COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Brigham Young 38, Kansas State 9
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PROVO, Utah - BYU’s defense forced three turnovers, Jake Retzlaff threw for 149 yards and two touchdowns and Parker Kingston had a highlight reel 90-yard punt return touchdown in a 38-9 victory over No. 13 Kansas State on Saturday night.
Sione Moa added a career-high 76 yards and a touchdown on the ground. The Cougars (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) snapped a five-game losing streak to Big 12 opponents in emphatic fashion.
Avery Johnson piled up 204 yards of total offense for the Wildcats but also threw a pair of interceptions. DJ Giddens rushed 93 yards on 19 carries as Kansas State (3-1, 0-1) dropped to 0-4 all-time in Provo despite totaling 224 rushing yards.
BYU scored a pair of touchdowns 39 seconds apart before halftime after forcing turnovers on back-to-back Kansas State drives.
Jack Kelly stripped the ball from Giddens on a third-down run and Tommy Prassas took the fumble 30 yards to the house, giving the Cougars their first lead, 10-6. Tyler Batty intercepted Johnson two plays later at the Wildcats 29. His takeaway set up a 23-yard touchdown catch by Chase Roberts that gave BYU a 17-6 lead going into halftime.
Johnson tossed his second interception to Harrison Taggart on Kansas State’s opening drive of the second half. Taggart’s pick and a subsequent 24-yard sprint by Moa set up a 3-yard TD catch by Darius Lassiter and extended BYU’s lead to 24-6.
After the defense forced a three-and-out, Kingston nearly fumbled the ensuing punt but managed to scoop up the ball, cut over to the opposite sideline and race 90 yards for a touchdown. His score put BYU up 31-6 less than five minutes into the third quarter.
A 22-yard touchdown run by Moa early in the fourth capped the night for the Cougars.
THE TAKEAWAY
Kansas State: The Wildcats gashed BYU with long runs on their first two drives, totaling 117 rushing yards and averaging 6.9 yards per carry, but only came away with a pair of field goals before the wheels fell off on offense.
BYU: Forcing turnovers on three straight Kansas State drives helped the Cougars turn a close game into a blowout early in the second half. BYU scored 31 unanswered points in a 6 1/2-minute span bridging the second and third quarters.
September 21, 2024