Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, September 27
Manhattan, Kan.
11 a.m.
Kansas State University
2-3 , 1-1
34
vs
20
UCF
3-1 , 0-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
UCF
0
7
10
3
20
Kansas State
0
17
14
3
34
Johnson, Edwards Lead Balanced Attack in 34-20 win over UCF
Sep 27, 2025 | Football
By: D. Scott Fritchen
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Avery Johnson passed for 168 yards and two touchdowns, and he added 75 rushing yards on 12 carries, and standout running back Dylan Edwards had 166 rushing yards and one score, as Kansas State put together its best performance of the season in a much-needed 34-20 win over UCF on Saturday.
K-State, 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Big 12 Conference, took a 17-7 lead into the half and led 31-10 late in the third quarter after Edwards took a handoff and raced down the right sideline 75 yards for a touchdown, prompting a massive celebration among the crowd of 53,013 and coaches and players on the sideline for a K-State team that came off a bye week looking to rebound after a few tough losses.
Johnson, coupled with Edwards, his childhood best friend and pee-wee football teammate from the Wichita area, stole the show.
"Avery is a really special athlete and sometimes we have to say roll and go," K-State head coach Chris Klieman said. "Just like Dylan. When those two are running, we can be a much better team."
UCF, 3-1 and 0-1, suffered its first loss in the second tenure of head coach Scott Frost, who had won 16 straight with the Knights, and who led a squad into Manhattan after an emotional week following the sudden death of offensive line coach Shawn Clark.
K-State outgained UCF 434 to 402. The Wildcats had season highs both with 434 total yards and 266 rushing yards and were a perfect 4-for-4 inside the red zone. The K-State defense held the Knights' offense to 3-for-13 on third downs, and it held a squad that led the FBS in fourth-down conversions without a single fourth-down conversion in the contest.
"I don't think this team will ever give up," Frost said. "We could lose three or four straight, and this team wouldn't give up. We're starting to develop a bond."
Tayven Jackson completed 12-of-24 passes for 115 yards and one interception, and Jacurri Brown completed 1-of-2 passes with one touchdown and one interception. Running back Myles Montgomery had 10 carries for 119 yards.
But K-State held UCF to 20 points after the Knights entered averaging 39.7 points per game. The Wildcats had some standout performances on defense, including two interceptions, eight tackles for loss and three sacks.
Johnson completed 18-of-25 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns, and his 12 rushes for 75 yards were just what the doctor ordered in keeping the Knights defense honest. He was poised, calm, and picked his spots well in the running game.
Wide receiver Jaron Tibbs had eight catches for 72 yards, Garrett Oakley had two catches for 36 yards, and Sterling Lockett and Cure both had their first-career catches in a K-State uniform.
And then there was Edwards. And he was downright dangerous.
"It was a good feeling going out there today and playing football," Edwards said. "That's something I wanted to do all these weeks I've been out. This felt really, really good."
K-State's bond seems stronger than ever.
"It feels good to win," K-State senior tight end Will Swanson said. "The thing that was on my mind was the energy we had as a team on the sideline, among us on the sideline. That's what separated ourselves with how we've been playing in the past."
Klieman appeared pleased with Saturday's result.
"I'm happy for the guys," he said. "They put the time and effort in. We talked about earning a win. You earn everything you get. Our kids earned the victory over a really good UCF team. Those guys have really talented kids. We jumped on them, then had a lull in there, but I'm most proud that you're going to have some ups and downs, and we kept responding. That's something I'm really proud of.
"We stayed in the fight mentally and physically."
And the Wildcats did so to the delight of their fans.
"Thanks to the fans," Klieman said. "You're a 1-3 football team not playing very good football and it's easy to say, 'I can watch this one at home.' I appreciate them believing in the kids and believing in us, because we feel we have a good football team. Is it going to be rough at times because there are really good teams in the Big 12? There are dang good teams in our league. But I appreciate the fans coming and supporting these guys because these kids want to win. They're as upset when we don't play well as the fans are, and I appreciate those fans coming out."
K-State did its best to create energy fast.
In the game's first eight minutes, redshirt freshman Blake Barnett saw the first action of his career — rushing four times for 24 yards in the quarterback run game. While Edwards made his first return to the field in weeks after recovering from injury, K-State was without its top two wide receivers in Jayce Brown and Jerand Bradley.
Although K-State got off to a slow start offensively — its first drive ended when Cure threw an interception, and its second drive stalled when the Wildcats couldn't convert on fourth-and-6 at the UCF 36-yard line — K-State got on the scoreboard first when Luis Rodriguez booted a 38-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 13:03 left in the second quarter.
"Stalling out after that first drive isn't something we wanted to do," Johnson said, "but stayed true to it, and never panicked and kept our energy up, and we were rewarded with success."
