FINAL SCORE: (13) Kansas State collapses at BYU

As Kansas State fans, we've all seen the Wildcats get outplayed or outplayed by their opponents at certain points in the game and still manage to win with the help of special teams, taking advantage of mistakes or other odd occurrences.

But I've never seen anything quite like what BYU did in less than five minutes of play against Kansas State on Saturday night in Provo. That was all the Cougars needed to score 28 straight points, thanks to three turnovers and a botched 90-yard punt return, and the shell-shocked Wildcats never recovered, losing 38-9.

Despite the mistakes, which we'll get to later, Avery Johnson did a lot of good things. He ran for 74 yards on 11 attempts and threw for 130 yards, even on some extremely frustrating drops. Coaching didn't seem to help him, as K-State made some puzzling decisions to run the ball on third down and looked a little too predictable against a fired-up BYU defense that challenged Johnson to throw for most of the game.

It's hard to remember now, but in many ways the Wildcats dominated the first 28 minutes of this game, largely controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and methodically moving the ball down the field on the long drives we've come to expect from Chris Klieman and Bill Snyder's teams.

Unfortunately, both drives ended in the red zone, where penalties helped keep the Wildcats out of the end zone. Of course, we also have to give credit to the Cougars' defense and their fans, who certainly made it difficult to operate closer to the stands and in tighter spaces near the goal line.

After Kansas State forced a quick three-and-out with two incomplete passes, Johnson drove the Cats 55 yards in 11 plays. But before KSU could run its 12th play, an illegal snap penalty put them five yards behind, and Giddens still got a chance on third-and-9 to stay six yards short of the first attempt and set up Chris Tennant's first field goal.

BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff had some passing success on his next drive, picking up four first downs, but K-State's defense stiffened at the right time and forced a punt that the Cougars managed to control well at the 5-yard line. Once again, a run-heavy drive bought time and moved the ball forward, with Avery Johnson's 30-yard run, where he couldn't quite beat the safety in the open field, being a highlight.

But once again, everything came to a halt shortly after a penalty, this time for holding on 1st and 10 attempts from 12 yards out. Passes on the second and third attempts were incomplete as Johnson was under considerable pressure, and Tennant settled for another field goal at the end of a nine-minute, 16-play drive.

It's worth noting that we were almost halfway through the second quarter at this point, even though both teams only had two possessions, and Kansas State probably felt like the scoreboard didn't reflect how well they controlled the game.

More good passes from Retzlaff put BYU in the redzone for the first time and the Wildcat defense nearly secured the shutout by preventing a fourth-and-one, but the Cougars held on. A sack by Brendan Mott on the next play kept BYU from reaching the endzone and Will Ferrin made it 6-3.

From there, Kansas State had less than two minutes left, but instead of applying pressure to score before halftime, the Wildcats half-heartedly started moving the ball slowly on the ground again. After just three plays, DJ Giddens lost the ball on a run to the right and BYU's Tommy Prassas picked it up 30 yards, signaling the beginning of our nightmare.

Poor throws by Johnson before and after halftime led to interceptions that allowed short, quick scoring drives, then BYU botched a punt. Of course, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the Cougars, as the ball bounced oddly, K-State defenders ran over the ball, and Parker Kingston got to the edge in time to run 90 yards up the sideline for a score.

We don't need to go into detail about what happened after that, other than to point out that after its final field goal drive of the third quarter, Kansas State had a lead of more than 100 yards over BYU… and was down 22 points. Even the one chance Kansas State got, when the referees didn't overturn a call for a fourth down when it looked like Avery had stepped off the field before scoring a touchdown, didn't feel like a chance because a holding call nullified the touchdown and Klieman chose to raise the white flag by kicking rather than attempting a fourth down and a long.

The Wildcats' defense deteriorated, reaching its lowest point when a freshman broke through several tackles and ran 21 yards for BYU's touchdown. Kansas State had no success throwing downfield and the running game was largely ineffective. DJ Giddens barely made it to 100 yards with 93 yards.

Retzlaff was 15-21 for 149 yards and, crucially, 0 interceptions, while BYU rushed for 92 yards on 27 carries. Oddly enough, the Cougars didn't get a single penalty until they committed an intentional delay of game early in the 4th quarter, while KSU got 8 penalties for 50 yards.

WHAT WE LEARNED

1) Avery Johnson is actually only a sophomore.

We all wanted to believe that Avery Johnson's immense talent would make him immune to the effects of a college quarterback competing in a really tough away situation for the first time. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and Johnson looked badly shaken when things started going right for BYU. He'll grow from this and do better next time, but man, that was tough to watch, and he needed more support from his teammates and coaches.

2) Length of ownership is not everything.

We all love it when Kansas State can control the clock, and in this game, it felt really good for 25 minutes. But if the Wildcats aren't able to convert all of those snaps into points, it won't do much good. A one-dimensional offense is easier to stop in the redzone, so K-State needs to develop better passing options to keep the defense off balance when it has less field to defend.

3) Dealing with adversity could be a problem.

Sure, Kansas State has responded well in some tough situations at Tulane, but this felt different for so many reasons. The crowd at BYU was loud and created a challenging atmosphere, plus the Wildcats saw some jump shots that didn't go in their favor and the response was abysmal. That's probably as much the fault of the coaches as the players, and maybe it was an absolutely unrepeatable five minutes, but surely there are some lessons to be learned from it to make sure it never happens again.

4) The passing game still has a long way to go.

Whether it was the defense, Johnson's accuracy, Johnson's decision-making, or receivers not catching passes, pretty much everything went wrong with the Wildcats' passing game tonight. Of course, we don't expect this group to suddenly turn into an Air Raid offense, but KSU needs to find a way to develop a more reliable passing game. Until then, expect the defense to consistently occupy the box, leaving little room for Johnson, Giddens, and Dylan Edwards to make explosive plays with their legs.

5) The Big 12 away games will be difficult.

Ultimately, the defense played respectably and the offense was hampered by some avoidable mistakes. However, the team now realizes that this season, the margin for error on the road will be much smaller. There are four more road games left, and K-State cannot afford to be complacent in any of them. Yes, not even the one in Houston.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Do we really have to pick one? Yes? OK, we'll go with Chris Tennant. He's caused some frustration this season, so it was actually great to see the senior kicker sink all three field goal attempts and look good on kickoffs. No one else did the job nearly as reliably and successfully as Tennant on Saturday. Yes, that was a pretty low bar.

NEXT

Kansas State returns home to Bill Snyder Family Stadium for what now appears to be a Big 12 playoff game against Oklahoma State, which looked largely dismal on offense in Saturday's 21-15 home loss to Utah.