time in two years — a Wesley Fair 15-yard fumble recovery for a 14-7 lead, and a Des Purnell 25-yard interception return to make it 21-7 — en route to handing the Horned Frogs their most unpleasant defeat of the season.
"We came out with energy, urgency, physicality, and we did some really good things," Klieman said. "Lots of things to work on but so proud we're going into an off week with a win, and we're an ascending football team. We're getting better in all areas."
Johnson completed 16-of-26 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns, and grinded out 29 yards on the ground on 13 rushing attempts. He appeared sensational at times with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Oakley in the second quarter, a 17-yard touchdown pass to Oakley in third quarter, and a 12-yard touchdown pass to 6-foot-6 wide receiver Jerand Bradley in the back of the end zone in the fourth quarter.
"Oakley played a great game today," Johnson said. "I think a lot of time earlier in the year, I didn't give him enough credit when he had one-on-one matchups that he could win battles and be physical on tough routes and get out of breaks. He's been open all year. These past few weeks I've trusted him a lot more. He's holding up his end. He's done a great job."
Oakley's 11 career touchdown catches are the most by a tight end in K-State history.
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," Oakley said. "I gave a speech after the game and gave everything to Coach Klieman because out of high school, K-State was my only Power 4 offer at the time. They believed in me."
Meanwhile, there are some who maybe didn't believe what they were seeing — as Fair, and then Purnell darted into the end zone for defensive scores. Purnell had two interceptions, the first time a K-State linebacker had two in a game since Elijah Lee against TCU in 2015.
The awareness of Fair gave the Wildcats a 14-7 lead with 2:02 left in the second quarter — and the Wildcats led the game the rest of the way. TCU's talented quarterback Josh Hoover threw a pass down the line to wide receiver Ed Small — which was ruled by officials as a lateral — and the ball bounced off Small's hands in the right flat. Fair picked up the ball near the TCU sideline and raced 15 yards into the end zone.
"My thought process was that I needed to play fast," Fair said. "I tried to hit something, the ball happened to be there, and I picked it up. I kind of blacked out and didn't know what to do. I didn't hear any whistles, and if I don't hear any whistles I'm going to keep playing until I hear something."
Purnell put together arguably the best back-to-back plays by a K-State defender this season as K-State built a 21-7 lead. On first down, Purnell swept in and sacked Hoover at the TCU 15. Then Purnell dropped back into coverage, read the eyes of Hoover, and stepped in front of the pass, caught the ball, and it was clear sailing for a pix-six and a 14-point lead with 10:28 left in the third quarter.
"The kid probably should be the player of the week," Klieman said.
It was K-State's first pick-six since Marques Sigle returned an interception 43 yards for a score at West Virginia last season.
"That was my third interception in my career, but I'd never had a pick-six before," Purnell said. "My mind was everywhere. I couldn't really think straight for 30 seconds."
It was the first time K-State had two defensive touchdowns in a game since against Baylor in 2023. K-State now has 138 non-offensive touchdowns since 1999, which leads the FBS during that span.
K-State, which took a 14-7 lead into halftime, jumped ahead by 21 points for the first time late in the third quarter on Johnson's 17-yard touchdown pass to Oakley for a 28-7 lead.
A 7-play, 75-yard drive by TCU ended with a Hoover 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Chase Curtis to cut the Wildcats' lead to 28-14 with 2:06 to go in the third quarter.
K-State went to the ground during a 12-play drive and Joe Jackson, who had a career-high 27 carries for 110 rushing yards, put together a series of runs to keep the Horned Frogs honest.
"We came out after halftime and had to be physical, and beat up on them, and drove it down the field," Jackson said. "It felt good. The guys up front grinded it out for sure."
When Johnson went to the air, TCU had trouble covering Oakley, so a defensive back shoved Oakley out of bounds to draw a pass interference penalty inside the red zone. Moments later, Johnson lofted a pass to Bradley over safety Bud Clark for a 12-yard touchdown and a 35-14 lead with 10:22 to go in the fourth quarter.
However, TCU wouldn't quit. Less than 30 seconds after K-State's score, Hoover hit wide receiver Eric McAlister with a pass, and he raced down the sideline on an 85-yard catch-and-run touchdown to make it 35-21.
After a K-State punt, the Purnell show continued.
