 "Photo: Matt Binter")
Knowing full well that Texas A&M quarterback Jerrod Johnson had not thrown an interception in a game dating back to last season, Josh Moore spent all week in practice with a chip on his shoulder.
“I want to say it motivated us,” said the junior defensive back. “We knew coming into the game that he had not thrown a pick yet. We just figured that if we did our assignment as we were supposed to, we had a chance of getting an interception, and that is what happened.”
The Wildcats (4-3, 2-1 Big 12 Conference) intercepted three Johnson passes that night, helping fuel the 62-14 rout of the Aggies (3-3, 0-2). The first was in the second quarter by sophomore safety Tysyn Hartman, the second by Moore in the third quarter and the final one coming late in the fourth quarter by freshman defensive back Torell Miller.
Coming into the game with six sacks on the season and a pass rush that allowed eight touchdown passes last week against Texas Tech, the burden was on senior defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald and the rest of the defensive line to put pressure on the passing game of the Aggies.
“We were just getting out there, getting after it, and trying to cause turnovers and put our offense in a good position to score,” Fitzgerald said. “As a team we did a lot better job of getting after the quarterback.”
Moore also praised the defensive line’s progress from last week’s low point to the six-sack performance that also held the Aggie running game to negative 13 yards. Coming in, Texas A&M was averaging 190.8 rushing yards per game.
“The defensive line got down and did their job,” Moore said. “They were relentless tonight. If we can keep getting that out of them, I think we will be good on the back end.”
Ball control was important for the Wildcats, with the time of possession battle largely in K-State’s favor. Another big factor was the Wildcats’ starting field position. Many of K-State’s drives started in Aggie territory after turnovers.
The Wildcats set the tone early, scoring a season-high 17 points in the first quarter. On the second play from scrimmage, Fitzgerald forced a fumble by Aggie tight end Jamie McCoy. With a short field starting at their own 29-yard line, the Wildcats put themselves in the red zone with a 17-yard pass from quarterback Grant Gregory to wide receiver Brandon Banks. The Wildcats scored on the next play with a 7-yard touchdown run by running back Daniel Thomas.
The Wildcat defense came up big again, forcing a Texas A&M punt in its own end zone. The return by Banks went for 24 yards, and was made even better by a face-mask penalty. Three plays later, Thomas strolled into the end zone untouched on a three-yard run.
After a couple of three and outs by both teams, K-State put together another long drive with Gregory throwing a 46-yard strike to a wide-open Jeron Mastrud. Three plays later, Thomas scored another touchdown. He would finish with 91 yards and four touchdowns. Despite having another great night running the ball individually, Thomas was more concerned about getting wins and helping the team.
“You know it was great getting early action and everything, but the most important thing is that we came home to win,” Thomas said. “So that’s what I was most focused on: getting the win.”
Texas A&M was plagued by uncharacteristic mistakes all night. Normally a high-scoring, efficient passing offense, the Aggies could not find the end zone until the third quarter. Johnson finished with two touchdowns, but two of his three interceptions led to Wildcat touchdowns. Aggie head coach Mike Sherman said he thought poor pass protection led to some of the offensive mistakes the Aggies made.
“[Johnson] was getting exposed, and we weren’t protecting great,” Sherman said. “We thought it was in our best interest to see if [Johnson] could get some work and pull us out of this thing a little bit better than we did.”
The Wildcats finished the game by inserting their second-team players and getting them some valuable game experience. Backup running back Keithen Valentine had two touchdowns in the second half while showing how he can complement the physical running game of Thomas.
Head coach Bill Snyder said he can always find different aspects of the game that need improvement, but was pleased with the performance of his team after last week’s tough loss.
“I thought our youngsters played as well in the first half of the ball game then we have all year; they got back on the improvement track,” Snyder said. “Texas A&M is a better ball team I think than what they showed today, they’re going through the same growing pains that we are, so consistency is a real issue.”
With Big 12 North division rivals Kansas and Missouri losing Saturday night, K-State sits alone atop the division standings for the week. Up next for K-State is the All-University Homecoming game against Colorado at Snyder Family Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 11:30 a.m.
3 comments