Kansas State made a statement Saturday afternoon. They have a product and the fans are buying in. The Wildcats defeated the UCLA Bruins 31-22 in front of an opening-day record 51,059 fans. “It (the atmosphere) was amazing!”, said UCLA starting running back Jonathon Franklin following the game. The K-State crowd stepped up and helped guide the Wildcats to victory.
K-State started the game on a high note defensively, holding UCLA to a three-and-out on their very first possession. Immediately following that, the Wildcats used a punishing running attack focused around Daniel Thomas to march down the field. Thomas capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run and the Wildcats led 7-0 early. It seemed as if K-State was going to run away with this one, but UCLA locked down and got themselves back in it with a very solid second quarter.
The Bruins tied up the game off an 11 yard touchdown run by starting quarterback Kevin Prince (after recovering a Carson Coffman fumble at the UCLA 11-yard line) and then went on to take a 10-7 lead with a 44-yard field goal from All-American kicker Kai Forbath. UCLA went into the half with a lot of momentum. K-State’s defense showed that they had come to play, but the offense was simply not producing.
K-State started the second half as well as anyone could have hoped for. Thomas converted a key 3rd-and-2 with a 44-yard run to the UCLA 28-yard line. On the play immediately following, relief running back William Powell finished the drive with a 28-yard touchdown run of his own.
Kansas State answered the UCLA scoring drive once again with the legs of Thomas, leading to a field goal by Wichita native Anthony Cantele. The score stood at 17-13 in favor of the Wildcats. For the rest of the game, the Wildcats and Bruins battled closely. Defenses on both sides began to tighten up for the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth quarter.
The crowd started to get electric. The fans could taste a win. Forbath struck again with 6:28 remaining in the game, cutting the Wildcat lead to just one point, at 17-16. K-State was not fazed, and once again leaned on the of Thomas and Powell, driving down to the five-yard line. It looked as if the Bruins might hold the Wildcats short of the endzone when Coffman scrambled to the right and threw a five-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brodrick Smith.
With just over two minutes remaining in the game and Kansas State’s defense playing as well as it had the entire game, the Wildcats seemed to have put the Bruins away. Instead, UCLA showed their heart and in two plays drove 64 yards for a touchdown, setting up a chance to tie the game with a two-point conversion. But the Kansas State defense stepped up and knocked the pass down that would have tied the game.
It would all come down to an onside kick. Forbath kicked a nice onside kick, high in the air, but Kansas State tight end Travis Tannahill made perhaps the biggest play of the game by catching the kick and immediately hitting the ground. UCLA still had two time outs, so Kansas State needed to get a first down to seal the win.
On the first play, Thomas jolted ahead for a four-yard gain and UCLA used their first time-out. On the second play, Thomas raced for five more yards and UCLA used their final time-out with 1:05 left on the clock. K-State was in a good spot, facing a third-and-one, knowing a first-down would win the game. K-State settled into the ‘wildcat’ offense and Thomas busted an electric touchdown run, untouched, to stretch the lead to 31-22 in favor of the Wildcats.
Thomas led all rushers with 235 yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns. K-State certainly won the game on the ground and looked much improved from last year’s team. K-State will continue their season next week against Missouri State, whom won their season opener, 31-9 against Eastern Kentucky.