Hoover threw a pass across the middle, Coltin Deery saw the ball ricochet off his hands, and Purnell grabbed the ball out of the air for his second interception of the game and return it 21 yards to TCU 21-yard line. A few plays later, Luis Rodriguez finished things off with a 19-yard field goal for a 38-21 lead with 4:34 to go.
From there, it was the waiting game for a well-fought victory in front of a crowd of 51,316.
Afterward, Johnson smiled. And his teammates smiled, too.
"I didn't see us as an underdog going into today's game, and I don't see us as a 3-4 team now," Johnson said. "When games don't go your way, things can look a lot worse than what they are. We're all really happy to be at K-State and play for K-State."
And the celebration was on.
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Avery Johnson threw three touchdowns, including two to tight end Garrett Oakley to reach a milestone, and an opportunistic Kansas State defense accounted for two touchdowns as well, as the Wildcats blew past TCU 41-28 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Playing without leading rusher Dylan Edwards and sack leader Tobi Osunsanmi, K-State, 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the Big 12, showed it had more than enough talented bodies to get past TCU, 4-2 and 1-2, which historically has had a tough time against the Wildcats.
K-State has now won six of its last seven meetings against TCU and hasn't lost to the Horned Frogs in Manhattan since 2017. K-State beat TCU, 41-3, the last time the teams met on October 21, 2023.
This win was plenty big.
"We knew this was going to be a battle against a really good team," K-State head coach Chris Klieman said. "They have one of the best teams in the Big 12. The Big 12 is all over the place, as everybody knows. You have to play your best football every day."
Klieman added that K-State wasn't perfect. And K-State isn't a finished product as it heads into its bye week before a showdown at Kansas on October 25 in Lawrence.
But after a chain of past heartbreaks for a team still busting with potential, the Wildcats cut it loose, scored their most points all season, and recorded a pair of defensive touchdowns in a single game for the first time in two years — a Wesley Fair 15-yard fumble recovery for a 14-7 lead, and a Des Purnell 25-yard interception return to make it 21-7 — en route to handing the Horned Frogs their most unpleasant defeat of the season.
"We came out with energy, urgency, physicality, and we did some really good things," Klieman said. "Lots of things to work on but so proud we're going into an off week with a win, and we're an ascending football team. We're getting better in all areas."
Johnson completed 16-of-26 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns, and grinded out 29 yards on the ground on 13 rushing attempts. He appeared sensational at times with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Oakley in the second quarter, a 17-yard touchdown pass to Oakley in third quarter, and a 12-yard touchdown pass to 6-foot-6 wide receiver Jerand Bradley in the back of the end zone in the fourth quarter.
"Oakley played a great game today," Johnson said. "I think a lot of time earlier in the year, I didn't give him enough credit when he had one-on-one matchups that he could win battles and be physical on tough routes and get out of breaks. He's been open all year. These past few weeks I've trusted him a lot more. He's holding up his end. He's done a great job."
Oakley's 11 career touchdown catches are the most by a tight end in K-State history.
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," Oakley said. "I gave a speech after the game and gave everything to Coach Klieman because out of high school, K-State was my only Power 4 offer at the time. They believed in me."
Meanwhile, there are some who maybe didn't believe what they were seeing — as Fair, and then Purnell darted into the end zone for defensive scores. Purnell had two interceptions, the first time a K-State linebacker had two in a game since Elijah Lee against TCU in 2015.
The awareness of Fair gave the Wildcats a 14-7 lead with 2:02 left in the second quarter — and the Wildcats led the game the rest of the way. TCU's talented quarterback Josh Hoover threw a pass down the line to wide receiver Ed Small — which was ruled by officials as a lateral — and the ball bounced off Small's hands in the right flat. Fair picked up the ball near the TCU sideline and raced 15 yards into the end zone.
"My thought process was that I needed to play fast," Fair said. "I tried to hit something, the ball happened to be there, and I picked it up. I kind of blacked out and didn't know what to do. I didn't hear any whistles, and if I don't hear any whistles I'm going to keep playing until I hear something."
Purnell put together arguably the best back-to-back plays by a K-State defender this season as K-State built a 21-7 lead. On first down, Purnell swept in and sacked Hoover at the TCU 15. Then Purnell dropped back into coverage, read the eyes of Hoover, and stepped in front of the pass, caught the ball, and it was clear sailing for a pix-six and a 14-point lead with 10:28 left in the third quarter.
"The kid probably should be the player of the week," Klieman said.
It was K-State's first pick-six since Marques Sigle returned an interception 43 yards for a score at West Virginia last season.
