K-State grounds Florida Atlantic

Manhattan, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The tone was set on the opening drive for the Kansas State offense. A 15-play drive that lasted over seven and half minutes, which ended in a touchdown, as the Wildcats scored 21 first quarter points, en rout to a 63-7 pounding of the Owls in K-State’s home opener in front of 50, 871 fans.

Jesse Ertz’ 20-yard pass to Dominique Heath started the scoring for the Wildcats with 4:23 remaining in the first quarter, as Matthew McCrane’s PAT gave K-State a 7-0 lead. On their second possession, it was Winston Dimel who punched it in from seven yards out in the “Wildcat” to give the Cats a 14-0 lead with 1:41 remaining in the first quarter. Following a Kendal Adams interception return, Dimel scored from 10 yards out with 10 seconds remaining in the period, as Kansas State led 21-0 after the first quarter.

After another Florida Atlantic (1-2) turnover, Jesse Ertz started off the second quarter with a 12-yard touchdown run, just seven seconds in to make it 28-0 Wildcats. K-State (1-1) got two more rushing touchdowns in the period from Winston Dimel. Following a sack and fumble, his third score of the game came from a yard out with 7:02 left before the break to make it 35-0, and he scored with 26 seconds left before intermission on a three-yard plunge to give Kansas State a 42-0 lead at the break.

Not a whole lot of excitement in the third quarter, until the 2:50 mark of the third quarter, when Dominique Heath returned the punt 75 yards for a touchdown to give Kansas State a 49-0 lead.

The Owls would get on the board early in the fourth quarter, as Greg Howell punched it in from a yard out with 14:57 left to make the score 49-7. In the final period, Alex Delton scored his first career touchdown on a nine-yard run with 8:16 remaining, and with one minute left, Joe Hubener capped off the scoring with a six yard run to make the final 63-7, the most a Bill Snyder-coached team has scored since they scored 62 in a win vs Texas A&M in 2009.

Kansas State gained 495 yards of total offense, including 336 on the ground, the most in a game since 2012. Dalvin Warmack had eight carries for 90 yards, while redshirt freshman Alex Barnes added 73 yards on eight carries in his debut. Jesse Ertz was 8-13 for 117 yards with a touchdown, while Isaiah Harries had six catches for 46 yards.

Florida Atlantic had four turnovers and only 211 yards of offense. Jason Driskel, the younger brother of former Florida and Louisiana Tech quarterback Jeff Driskel, went 14-24 for 125 yards and threw two interceptions. His leading receiver was Kalib Woods, who had seven grabs for 82 yards. Kerrith Whyte led the ground attack for the Owls with 54 yards on 10 carries.

Kansas State closes their non conference schedule with a home game against Missouri State on Saturday at 6 pm. Florida Atlantic hosts Ball State on Saturday.

Coach Bill Snyder