Dylan Edwards ran for 196 yards and two touchdowns and added a third score receiving as Kansas State defeated Rutgers 44-41 in the Rate Bowl in Phoenix on Thursday.
The Wildcats trailed by 17 points at the midpoint of the third quarter but won their fourth game this season when trailing in the fourth quarter.
Kansas State (9-4) had 542 yards of total offense. Avery Johnson was 15 of 30 passing for 195 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. He also ran for 57 yards and a score.
Wildcats coach Chris Klieman said of the contributions of running backs Edwards and Joe Jackson, backups this season to starter DJ Giddens, who sat out while preparing for the NFL draft, “It’s what our team is. … It’s somebody different all the time that comes up and makes plays.
“We got down in that third quarter. We weren’t playing great. All of a sudden you get one stop and all of sudden we get some momentum going. I knew that our running backs had to show up and play really well.”
Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis finished 14 of 32 for 237 yards, a touchdown and an interception for Rutgers (7-6).
“Obviously disappointed, but not discouraged,” Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano said. “We have a really good core in our program right now, and we have a huge debt of gratitude to the guys who played their last game today. Unfortunately we came up short today in a heck of a football game (between) two really good football teams that played really hard.”
After opening with a punt, the Scarlet Knights scored on six straight possessions, capped by a touchdown the first time they had the ball in the second half. Kaliakmanis found Ja’shon Benjamin for a touchdown on a 7-yard screen pass to give Rutgers a 34-17 lead.
Following an exchange of punts, Edwards rushed 65 yards to trim the lead to 34-23.
On Rutgers’ next possession, Daniel Cobbs intercepted Kaliakmanis, and the Wildcats capitalized with 13-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Garrett Oakley, slicing the deficit to 34-29.
Late in the third, Rutgers took over at the Kansas State 18-yard line following Christian Dremel’s 67-yard punt return. Soon after, Antwan Raymond ran for a 1-yard touchdown, giving Rutgers a 41-29 lead with 14:02 left.
Johnson then found Jackson on a 9-yard touchdown pass to trim it the Wildcats’ deficit to 41-36.
After a three-and-out, Edwards ran for a 36-yard score, giving Kansas State its first lead since early in the second quarter. Johnson found Oakley for the two-point conversion and a 44-41 lead with 4:15 left.
The Wildcats then stopped Rutgers on fourth-and-7 at the Scarlet Knights’ 44-yard line with 1:55 left.
In the first half, Kansas State got a 29-yard Chris Tennant field goal.
The teams then traded 75-yard touchdown drives, as Raymond and Johnson scored on 2-yard runs. Rutgers got a 31-yard field goal from Jai Patel to tie the game.
Raymond had a 65-yard run to set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Benjamin for a 17-10 lead with 9:31 left in the half.
Moments later, Johnson found Edwards on a screen for a 26-yard touchdown to tie the game. Raymond subsequently raced untouched for a 24-yard touchdown to give Rutgers the lead.
Rutgers closed the half with Patel’s 48-yard field goal with 4:15 left.
–Field Level Media
