Late TD pass gives No. 18 Kansas State a 31-28 win over Colorado

Avery Johnson hit Jayce Brown for a 50-yard TD with 2:14 to go to give No. 18 Kansas State a 31-28 win over Colorado.

Johnson’s TD pass to Brown came less than a minute after Colorado took a 28-24 lead with 3:12 to go on a TD pass from Shedeur Sanders to LaJohntay Wester. The Wildcats got to midfield after Colorado failed to cover RB DJ Giddens out of the backfield on a swing pass, and then Johnson found Brown on the very next play.

Colorado had a chance for a game-tying or go-ahead drive after Johnson’s TD pass, but the Buffaloes failed to get a first down. Sanders went deep to Will Sheppard on fourth down and the pass sailed out of bounds.

Sheppard was one of the top healthy receivers remaining for the Buffaloes at the end of the game. Colorado played the entire second half without star CB/WR Travis Hunter. He left the game in the first half with an apparent right shoulder injury and watched the final 30 minutes from the sideline.

In addition to Hunter, WR Jimmy Horn was injured in the first half and didn’t return. Omarion Miller stepped up in their absence and had eight catches for 145 yards. But he suffered a left leg injury on his eighth catch and had to be helped from the field. He didn’t return either.

Despite missing multiple receivers in the second half, Sanders was 34-of-40 passing for 388 yards and three TDs. However, Sanders did throw a costly interception in the second half when he sailed a pass that was intercepted by VJ Payne.

Sanders’ third TD pass of the game was the go-ahead score to Sheppard with just over three minutes to go. That was set up by a long interception return by Colton Hood — the man who replaced Hunter at corner — when the Wildcats elected to go for it on fourth down with just over four minutes to go.

Giddens rushed 25 times for 182 yards as Colorado’s lack of a running game reared its ugly head once again. Dallan Hayden was the team’s leading rusher with seven carries for 11 yards. Sanders was sacked six times and finished the game with minus-50 yards rushing.

Both teams are still in the thick of the Big 12 race, especially now that Utah has two losses. Iowa State and BYU are the only teams in the conference without a loss and Colorado plays neither team. Kansas State’s only loss of the season came to BYU and the Wildcats play the Cyclones in the final week of the season.