UCF suffered an unfortunate situation early in the second quarter. On third-and-7 at the UCF 43-yard line, K-State defensive end Cody Stufflebean drilled UCF quarterback Tayven Jackson into the turf, and Jackson favored his left shoulder once he rose from the field with 10:48 left in the second quarter. Jackson went into the locker room.
UCF backup Jacurri Brown on his third play from scrimmage tossed an interception to safety Gunnar Maldonado, who returned the ball 12 yards to the UCF 26. But K-State struggled to move the ball — until it absolutely needed to. On fourth-and-2 at the UCF 18, Johnson rolled to the right side, planted his foot and cut inside against three defenders for a 14-yard gain, showing that running ability that defenses must respect. Just when it appeared Edwards scored on a four-yard run, K-State was called for holding. That meant it faced first-and-goal at the 14. Johnson again took the ball, and this time raced down the left side 13 yards and dove into the pylon.
Official review ruled that Johnson stepped out of bounds at the half-yard line. Running back Joe Jackson went up the middle and scored on the next play for a 10-0 lead with 3:52 left in the second quarter.
However, Brown and the Knights emphatically answered and made-up ground in a flash. Brown, a running quarterback, surprisingly unfurled a long pass to wide receiver DJ Black, who raced down the sideline on an 82-yard catch-and-run, silencing a stunned crowd, as UCF pulled to 10-7 with 2:54 left in the second quarter.
"Those big plays can't happen," Maldonado said. "You can play 80 defensive snaps in a game and 75 of them can have no gains but five can put points on the board. Those things can't happen. We can do better.
K-State could've folded. Instead, the Wildcats put together one of the smoothest, most-clutch, two-minute drives in the Klieman era.
Johnson controlled the two-minute offense magnificently and his soft rainbow pass off play-action to sophomore tight end Will Anciaux all alone in the corner of the end zone gave K-State a 17-7 halftime lead. Edwards had four carries for 29 yards on the drive, Johnson ran when he needed to, and he found pass catchers across the field, with a 20-yard pass to Tibbs, and a 13-yard pass to Lockett, before his pass found Anciaux standing flat-footed, all alone, awaiting the catch.
"We were flowing, we were rolling, and Coach (Matt) Wells made some really good calls there," Johnson said. "I knew where I wanted to go with the ball. When everybody plays together as one, we're really hard to stop."
K-State didn't let down in the second half, as Johnson opened the third quarter with a 6-play, 65-yard touchdown drive. Two plays after Johnson completed a 35-yard pass to tight end Garrett Oakley, Johnson hit Oakley with a short shovel pass in the end zone to make it 24-7.
Jackson returned for UCF to start the third quarter, he and handed the ball to running back Myles Montgomery for a 45-yard gain. But facing fourth-and-1 at the K-State 21-yard line, Brown was held back, losing one yard, and fumbling the ball, which cornerback Justice Clemons recovered on the ground. It was the first fourth-down UCF failed to convert this season.
After a K-State punt, UCF drove for a 53-yard field goal by Noe Ruelas, then the two teams traded two long touchdown runs.
Edwards took the first play from scrimmage 75 yards down the K-State sideline for the longest-touchdown run of his career to extend the lead to 31-10. Then UCF sprinted back, as Jaden Nixon rushed to the right for a 54-yard touchdown to make it 31-17.
Just when it looked like UCF could threaten to make it a one-score game, they killed their drive with four penalties and settled for a 40-yard field goal from Ruelas to make it 31-20 with 9:34 left in the fourth quarter.
All that was left was a spectacular interception by Qua Moss and a 48-yard field goal by Rodriguez late for the game's final points — and a massive celebration for the Wildcats and Klieman, who celebrated his 58th birthday on Saturday.
"I told the guys to have fun and enjoy this win," Johnson said. "Winning is hard in college football. We can't get on a winner's high now. We've won two games this year. It's another one-game season next week. That's just how we have to look at it from here on out — don't look too far into the future, and don't get caught up in the past."
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Avery Johnson passed for 168 yards and two touchdowns, and he added 75 rushing yards on 12 carries, and standout running back Dylan Edwards had 166 rushing yards and one score, as Kansas State put together its best performance of the season in a much-needed 34-20 win over UCF on Saturday.
K-State, 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Big 12 Conference, took a 17-7 lead into the half and led 31-10 late in the third quarter after Edwards took a handoff and raced down the right sideline 75 yards for a touchdown, prompting a massive celebration among the crowd of 53,013 and coaches and players on the sideline for a K-State team that came off a bye week looking to rebound after a few tough losses.
Johnson, coupled with Edwards, his childhood best friend and pee-wee football teammate from the Wichita area, stole the show.
"Avery is a really special athlete and sometimes we have to say roll and go," K-State head coach Chris Klieman said. "Just like Dylan. When those two are running, we can be a much better team."
