Jayhawks Fall in Manhattan, 17-10

MANHATTAN — All season long, the Kansas Jayhawks have struggled through turnovers and missed opportunities.

Those errors cost the Jayhawks their fourth straight game, as Kansas fell to the Kansas State Wildcats 17-10 Saturday.

Kansas State struck first with a 31-yard field goal from Josh Cherry. Kansas responded with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Todd Reesing to Dezmon Briscoe.

Kansas State defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald set the Wildcats up with great field position when he stripped Reesing at the end of a 16-yard run. Linebacker John Houlik fell on the ball at the Kansas 24. But the Jayhawks defense held, and Kansas State lost its chance at points when kicker Cherry missed a 39-yard field goal.

The 7-3 margin should have held up until halftime, but Reesing gave the Wildcats another break on the Jayhawks’ next drive. On a third down play, Reesing scrambled for seven yard gain, but instead of sliding, decided to run into two Wildcat defenders head on. The ball popped loose and Lamur recovered on the Kansas 43. Three plays later, Grant Gregory found a wide-open Lamark Brown for a 31-yard score and a 10-7 halftime lead.

Kansas State carried that momentum into the third quarter, marching 84 yards on nine plays and scoring when Daniel Thomas ran into the end zone from 5 yards out.

The Jayhawks had their own chance near the end of the third quarter. But a holding penalty put Kansas in first-and-20, and after nearly converting, Branstetter missed his second field goal attempt of the game, this one from 30 yards. He hit his next chance though, connecting on a 46-yard kick with 5:20 left in the fourth quarter to bring the Jayhawks to within seven at 17-10.

But the Jayhawks would never get a chance to tie. The Wildcats used their strong running game to hold the ball for the game’s final five minutes and close out their first victory over the Jayhawks since the 2005 season.

Daniel Thomas led the Wildcats with 185 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. Grant Gregory finished just 7-16 through the air, but converted on two big runs late to close out the game.

After the three-turnover first half, Reesing responded well in the second half and finished 27-41 for 241 yards and a touchdown with an interception.

Kansas State (6-4, 4-2) will play Missouri next week. Kansas (5-4, 1-3) will return home to play Nebraska.

Scoring Summary
Kansas State — Josh Cherry 37 FG, 11:12 2Q
Kansas — Dezmon Briscoe 17 pass from Todd Ressing (Jacob Branstetter kick), 8:18 2Q
KSU — Lamark Brown 31 pass from Grant Gregory (Cherry kick), 0:20 2Q
KSU—Daniel Thomas (Cherry kick), 10:27 3Q
KU — Jacob Branstetter 46 FG, 5:20 4Q