Kansas State Rolls past Washington State 34-7 on the Ground
Washington State gained 166 yards and still got a touchdown, which tells you where it came from: Jaylen Thomas, with a 50-yard interception return as the first half ended. That was the Cougars' only score in a 34-7 loss to Kansas State.
The Wildcats did the real work on the ground, with 295 rushing yards on 40 carries and 487 total, against 166 for the other side. Luis Rodriguez opened the scoring with a 31-yard field goal, and Avery Johnson threw a six-yard touchdown to Josh Manning and a 21-yarder to Joe Jackson in the second quarter for a 17-0 lead. Then Johnson threw the interception that Thomas took back, and it was 17-7 at the break.
The second half belonged to Kansas State. Rodney Fields Jr. ripped off a 75-yard touchdown run early in the third, Rodriguez added another 31-yard field goal, and Johnson found Brandon White from nine yards out early in the fourth for the last points. Fields finished with 105 yards on 13 carries.
Kansas State threw two interceptions and Washington State threw none, and the Wildcats still won by 27, so you can guess what the box score says about the rest of it. Kansas State is 2-0 and Washington State is 0-2.
Kansas State's balance is worth a look. The passing game produced three touchdowns and 192 yards, and the running game produced 295 yards and a 75-yard house call, which is a lot of ways to score on a team that only managed 101 rushing yards and 65 passing yards of its own. Washington State's Caden Pinnick completed 9 of 20 for 65 yards and ran 13 times for 29 more.
Johnson went 22 of 34 for 192 yards and three touchdowns and still managed to run for 78 more. If you owned him, you got a good week with a little bit of a scare.