Behind a true freshman QB and strong defense, K-State knocks off TCU
Will Howard didn’t have the prettiest box score line. He completed less than half his passes (8 of 19) and threw an interception. He tripped on a play that could have ended the game with a lot less stress for Kansas State.
At the end of the day, though, Howard and the Wildcats escaped with a 21-14 victory over TCU in Howard’s first career start. Yes, Howard won his first start against one of the top defensive minds in the game, TCU coach Gary Patterson.
“We got the win,” Howard said afterward. “That’s always what matters to me. I’m happy as heck that we got the win, but there’s a lot to clean up. You all know that, we all know that. It was far from perfect, but like I said, we got it done.”
Howard started in place of senior Skylar Thompson, who was sidelined with an injury. K-State coach Chris Klieman said he’d have a further update on Thompson’s status on Monday.
In the meantime, the Wildcats know they can get the job done with Howard — and a strong defensive effort. Howard finished just 8 of 19 passing for 117 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for 86 yards and one TD on 13 carries.
But K-State’s defense played terrific, forcing TCU to go three-and-out on five drives. The Wildcats ended another Frogs drive with a pick-six by defensive back AJ Parker in the third quarter to extend the lead to 21-7. That proved to be enough points — a defensive TD in the second half with two field goals and a TD (plus two-point conversion) in the first half.
“What do you say about the defense? Phenomenal game plan,” Klieman said. “Executed almost to perfection.”
Klieman felt so good about the defensive effort that he never considered going for a fourth-and-1 late in the game that would have ended it with the offense on the field. In fact, Howard and the Wildcats almost sealed the victory on the play before.
Facing a third-and-1 from the TCU 48 with 1 minute, 19 seconds left, Howard kept the ball and had space to gain the first down but tripped on his own for no gain.
“Believe me, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about that,” Howard said. “You can laugh about it now that we won, but it’s ... it was a read play, I made the right read. It happens. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that happen. It’s never happened to me. I couldn’t tell you what really happened. You know fatigued legs, and tripped up a little bit, which obviously can’t happen, but we’ll get it ironed out. Obviously we got the win, put it all behind us, it’s all good.”
TCU took over on its own 4 with 1:05 left. The Frogs had a couple Hail Mary attempts to win it at the end, the second courtesy of a roughing-the-passer penalty by K-State defensive end Wyatt Hubert, but neither succeeded.
K-State held TCU to just 5 of 17 on third downs.
But the story of the game was Howard coming in and leading the team to victory. Howard was just the fourth true freshman quarterback to start a game for K-State and the first since Josh Freeman in 2006.
Howard settled in early with an 80-yard run on the Wildcats’ first offensive series to set up a field-goal drive. He also completed a 45-yard pass to Deuce Vaughn as part of a 91-yard TD drive, capped with a 4-yard scoring run by Howard in the second quarter.
When Howard struggled in the second half, the defense bailed him out. Howard threw an interception on the opening drive of the second half, but K-State’s defense responded by forcing a three-and-out.
K-State had only 70 yards of offense in the second half, but it was enough to get the win.
As Howard said, “It’s a lot better to learn from a win than to learn from a loss. There’s a lot of to learn from here.”
A lot of positives to take away, too, starting with Howard’s poise throughout his first start.
“He was amazing,” K-State tight end Briley Moore said. “His composure in the huddle ... it’s an amazing thing. It gives a team confidence no matter what the situation is.”
Added Klieman: “I thought Will did a great job. He managed the job exceptionally well. Did enough for us to be successful.”
Howard’s performance caught the attention of TCU defenders too.
“I give all my props to him. He played a good game,” TCU linebacker Garret Wallow said. “He’s going to be a really good quarterback moving forward.”
K-State is off next week before hosting Kansas on Oct. 24.
This story was originally published October 10, 2020 at 8:34 PM.
