Jake Waters came up big in Kansas State's big win over West Virginia. (Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports)
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Quarterback Jake Waters passed for 400 yards to help No. 12 Kansas State hold off West Virginia 26-20 on Thursday night and keep its Big 12 championship hopes alive.
Waters, noted as much for his running as his passing, completed 22 of 33 attempts and threw one touchdown pass. The senior was held to 13 yards rushing on 12 carries and Kansas State managed just 1 yard on the ground in 29 attempts.
Tyler Lockett again proved to be both Waters’ favorite target and too much for West Virginia to handle as he returned a punt for a touchdown and caught 10 passes for 196 yards. The senior wide receiver has six touchdowns against West Virginia in the last three seasons.
He also became the first player in Kansas State history with two 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
Matthew McCane kicked four field goals for Kansas State (8-2, 6-1), which moved into a first-place tie with No. 5 TCU atop the Big 12 standings, a half-game ahead of No. 7 Baylor.
The Wildcats bounced back with a road win after their hopes of being selected to play in the inaugural College Football Playoff suffered a big blow in their previous game, a loss at TCU on Nov. 8.
West Virginia (6-5, 4-4) saw its late-season slide continue with its third straight loss.
Senior quarterback Clint Trickett, the Big 12 leader in passing yardage, struggled in his final game at Milan Puskar Stadium before leaving with a concussion after the Mountaineers’ first possession of the third quarter. He was intercepted twice while completing just 12 of 25 passes for 112 yards.
Skyler Howard replaced Trickett and the sophomore quarterback engineered an eight-play, 79-yard drive that ended with his 7-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Kevin White to draw West Virginia to within 10 points, 20-10, with 6:24 remaining in the third quarter.
After McCane kicked a 19-yard field with 2:13 left in the third quarter, West Virginia cut the lead to 23-17 with 7:23 to go as wide receiver Mario Alford hauled in a 53-yard touchdown pass from Howard.
However, McCane’s 32-yard field goal with 2:32 remaining made it a two-score game.
West Virginia settled for a 25-yard field goal by kicker Josh Lambert to cut the score with 26-20 with 53 seconds left, but Kansas State fullback Glenn Gronkowski recovered an onside kick attempt to seal the victory.
McCane also had a third field goal in the second half, a 44-yarder with 9:29 left in the third quarter that seemed to give Kansas State a comfortable 23-3 lead.
In addition to the two touchdowns passes, Howard was 15 of 23 for 198 yards but couldn’t help West Virginia overcome four turnovers.
Kansas State took a 17-3 lead into halftime as Lockett returned a punt 43 yards for a touchdown with 1:12 left in the second quarter.
The Wildcats had a chance for more points after cornerback Randall Evans intercepted a pass, but McCane’s 34-yard field goal attempt was blocked by defensive lineman Kyle Rose as time expired.
Kansas State scored on its first possession with Walters throwing a 7-yard touchdown pass to running back DeMarcus Robinson with 8:57 left in the first quarter.
The teams exchanged field goals in the second quarter. McCane hit from 36 yards to extend Kansas State’s lead to 10-0 and Lambert countered with a 47-yarder.
Lambert missed from 36 yards later in the quarter after an apparent tying touchdown pass from Trickett to White was overturned by video review.
NOTES: Two NFL general managers — the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Kevin Colbert and St. Louis Rams’ Les Snead — were in attendance along with scouts from five other teams. The players they were most likely watching were West Virginia WR Kevin White and Kansas State CB Danzell McDanell, WR Tyler Lockett, OT Tyler Whitehair and CB Randall Evans. … White is projected to be a first-round draft pick and is ranked as the second-best draft-eligible wide receiver by NFLDraftScout.com behind Alabama’s Amari Cooper. … West Virginia concludes its regular season on Nov. 29 with a game at Iowa State. Kansas State visits Kansas the same day before hosting Baylor on Dec. 6 in its regular-season finale.
