MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State gave No. 13 Texas Tech a heavyweight fight for three quarters, but the Red Raiders and one of the best defenses in the FBS delivered a second-half knockout punch, as the Wildcats suffered a 43-20 loss and saw their eight-game series winning streak over Texas Tech end at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
K-State, 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the Big 12 Conference, trailed 12-7 at halftime, but couldn’t keep pace with Texas Tech, 8-1 and 5-1, which scored on six straight possessions, forced K-State into a season-high five turnovers, and outscored the Wildcats 31-13 in the second half en route to its first win in Manhattan since 2008.
“For starters, the adversity we face, character is revealed, and all season we’ve had adversity, and our character has been revealed, and it’s been really good,” K-State head coach Chris Klieman said. “We’ve got to finish strong with three games. We got beat by a really good football team. It’s November 1st and not November 30th.
“There’s still a story and a legacy to write about the 2025 team.”
Unfortunately for K-State, the 60-minute chapter against Texas Tech played out like it had for most of the Red Raiders’ opponents during one of their best seasons in decades.
And yet, K-State found itself down just 29-20 when quarterback Avery Johnson hit tight end Garrett Oakley with a nine-yard touchdown pass in the back of the end zone with 12:44 left in the fourth quarter.
But Texas Tech’s Romellow Height sacked Johnson and forced a fumble, and John Curry scooped up the ball and scampered 8 yards for a touchdown to make it 36-20. On the next K-State possession, Ben Roberts intercepted Johnson’s pass near the K-State sideline and Texas Tech scored again when quarterback Behren Morton threw a beautiful pass to Caleb Douglas as he raced down the sideline into the end zone for a 43-20 lead with under 3 minutes to go.
“That was probably the best defense I’ve faced in my three years in college,” Johnson said.
Johnson completed 16-of-33 passes for 199 yards and one touchdown and two interceptions, and he added 15 carries for 88 yards and two scores on the ground. Johnson’s performance included a career-long 46-yard touchdown run for the opening score of the contest, bringing the sellout crowd of 52,111 to its feet and giving the Wildcats hope that it could be their night at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Turned out, it was just the beginning of a tremendous battle for the Wildcats, who came off a dominant 42-17 win over Kansas in Lawrence and now head into a bye week.
“They’re a physical team, but we’ve played a lot of very physical games leading up to this, and we’ve been in four-quarter battles the whole year,” said K-State linebacker Austin Romaine, who had 11 tackles and his first-career interception. We played with them through four quarters. It’s just being able to capitalize on some of those moments.
“We know we have to get better as a team. We’re going to do everything we can during the bye week to get better as a team.”
K-State won the first quarter and showed no fear against a Texas Tech team that had outscored its previous eight opponents by a combined 119-6 in the first 15 minutes.
It took just two possessions for K-State to make its presence known.
Johnson completed a short pass across the middle to Oakley that turned into a 28-yard gain. Three plays later, on third-and-1, Johnson faked to the left and ran to the right and down the sideline untouched 46 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
It was the longest rush of Johnson’s career and the longest play allowed by Texas Tech this season.
“They brought a corner blitz, and Taylor Poitier blocked two guys, so I just used my speed right there,” Johnson said. “It was blocked to perfection, and I didn’t have to do too much. Getting an early lead on a tough team like that was definitely good and a really good feeling. It kept us in the fight.”
Although Texas Tech entered with the No. 1 rushing defense in the FBS in allowing just 68.1 rushing yards per game, the Wildcats had 76 rushing yards with 14:13 left in the second quarter when wide receiver Jayce Brown rushed for 13 yards to put the ball near midfield.
K-State finished with 126 rushing yards against Texas Tech, which hadn’t allowed an opponent to rush for more than 105 yards this season.
It wasn’t until midway through the second quarter on Texas Tech’s fifth possession that the Red Raiders and the fourth-best scoring offense in the FBS finally reached the scoreboard. Stone Harrington kicked a 29-yard field goal to make it 7-3 with 6:31 left in the second quarter, capping a 12-play, 79-yard drive for the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech reached the end zone for the first time moments later as Brown lost a fumble following a catch and the Red Raiders recovered at the K-State 19-yard line. From there, Texas Tech drove, and running back Cameron Dickey took the direct snap and rushed untouched 1 yard into the end zone. However, Harrington’s extra-point attempt bounced off the left upright and Texas Tech settled for a 9-7 advantage with 3:45 left until halftime.
After K-State went three-and-out, Simon McClannan kicked a 36-yard punt to give Morton and the Red Raiders the ball at their own 47-yard line with 1:49 left. They moved the ball 17 yards in six plays and Harrington drilled a 55-yard field goal with no time left to take a 12-7 lead into the locker room.
“It’s 12-7 at half, and I thought we could’ve had the lead at half, but because of some things we didn’t finish very well, and they get the lead,” Klieman said. “When they play from the lead, which is what they’ve done most of the year, they create havoc on the quarterback and breaking on the ball and tackling. Tough loss, guys fought their tails off, but we were unsuccessful.”
Texas Tech got rolling to start the second half. J’Koby Williams ran through the middle of the defense for a 41-yard touchdown and a 19-7 lead.
But Johnson and Brown quickly countered with a 56-yard catch-and-run on a post route to the Texas Tech 16-yard line. Two plays later, Johnson used his speed and his feet and skated through the middle 18 yards for a score to end a six-play, 75-yard jaunt and make it 19-14 with 9:51 left in the third quarter.
That gave Johnson seven rushing touchdowns in his two games against Texas Tech, as he had a school record-tying five rushing touchdowns in Lubbock in 2023.
Morton, the senior quarterback who played in just his second full game of the season, took Texas Tech 68 yards to the K-State 7, but a Texas Tech false start on fourth-and-1 resulted in a Harrington 29-yard field goal for a 22-14 lead.
Morton completed 21-of-32 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. Douglas had eight catches for 82 yards and two touchdowns. Reggie Virgil had five catches for 72 yards. Terrance Carter Jr. had four catches for 81 yards, including a 62-yard reception.
Williams had 17 carries for 135 yards and one touchdown. Dickey had 21 carries for 68 yards and one score as well.
The Wildcats’ deficit continued to grow. Texas Tech blitzed the Wildcats with big plays and Morton on fourth down hit Douglas with a 26-yard pass to the 1-yard line. Morton then rolled to his right and found Douglas running left to right in the back of the end zone for a touchdown to make it 29-14.
Johnson and K-State kept fighting, as Johnson found Jaron Tibbs for a 38-yard gain to the 8-yard line — Tibbs’ longest catch at K-State. However, Johnson had his 8-yard touchdown run on the next play taken away by a holding penalty. But Johnson found Oakley high on his inside shoulder in the back corner of the end zone for a score. Johnson’s pass fell incomplete on the two-point conversion attempt and K-State trailed 29-20 with 12:44 left.
K-State became just the second team to score 20 points against Texas Tech this season, but the Wildcats wouldn’t score again, while Texas Tech reached the end zone twice to close the contest.
“That’s a good football team that came in here today,” Klieman said. “We knew they were going to be a good team. I thought we were going to have some tough matchups, but if we played the game that we could play, we’d have an opportunity to have an opportunity in the fourth quarter to have a chance to win.”
