MANHATTAN, Kansas – – Avery Johnson threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score, Chris Tennant kicked a 51-yard field goal with 1:42 to go and No. 16 Kansas State stopped Kansas on fourth down to maintain a 29-27 victory Saturday night.

DJ Giddens added 102 yards rushing for the Wildcats (7-1, 4-1 Big 12), who kept their chances of playing for a conference title and in the College Football Playoff alive by beating their biggest rival for the 16th consecutive time. beat.

“You know, we missed opportunities. I think they missed opportunities. It was a game of who could make a play,” said Kansas State coach Chris Klieman, who suffered from some dizziness during the game that at one point forced him to go to the locker room.

“I was proud that at the end the offense, defense and special teams came through.”

Kansas (2-6, 1-4) had a chance to answer Tennant’s field goal in the final minute. But after a quick first down, Jalon Daniels recorded a short completion with a pair of incomplete passes. Then, on fourth down, he was flushed from the pocket and tracked near the Jayhawks’ sideline, giving Kansas State the ball back with a chance to run out the clock.

Daniels finished with 209 yards passing while accounting for two touchdowns and two turnovers. Devin Neal ran for 66 yards and a score, putting him just six yards away from breaking June Henley’s Kansas career record.

“This one stings as much as any of the others,” said Jayhawks coach Lance Leipold, whose team now needs to win to reach its third straight bowl game. “But I told them again that I was proud of the way we fought and competed for four quarters.”

Nevertheless, the Jayhawks have not defeated Kansas State since November 1, 2008.

“They are a great team. It doesn’t matter what their record is,” said the Wildcats’ Marques Sigle, who picked off a pass in his second straight Sunflower Showdown. “They had nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Kansas opened the game with a 75-yard touchdown drive, but appeared to take control a few minutes later when Daniels spotted Quentin Skinner running down the middle of the field. But the senior wide receiver dropped the would-be 49-yard touchdown throw, and the Jayhawks were ultimately forced to punt.

The Wildcats seized the opening and then took advantage of another blunder in Kansas.

After Johnson led a 95-yard drive to put the game into play, freshman Jameel Croft Jr. caught the ball. of Kansas inexplicably landed the ensuing kickoff on the 1-yard line and stepped out of bounds. Neal was loaded for the safety on the next play, and Kansas State followed with a 59-yard drive and its second touchdown in several minutes.

“I don’t want to start criticizing a player,” Leipold said. “A young man tried to make a play and made a mistake.”

The Jayhawks recovered and Daniels threw a touchdown pass to Luke Grimm to get within 16-14 at the break. And after the teams traded touchdowns to start the second half, they finally regained the lead late in the third quarter when Daniels weaved his way into the end zone — the second straight year it led the Wildcats in the second half.

The outcome would ultimately be the same.

The Jayhawks still led 27-26 with 3:44 to go when Daniels, trying to scramble to midfield, went airborne and released the ball. Brendan Mott was there to get it back for the Wildcats, leaving Johnson and Co. got one last chance with the ball.

They did just enough to set up Tennant’s go-ahead field goal inside the final two minutes.

“The last month I watched Chris Tennant, I knew this was going to happen,” Klieman said. “I had no doubts about it. There was no one on our sidelines who had any doubts. It was exciting for him to be able to do that as a senior from Kansas.”

The takeaway

Kansas dominated the game for a long time, but could not overcome itself. Daniels, who was plagued by turnovers early in the season, had two more, and the Jayhawks missed a PAT among their many special teams blunders.

Kansas State had 479 yards of total offense despite struggling on third downs. The Wildcats also had to make a field goal early in the fourth quarter and that missed opportunity almost cost them.

Next

Kansas: Plays No. 10 Iowa State on Nov. 9 at Arrowhead Stadium.

Kansas State: Next Saturday at Houston.

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