#15 K-State dismantled Troy to snap one of the longest winning streaks in college football. The Trojans had won their previous 12 games going into Saturday, but it was all K-State as they would win 42-13. For those that read my preview article, I picked the Cats to win 41-13 (I am unapologetically very proud of this).

Jadon Jackson got his second receiving touchdown of the season on an absolute dime from Will Howard on the opening drive. We got to see Treshaun Ward’s shiftiness on a beautiful 20-yard run that put them in the redzone. That play was set up by three completions for 32 yards by Phillip Brooks.

After both teams stopped each other, K-State got their second touchdown of the day with this one coming on a reverse handoff to Phillip Brooks that fooled everybody on Troy’s defense. That was his first touchdown of the 2023 season.

Jackson made an impressive catch of 24 yards on a 3rd & 16 to keep the drive alive. That put the Cats up 14-0 with 14:16 left in the second quarter.

Both teams then traded interceptions with Will Lee III getting his first career interception at K-State. Howard then returned the favor with his second interception of the year as he went for an endzone shot to RJ Garcia II but overthrew him by a good three yards.

That turnover resulted in the first points of the day for the Trojans. Troy wide receiver Chris Lewis made a spectacular one-handed leaping grab on 3rd & 10 for 16 yards to keep the drive alive. Quarterback Gunnar Watson threaded the needle on multiple occasions with K-State defending Troy’s receivers well.

The Wildcats came out of that redzone stand with a dud of a three-an-out drive to give Troy the ball back with 2:29 to go in the half.

A 30-yard catch from wide receiver Jabre Barber and 25 yards worth of penalties set up yet another one-handed catch from Lewis, this one resulting in a touchdown with 0:52 left in the half to cut Troy’s deficit to four.

Howard then put a terrific quick touchdown drive together, which is something we have never seen him do right before a half. This is something very encouraging for K-State fans.

With just 0:33 left, Howard took a sack at their own 36. 100% of K-State teams in previous years would just take a knee and be complacent with a four-point lead.

Instead, head coach Chris Klieman called a timeout and Howard gained his composure. He proceeded to pickup 15 yards with his legs on the next play, followed by a Ward ten-yard reception and the 39-yard touchdown to Brooks for his second touchdown of the day with just 0:10 left. That gave the Cats a 21-10 lead at halftime.

Both teams exchanged a pair of punts out of the break, despite K-State being set up in Troy territory in each of their first two drives.

The third time was the charm with plus starting field position as Howard got his second rushing touchdown of the season to extend the lead to 28-10 with 3:47 left in the third quarter. During the drive, K-State fans were treated to the debut of Iowa sophomore transfer Keagan Johnson after missing the first game. He made a pair of catches including a 17-yard snag to get them into goal-to-go range.

After another stop and another opportunity inside Troy territory missed for K-State, the Trojans were finally able to get their offense going on the final play of the third quarter. It was a 46-yard run from running back Kimani Vidal, who entered as the FBS leader in rushing yards after getting 248 yards on the ground in their 48-30 win over Stephen F. Austin. That led to a Troy 37-yard field goal to make it 28-13 with 13:58 remaining in the fourth quarter.

On the first play of the next drive, Howard completed his first deep ball of the day, connecting with Jackson for a 40-yard completion on a ball that was thrown into the end of his fingertips into double coverage.

Ward took over the drive after that with six carries and getting into the endzone on a little pop pass from Howard. That catch gave him his third passing touchdown of the day and put K-State up 35-13 with 8:48 to go.

Howard applied the dagger on their next possession with a QB sneak on the one-yard line to put K-State up 42-13.

The defense held their own with four consecutive three-and-outs to start the second half which allowed the offense to settle in.

Breaking down the top performers at each level, linebacker Desmond Purnell, defensive end Khalid Duke and Jacob Parrish impressed the most in my opinion.

Duke had two sacks and three tackles for loss. Parrish shut down whoever he covered with two pass breakups. Purnell was flying around the field all game and had a pass breakup.

Some other noteworthy performances were Lee, who had an interception, and the veteran LBs Austin Moore and Daniel Green, who both looked great as well.

K-State’s offense was solid but shaky at times. There were a few throws Howard made into double coverage with another man open that had a lot of us in the press box scratching our heads. The run game wasn’t the most effective either as they averaged just 3.9 yards per carry.

The stretch of four drives in Troy territory resulting in just seven points is a tad worrying as well. It was reminiscent of when Missouri did something similar last year, this time K-State didn’t have the excuse of the rain.

All in all, though, a solid outing against a Troy defense that lost a lot from a stellar unit a year ago but was still formidable.

Howard finished 21-for-32 with 250 yards, three passing touchdowns, an interception and two rushing touchdowns.

Ward ran for 58 yards on 16 carries with two receptions for 11 yards and a touchdown. Giddens ran 12 times for 52 yards.

Phillip Brooks led Wildcat receivers with seven catches for 94 yards and a touchdown with a two-yard rushing touchdown.

Jadon Jackson had four catches for 77 yards, RJ Garcia II had three catches for 31 yards and Keagan Johnson had three catches for 25 yards.

K-State is now 2-0 and next is a date with the Missouri Tigers in Columbia after thumping them in last year’s meeting in Manhattan 40-12 at 11 a.m.