"That was my third interception in my career, but I'd never had a pick-six before," Purnell said. "My mind was everywhere. I couldn't really think straight for 30 seconds."
It was the first time K-State had two defensive touchdowns in a game since against Baylor in 2023. K-State now has 138 non-offensive touchdowns since 1999, which leads the FBS during that span.
K-State, which took a 14-7 lead into halftime, jumped ahead by 21 points for the first time late in the third quarter on Johnson's 17-yard touchdown pass to Oakley for a 28-7 lead.
A 7-play, 75-yard drive by TCU ended with a Hoover 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Chase Curtis to cut the Wildcats' lead to 28-14 with 2:06 to go in the third quarter.
K-State went to the ground during a 12-play drive and Joe Jackson, who had a career-high 27 carries for 110 rushing yards, put together a series of runs to keep the Horned Frogs honest.
"We came out after halftime and had to be physical, and beat up on them, and drove it down the field," Jackson said. "It felt good. The guys up front grinded it out for sure."
When Johnson went to the air, TCU had trouble covering Oakley, so a defensive back shoved Oakley out of bounds to draw a pass interference penalty inside the red zone. Moments later, Johnson lofted a pass to Bradley over safety Bud Clark for a 12-yard touchdown and a 35-14 lead with 10:22 to go in the fourth quarter.
However, TCU wouldn't quit. Less than 30 seconds after K-State's score, Hoover hit wide receiver Eric McAlister with a pass, and he raced down the sideline on an 85-yard catch-and-run touchdown to make it 35-21.
After a K-State punt, the Purnell show continued.
Hoover threw a pass across the middle, Coltin Deery saw the ball ricochet off his hands, and Purnell grabbed the ball out of the air for his second interception of the game and return it 21 yards to TCU 21-yard line. A few plays later, Luis Rodriguez finished things off with a 19-yard field goal for a 38-21 lead with 4:34 to go.
From there, it was the waiting game for a well-fought victory in front of a crowd of 51,316.
Afterward, Johnson smiled. And his teammates smiled, too.
"I didn't see us as an underdog going into today's game, and I don't see us as a 3-4 team now," Johnson said. "When games don't go your way, things can look a lot worse than what they are. We're all really happy to be at K-State and play for K-State."
And the celebration was on.
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Team Stats
TCU
KSU
Total Yards
448
343
Pass Yards
376
198
Rushing Yards
72
145
Penalty Yards
59
40
1st Downs
19
20
3rd Downs
6
7
4th Downs
1
2
TOP
23:41
36:19
2nd Quarter
TCU 7, KSU 0
TCU - Payne,Jeremy 1 yd run (McCashland,Nate kick), 12 plays, 93 yards, TOP 04:56
TCU 7, KSU 7
KSU - Oakley,Garrett 32 yd pass from Johnson,Avery (Rodriguez,Luis kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:50
TCU 7, KSU 14
KSU - Fair,Wesley 15 yd fumble recovery (Rodriguez,Luis kick)
3rd Quarter
TCU 7, KSU 21
KSU - Purnell,Des 25 yd interception (Rodriguez,Luis kick)
TCU 7, KSU 28
KSU - Oakley,Garrett 17 yd pass from Johnson,Avery (Rodriguez,Luis kick) 10 plays, 74 yards, TOP 05:00
TCU 14, KSU 28
TCU - Curtis,Chase 2 yd pass from Hoover,Josh (McCashland,Nate kick) 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:51
4th Quarter
TCU 14, KSU 35
KSU - Bradley,Jerand 12 yd pass from Johnson,Avery (Rodriguez,Luis kick) 12 plays, 75 yards, TOP 06:44
TCU 21, KSU 35
TCU - McAlister,Eric 85 yd pass from Hoover,Josh (McCashland,Nate kick) 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 00:17
TCU 21, KSU 38
KSU - Rodriguez,Luis 19 yd field goal 6 plays, 20 yards, TOP 02:49
TCU 21, KSU 41
KSU - Rodriguez,Luis 36 yd field goal 4 plays, 7 yards, TOP 02:09
TCU 28, KSU 41
TCU - McAlister,Eric 37 yd pass from Hoover,Josh (McCashland,Nate kick) 5 plays, 73 yards, TOP 01:33
Game Leaders
CMP
16
TD
3
YDS
198
INT
0
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
S
/ Football
RB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
DE
/ Football
K
/ Football
S
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