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By D. Scott Fritchen
PROVO, Utah – No. 13 Kansas State looked to remain unblemished through the first four games of a season for the first time since 2012. Instead, BYU soared to a 38-9 victory in front of a packed house at LaVell Edwards Stadium in a contest that ended early Sunday morning.
In the first meeting since 1977 between K-State and BYU in Provo, Utah, the Wildcats, 3-1, seemingly had everything under control in a low-scoring affair — K-State led, 6-3 — until the final 2 minutes of the second quarter.
Then things went horribly haywire.
BYU, 4-0, emphatically took control and didn’t let go to the glee of 64,201, the largest crowd at LaVell Edwards Stadium since 2009.
“There are some hurting guys in there,” K-State head coach Chris Klieman said outside the locker room. “We’re going to find out what we’re made of. We have to block out the outside noise of what the perception of us is now. We just have to focus on us. We have a chance to have a pretty good football team. We’re going to find out what we’re made of because we didn’t play very well.”
The Cougars scored 24 points in a span of 6 minutes, 8 seconds between the second and third quarters in a Twilight Zone-type sequence unlike any that purple-clad supporters have seen in recent memory.
K-State led 6-3 after the 2-minute timeout in the second quarter before disaster struck. Facing third-and-2 at the K-State 33-yard line, normally sure-handed DJ Giddens rushed to his right, spun and got hit by a defender, and the football flew away and bounced on the ground. Tommy Prassas picked it up and scooped and scored a 30-yard touchdown and a 10-6 lead.
After the ensuing kickoff, troubles struck again. This time, Avery Johnson threw a ball to Dylan Edwards that defensive end Tyler Batty intercepted at the 29. On the play, BYU went into a zone blitz and Batty sat in coverage, so when the ball went over the head of Edwards, Batty was there to catch it before it touched the ground.
Two plays later, BYU quarterback Jeff Retzlaff threw his best pass of the opening half when he found 6-foot-4, 210-pound Chase Roberts running left to right in the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown and a 17-6 advantage just before halftime.
It proved to be an uphill climb for K-State coming out of the locker room.
A second Johnson interception set up BYU at the K-State 27-yard line. Two plays later, Retzlaff fired a 3-yard pass to Darius Lassiter for a 24-6 lead.
After K-State was unable to move the ball, BYU’s Parker Kingston took a 57-yard punt by Simon McClannan. It appeared that he had nowhere to go, then he looped around and sprinted down the sideline for a 90-yard score and a 31-6 lead with 11 minutes, 9 seconds to go in the third quarter.
It wasn’t until a Chris Tennant 28-yard field goal with 5:12 left in the third quarter that the Wildcats managed their only points of the second half.
Johnson completed 15-of-28 passes for 130 yards and two interceptions and added 74 rushing yards on 11 carries. Giddens had 19 carries for 93 yards. Jayce Brown had four catches for 51 yards and Keagan Johnson had four catches for 30 yards.
Retzlaff went 15-for-21 for 149 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions for a BYU team that was picked 13th in the Big 12 in the preseason. Sione Moa had 15 carries for 76 yards and one touchdown. Lassiter had three catches for 26 yards and one touchdown and Roberts had two catches for 47 yards and one touchdown.
BYU improved to 262-85 at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
