Kansas State University

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Chris Tennant scored two field goals in the fourth quarter, including his game-winning 51-yarder with 1:42 left to play, and No. 16 Kansas State earned its 16th straight win over rival Kansas in a 29-27 win at the Dillons Sunflower Showdown at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

K-State trailed 27-23 early in the fourth quarter when the Wildcats' defense came to life, shutting down the dangerous Jalon Daniels and a Jayhawks offense that kept the home crowd on their toes all night long.

Avery Johnson drove the Wildcats 66 yards in seven plays and set up Tennant for a 28-yard field goal with 13:23 left in the fourth quarter before the defense clamped down on her. Linebackers Austin Romaine took the ball from Daniels and ended up on defense Brendan Mott recovered the ball and set Tennant up for his game-winning field goal.

“I had this gut feeling and I can’t even describe it,” Tennant said. “In the first quarter I knew there was going to be a big kick. It’s inexplicable to someone who’s never felt it, but when I got into it, it was helpful.”

“When I made contact, I knew it was good.

K-State head coach Chris Kliemanwho improved to 6-0 against Kansas, was thrilled with his kicker.

“If you were watching Chris Tennant “For the last month I knew this kick was going in,” Klieman said. “That boy is money right now.”

It turns out that K-State, at 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the Big 12 Conference, continues to have money after coming from behind for the third time this season.

“The defense got stops and stepped up,” Johnson said. “We didn’t need many yards for Chris to put the ball through the uprights.

K-State and Kansas, 2-6 and 1-4, will also remember the 122nd edition of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown for a while.

“Honestly, I hated it when anyone lost that football game. I know how much it would have meant to KU and how much it would have meant to Lance (Leipold),” Klieman said. “It's no secret that Lance and I are friends. Hats off to our players for finding a way to make a play in the fourth quarter – Romaine takes it off and Mott falls on it, we found a way to get a couple first downs.” I had no doubt that the field goal would go in.

Johnson completed 19 of 34 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns while adding 14 runs for 67 yards and a score DJ Giddens Had 18 carries for 102 yards for K-State, which led 16-14 at halftime thanks to a safety that proved to be the game-winner.

Kansas fell to 0-5 in games decided by single digits and led many of those games in the fourth quarter.

Daniels went 18 of 31 for 209 yards with one touchdown and one interception and rushed 15 times for 66 yards and one touchdown. He was a constant headache for the Wildcats before Romaine forced him to fumble and Mott recovered the ball with three minutes, 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

“Austin Romaine “I made a great play, and we practiced that a lot, just getting to the ball and tucking it away, and I was able to get the ball into the hands of our offense,” Mott said. “We could have gotten after (Daniels). certainly more. He’s a great player and athlete.”

K-State took over at the Kansas 48-yard line and moved 15 yards in five plays to face fourth-and-8 at the Kansas 33. Tennant's kick at 1:47 drew thunderous cheers from the sellout crowd of 52,074.

“Phenomenal. I knew it would be one of the best environments in my six years here and I told the kids that on Monday and I told them to be where their feet are and I told them they should enjoy it because “This is what these kids built,” Klieman said. “These kids have built over the last six years, these five- and six-year-old boys, this is what they've built, an environment like this – how many sellouts? Eighteen, I think – and that’s a credit to our football team and our players.” The fans come and cheer on these boys.

In the final seconds, after Kansas was unable to get a meaningful shot and a chance at a game-winning field goal in the final minute, television cameras panned to a K-State fan holding a sign that read, ” SWEET 16” held.

Sixteen straight wins against Kansas. That's a total of 5,838 days since the Wildcats' last loss in 2008.

How sweet it is.

“I expected that,” the second-year running back said Dylan Edwardswho had three carries for 60 yards and added two catches for 20 yards. “The crowd definitely came with all the energy in the world, but we showed everyone that we own the state.”

From the beginning, however, this was anyone's game.

Kansas made its presence felt from the game's first drive, converting three third downs and taking the ball 75 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown. Running back Sevion Morrison made a dash around the right side to score the score. Morrison had 52 rushing yards all season and ran 38 yards for a touchdown to make it 7-0 with 8:51 left in the first quarter.

K-State responded with a massive 95-yard drive, capped when Johnson dodged outside pressure and threw a seven-yard pass to the tight end Will Anciaux at the Kansas 17 and allowed the tight end to turn upfield and run the rest of the way to the end zone. That 24-yard touchdown play tied the score at 7-7 with 11:09 left in the second quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Kansas made a serious fielding error when Jameel Croft caught the kickoff at the 1-yard line with his left foot infield before going out of bounds. That meant the Jayhawks started the drive with their own 1st K-State nose tackle Damian Ilalio Devin Neal stuffed the ball into the end zone for a safety on the next play.

-State took the free kick and traveled 59 yards in eight plays until Johnson scored Garrett Oakley With 7:13 left, he gave himself a 16-7 lead by halftime with a soft diving pass from two meters away.

KA's quick out by wide receiver Luke Grimm for a 7-yard touchdown put the Jayhawks right back in the lead. A 36-yard pass led Kansas to a 75-yard drive, with Grimm stretching over the front corner and the Jayhawks cutting the Wildcats' lead to 16-14.

K-State had a chance to extend its lead late in the second quarter when Daniels wide receiver Trevor Wilson fell in the end zone and Marques Sigle He caught the pass seven yards deep and weaved back and forth to the 49-yard line. That gave K-State possession with 19 seconds left. But the Wildcats were unable to move the ball and Johnson's Hail Mary pass to Brown wasn't enough as time expired on the game clock.

Giddens' 54-yard run set up K-State's first score of the third quarter. Giddens took a handoff to the left inverted field and headed toward the right sideline, eliminating would-be tacklers along the way for his best run of the game, setting up his team at the Kansas 16-yard line. Johnson scored on a 10-yard keeper two plays later for a 23-14 lead less than two minutes into the second half.

Neal missed a long touchdown for K-State to cut the Wildcats' lead. The Jayhawks were effective in the third period all game, and none hurt the Wildcats more than Neal's run. On third-and-7, Neal took the handoff and shot 24 yards into the end zone. However, Tabor Allen missed the extra point attempt and the score was 23-20.

K-State made a mistake after Edwards gave the Wildcats excellent field position on a 44-yard run. On the following play, Johnson suffered a sack fumble that Kansas recovered at its own 26-point point.

Kansas answered and Daniels gave the Jayhawks the lead for the first time in the second half when he capped a three-play, 54-yard drive by rushing 8 yards up the middle for a touchdown with 36 seconds left in the third half a lead of 27-23 in the quarter.

The Wildcats went 66 yards in seven plays and nearly took the lead, but Johnson saw his 11-yard pass slip out of Anciaux's hands in the back of the end zone. Tennant's 28-yard field goal made it 27-26 with 13:23 left in the fourth quarter.

That was the final fireworks display for the Wildcats, who are now preparing for their visit to Houston next Saturday. K-State trails only BYU (5-0) and Iowa State (4-0) in the Big 12 standings.

“We still have a lot of room for improvement,” Johnson said. “This team is really good and can compete for the Big 12 championship and play for the College Football Playoff. There are no limits for this group. We just have to keep going, week after week, day after day.” Time and find the little things you can get better at.