UCF, 3-1 and 0-1, suffered its first loss in the second tenure of head coach Scott Frost, who had won 16 straight with the Knights, and who led a squad into Manhattan after an emotional week following the sudden death of offensive line coach Shawn Clark.
K-State outgained UCF 434 to 402. The Wildcats had season highs both with 434 total yards and 266 rushing yards and were a perfect 4-for-4 inside the red zone. The K-State defense held the Knights' offense to 3-for-13 on third downs, and it held a squad that led the FBS in fourth-down conversions without a single fourth-down conversion in the contest.
"I don't think this team will ever give up," Frost said. "We could lose three or four straight, and this team wouldn't give up. We're starting to develop a bond."
Tayven Jackson completed 12-of-24 passes for 115 yards and one interception, and Jacurri Brown completed 1-of-2 passes with one touchdown and one interception. Running back Myles Montgomery had 10 carries for 119 yards.
But K-State held UCF to 20 points after the Knights entered averaging 39.7 points per game. The Wildcats had some standout performances on defense, including two interceptions, eight tackles for loss and three sacks.
Johnson completed 18-of-25 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns, and his 12 rushes for 75 yards were just what the doctor ordered in keeping the Knights defense honest. He was poised, calm, and picked his spots well in the running game.
Wide receiver Jaron Tibbs had eight catches for 72 yards, Garrett Oakley had two catches for 36 yards, and Sterling Lockett and Cure both had their first-career catches in a K-State uniform.
And then there was Edwards. And he was downright dangerous.
"It was a good feeling going out there today and playing football," Edwards said. "That's something I wanted to do all these weeks I've been out. This felt really, really good."
K-State's bond seems stronger than ever.
"It feels good to win," K-State senior tight end Will Swanson said. "The thing that was on my mind was the energy we had as a team on the sideline, among us on the sideline. That's what separated ourselves with how we've been playing in the past."
Klieman appeared pleased with Saturday's result.
"I'm happy for the guys," he said. "They put the time and effort in. We talked about earning a win. You earn everything you get. Our kids earned the victory over a really good UCF team. Those guys have really talented kids. We jumped on them, then had a lull in there, but I'm most proud that you're going to have some ups and downs, and we kept responding. That's something I'm really proud of.
"We stayed in the fight mentally and physically."
And the Wildcats did so to the delight of their fans.
"Thanks to the fans," Klieman said. "You're a 1-3 football team not playing very good football and it's easy to say, 'I can watch this one at home.' I appreciate them believing in the kids and believing in us, because we feel we have a good football team. Is it going to be rough at times because there are really good teams in the Big 12? There are dang good teams in our league. But I appreciate the fans coming and supporting these guys because these kids want to win. They're as upset when we don't play well as the fans are, and I appreciate those fans coming out."
K-State did its best to create energy fast.
In the game's first eight minutes, redshirt freshman Blake Barnett saw the first action of his career — rushing four times for 24 yards in the quarterback run game. While Edwards made his first return to the field in weeks after recovering from injury, K-State was without its top two wide receivers in Jayce Brown and Jerand Bradley.
Although K-State got off to a slow start offensively — its first drive ended when Cure threw an interception, and its second drive stalled when the Wildcats couldn't convert on fourth-and-6 at the UCF 36-yard line — K-State got on the scoreboard first when Luis Rodriguez booted a 38-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 13:03 left in the second quarter.
"Stalling out after that first drive isn't something we wanted to do," Johnson said, "but stayed true to it, and never panicked and kept our energy up, and we were rewarded with success."
UCF suffered an unfortunate situation early in the second quarter. On third-and-7 at the UCF 43-yard line, K-State defensive end Cody Stufflebean drilled UCF quarterback Tayven Jackson into the turf, and Jackson favored his left shoulder once he rose from the field with 10:48 left in the second quarter. Jackson went into the locker room.
UCF backup Jacurri Brown on his third play from scrimmage tossed an interception to safety Gunnar Maldonado, who returned the ball 12 yards to the UCF 26. But K-State struggled to move the ball — until it absolutely needed to. On fourth-and-2 at the UCF 18, Johnson rolled to the right side, planted his foot and cut inside against three defenders for a 14-yard gain, showing that running ability that defenses must respect. Just when it appeared Edwards scored on a four-yard run, K-State was called for holding. That meant it faced first-and-goal at the 14. Johnson again took the ball, and this time raced down the left side 13 yards and dove into the pylon.
Official review ruled that Johnson stepped out of bounds at the half-yard line. Running back Joe Jackson went up the middle and scored on the next play for a 10-0 lead with 3:52 left in the second quarter.
