LIVE Game Story: #20/19 K-State rolls in opener, 55-19

Want to talk about the game with other Wildcat fans? Official game thread on our premium message board (The Foundation) is linked here.

Kansas State opened up its 2017 season at home Saturday night against FCS opponent Central Arkansas inside of Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The Wildcats (No. 20 AP/19 Coaches) used a 96-yard kickoff return from cornerback D.J. Redd to set itself up at UCA's 4-yard line, and it took just two plays for sophomore running back Alex Barnes to dent the end zone for the first score of the year, giving the Wildcats a quick 7-0 lead with 13:58 still left in the first quarter.

It was just the start of the offensive explosion for Coach Bill Snyder's Wildcats.

The Bears were able to respond and move the ball on their first drive, aided by an offsides penalty that keep their drive alive after initially failing to convert a third down. Quarterback Hayden Hildebrand was the difference, as he completed a throw on the replayed third down to convert, and then picked up another first down on an option run later in the drive. Junior cornerback Duke Shelly broke up a throw on another third down to stall the drive, but UCA converted on a 47-yard field goal to close the gap to 7-3 with 10:39 left in the first.

K-State failed to put points on the board the ensuing possession - Matthew McCrane missed a 50-yard field goal try - but the Wildcat defense immediately forced a three-and-out in large part thanks to a sack by linebacker Jayd Kirby. An 18-yard punt set the Wildcat offense up with excellent field position at the UCA 41, and on his second try of the game McCrane drilled a 53-yard field goal to extend K-State's lead to 10-3 with 4:41 remaining in the opening period.

To the Bears credit, they weren't phased by either of the Wildcats first two drives, immediately answering again. An offense that showed a little bit of everything - screens, draws, options, etc. - used a well designed option that got slot receiver Brandon Cox into the open and into the end zone on a 37-yard touchdown run to tie it at 10-10.

The back-and-forth action continued, as a trio of receivers made plays on the next K-State drive to give the Wildcats the lead back. Sophomore Isaiah Harris used a big catch-and-run on third down to keep the drive alive, before a reverse to Byron Pringle took K-State inside the 10-yard line. The drive was capped off with quarterback Jess Ertz's first touchdown pass of the year to another sophomore, Isaiah Zuber, from eight yards out.

The track meet rolled on in the second quarter. UCA's offense marched down the field methodically, using 12 plays to move 75 yards to dent the end zone again. The score came on a pass from Hildebrand that beat Shelley in the back right corner of the end zone. The extra point was missed, however, leaving the Wildcats ahead 17-16 with nine minutes to play in the first half.

Pringle showed off his ability when the Wildcats regained possession. Pringle caught the ball on a come-back at the 38-yard line and immediately made his defender miss before cruising into the end zone. McCrane's extra point extended the Wildcats lead to 24-16.

Reed impacted two areas of the game with roughly four minutes left to play in the first half to create some separation. First, he made an open-field tackle on a key third down play for UCA to force a punt, then took that punt back for a touchdown to ignite the crowd and give K-State a 31-16 lead.

K-State continue to open things up right before the half, as Ertz connected on his best throw of the evening, a 70-yard scoring strike to sophomore Dalton Schoen that put Ertz over the 200-yard passing mark with three scores in the first two quarters. Those would be the final points of the half, as K-State went into the locker room leading 38-16.

Ertz started the second half much like he finished the first - scorching hot. He connected with Pringle on a 48-yard bomb on the Wildcats first drive of the second half, pushing his career-high passing night over the 250-yard mark. Unfortunately for the Wildcats their drive stalled after the big pass play, but they still tacked on points with a short McCrane field goal to make it 41-16.

UCA was able to put together it's own long scoring drive late in the third quarter, but the Bears had to settle for a field goal to trim the lead to 41-19. To make matters worse, the points were immediately erased by a 69-yard touchdown bomb from Ertz to Harris. Ertz fourth passing score of the evening gave him 333 yards on 10-of-16 attempts through the air.

After forcing a turnover on defense, the Wildcat offense turned to a number of reserves who kept that unit rolling. Freshman quarterback Skylar Thompson made his debut in relief of Ertz and ripped off an 18-yard run on his first snap, culminating the run by barreling through a defender attempting to make a tackle. Another 18-yard run, this one from junior tailback Dalvin Warmack, got K-State into the end zone and stretched the Wildcat lead to 55-19.