Wildcats smother Knights to capture first Big 12 victory of season
Kansas State edge rusher Cody Stufflebean (47) takes UCF quarterback Tayven Jackson (2) to the ground as he gets rid of the ball Saturday September 27, 2025 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. (Lynn Harrington/stayaliveinpower5)
MANHATTAN, Kan. — After utilizing Kansas State’s bye-week, Coach Chris Klieman finally put together a great game plan against UCF that the fans should be proud of.
The Wildcats played their best game of the year, took down the Knights 34-20, and earned Klieman’s first Big 12 win of the season. Kansas State (2-3) never trailed the entire afternoon, and led by as many as three touchdowns in the third quarter. Having that type of intensity throughout the matchup, encourages Klieman for the rest of the remaining seven conference games on the slate.
After all, Kansas State led UCF (3-1) in total offense, rushing yards, first downs, third down efficiency, plays, and most importantly, time of possession. Klieman is proud of his players stepping up, their tenacity in the trenches, and execution at the point of attack, but the cherry on top is them accomplishing it all on his birthday.
“So we ended up playing a lot more, bigger 12 personnel people, which was the way we had to do it, to win the game,” Klieman said. “We faced adversity, and we’re always going to be in tough ball games in the Big 12.”
Quarterback Avery Johnson made plays with his arm and legs. Running Dylan Edwards’ explosiveness was too much for UCF’s defense to handle. Not to mention Kansas State’s defense played lights out in the secondary. The game was defensive early on, and both teams were scoreless in the first quarter. The Wildcats drew first blood after Johnson orchestrated a 10-play, 62-yard drive that ended with a field goal from Luis Rodriguez.
Kansas State later jumped out to a 10-point lead in the second quarter, and kept that cushion on UCF. It didn’t help the Knights’ offense that quarterback Tayven Jackson went down with an injury after a hit from the Wildcats’ edge rusher Cody Stufflebean, that kept him out for the remainder of the first half. UCF did get on the scoreboard after an explosive 82-yard touchdown pass from Jacarri Brown to DJ Black. Although the Wildcats led 17-7 at the half, it didn’t stop Klieman from making adjustments.
Klieman kept his foot on the gas in the second half too. The most explosive play of the game for Kansas State’s offense came from Edwards. He found a gap in the middle of UCF’s defense, and took the pigskin 75 yards to the house. The crowd of 53,013 went into a frenzy, and Klieman was glad to see Edwards’ back making plays with his amazing athletic ability on the gridiron.
“He’s a physical runner, and he’s not just a scatback, he ran through two arm tackles,” he said. “And guys, when he (Edwards) gets an open field, nobody’s going to catch the kid.”
Regardless, multiple players scored on offense for the Wildcats, including tight end Will Anciaux, and running back Joe Jackson. UCF did pull within 11 points to make the game interesting midway through the fourth quarter, but Rodriguez put the finishing touches on the afternoon with a 48-yard field goal in the waning minutes to seal the game.
Johnson completed 18 of his 25 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. He didn’t turn the ball over, rushed for 75 yards and led the offense on multiple scoring drives, which impressed Klieman.
“He (Johnson) took what was given to him, knowing we probably lost some big play threats,” the 58-year old said. “Then we asked him to run the ball a little bit more, something that we thought we needed, and when we were down some line-ups we knew we needed.”
Defensively, Logan Barley led the Wildcats with five tackles. Linebacker Austin Romaine added four stops, including three solo. Tobi Osunsanmi also tallied three solo tackles, and sacked UCF’s quarterback. Joe Klanderman’s defense gave up some big plays, and allowed 402 yards, but made the necessary stops when needed.
Kansas State’s offense racked up 434 yards, and ran 70 plays. That’s a solid day at the office in Klieman’s eyes, and he wants his team to build off that performance approaching a matchup with Baylor. He now has more respect for Coach Scott Frost, and his staff for putting together a hard-fought game under the circumstances they went through earlier in the week.
“My hat’s off and my heart goes out to their team, because that is really hard and they came in here and battled their tails off, when I know that their hearts are on their offensive line coach who just passed.”