However, Brown and the Knights emphatically answered and made-up ground in a flash. Brown, a running quarterback, surprisingly unfurled a long pass to wide receiver DJ Black, who raced down the sideline on an 82-yard catch-and-run, silencing a stunned crowd, as UCF pulled to 10-7 with 2:54 left in the second quarter.
"Those big plays can't happen," Maldonado said. "You can play 80 defensive snaps in a game and 75 of them can have no gains but five can put points on the board. Those things can't happen. We can do better.
K-State could've folded. Instead, the Wildcats put together one of the smoothest, most-clutch, two-minute drives in the Klieman era.
Johnson controlled the two-minute offense magnificently and his soft rainbow pass off play-action to sophomore tight end Will Anciaux all alone in the corner of the end zone gave K-State a 17-7 halftime lead. Edwards had four carries for 29 yards on the drive, Johnson ran when he needed to, and he found pass catchers across the field, with a 20-yard pass to Tibbs, and a 13-yard pass to Lockett, before his pass found Anciaux standing flat-footed, all alone, awaiting the catch.
"We were flowing, we were rolling, and Coach (Matt) Wells made some really good calls there," Johnson said. "I knew where I wanted to go with the ball. When everybody plays together as one, we're really hard to stop."
K-State didn't let down in the second half, as Johnson opened the third quarter with a 6-play, 65-yard touchdown drive. Two plays after Johnson completed a 35-yard pass to tight end Garrett Oakley, Johnson hit Oakley with a short shovel pass in the end zone to make it 24-7.
Jackson returned for UCF to start the third quarter, he and handed the ball to running back Myles Montgomery for a 45-yard gain. But facing fourth-and-1 at the K-State 21-yard line, Brown was held back, losing one yard, and fumbling the ball, which cornerback Justice Clemons recovered on the ground. It was the first fourth-down UCF failed to convert this season.
After a K-State punt, UCF drove for a 53-yard field goal by Noe Ruelas, then the two teams traded two long touchdown runs.
Edwards took the first play from scrimmage 75 yards down the K-State sideline for the longest-touchdown run of his career to extend the lead to 31-10. Then UCF sprinted back, as Jaden Nixon rushed to the right for a 54-yard touchdown to make it 31-17.
Just when it looked like UCF could threaten to make it a one-score game, they killed their drive with four penalties and settled for a 40-yard field goal from Ruelas to make it 31-20 with 9:34 left in the fourth quarter.
All that was left was a spectacular interception by Qua Moss and a 48-yard field goal by Rodriguez late for the game's final points — and a massive celebration for the Wildcats and Klieman, who celebrated his 58th birthday on Saturday.
"I told the guys to have fun and enjoy this win," Johnson said. "Winning is hard in college football. We can't get on a winner's high now. We've won two games this year. It's another one-game season next week. That's just how we have to look at it from here on out — don't look too far into the future, and don't get caught up in the past."
Team Stats
UCF
KSU
Total Yards
402
434
Pass Yards
197
168
Rushing Yards
205
266
Penalty Yards
45
25
1st Downs
13
21
3rd Downs
3
6
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
27:51
32:09
2nd Quarter
UCF 0, KSU 3
KSU - Rodriguez,Luis 38 yd field goal 10 plays, 62 yards, TOP 05:17
UCF 0, KSU 10
KSU - Jackson,Joe 1 yd run (Rodriguez,Luis kick), 6 plays, 26 yards, TOP 03:35
UCF 7, KSU 10
UCF - Black,DJ 82 yd pass from Brown,Jacurri (Ruelas,Noe kick) 2 plays, 77 yards, TOP 00:51
UCF 7, KSU 17
KSU - Anciaux,Will 3 yd pass from Johnson,Avery (Rodriguez,Luis kick) 9 plays, 73 yards, TOP 02:04
3rd Quarter
UCF 7, KSU 24
KSU - Oakley,Garrett 1 yd pass from Johnson,Avery (Rodriguez,Luis kick) 6 plays, 65 yards, TOP 02:46
UCF 10, KSU 24
UCF - Ruelas,Noe 53 yd field goal 11 plays, 48 yards, TOP 04:02
UCF 10, KSU 31
KSU - Edwards,Dylan 75 yd run (Rodriguez,Luis kick), 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 00:11
UCF 17, KSU 31
UCF - Nixon,Jaden 54 yd run (Ruelas,Noe kick), 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:30
4th Quarter
UCF 20, KSU 31
UCF - Ruelas,Noe 40 yd field goal 7 plays, 59 yards, TOP 04:03
UCF 20, KSU 34
KSU - Rodriguez,Luis 48 yd field goal 4 plays, 7 yards, TOP 01:35
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
18
TD
2
YDS
168
INT
0
CMP
0
TD
0
YDS
0
INT
1
Players Mentioned
TE
/ Football
QB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
CB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
RB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
TE
/ Football
K
/ Football
DE
/ Football
TE
/ Football
WR
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