By D. Scott Fritchen
BOULDER, Colo. – The nailbiter in Boulder ended in victory formation for No. 18 Kansas State, which led most of the game, then came from behind late in a 31-28 thriller over Colorado, giving the Wildcats a big road victory against an old rival at Folsom Field.
Avery Johnson laid a long pass over the left shoulder of Jayce Brown for the game-winning 50-yard touchdown with 2 minutes, 14 seconds left before Sanders saw his 40thand final passing attempt fall incomplete on fourth-and-5 at his own 30-yard line with 74 seconds to go, as K-State survived the 67th meeting between the former conference opponents — who are now Big 12 Conference foes again.
“This was a really good win for us,” K-State head coach Chris Klieman said. “It’s a really good football team that we ended up finding a way to beat. We knew they weren’t going to hand it to us, and we took it from them.”
K-State, 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Big 12, tied its best six-game start of the Klieman era, and outlasted Colorado, 4-2 and 2-1, which looked to reach its longest winning streak of the Deion Sanders era.
It marked the sixth win ever by K-State at Folsom Field, which rocked before a sellout crowd. The theme of the night was “Gold Rush,” and it didn’t take much mining to find gridiron excitement in what was one of the most hyped games of this college football season.
K-State has scored at least 28 points in 13 of the last 14 games and out-gained Colorado, 423 to 359.
Johnson threw for 224 yards and two touchdowns despite one interception and rushed for another score. DJ Giddens rushed 25 times for 182 yards. Brown had a career performance with six catches for 121 yards and the go-ahead touchdown. Dylan Edwards, who transferred from Colorado to K-State prior to the season, scored on a 1-yard touchdown run against his former team.
Shedeur Sanders, projected to be one of the top quarterbacks taken in the NFL Draft, was spectacular, completing 34-of-40 passes for 388 yards and three touchdowns and one interception. With Travis Hunter, a top Heisman Trophy candidate, on the sideline, Omarion Miller had a career night with eight catches for 145 yards.
