WACO, Texas — The number one team in the BCS suffered an unthinkable end to an unbelievable season on Saturday night, as the Kansas State Wildcats lost 52-24 to the Baylor Bears at Floyd Casey Stadium.
The Wildcats (10-1, 7-1 Big 12) played out of character for most of the night. They turned the ball over three times, and were penalized seven times for 60 yards. Baylor racked up 580 total yards on offense.
The Bears (5-5, 2-5 Big 12) drew first blood with 13:04 to play in the first quarter, as senior quarterback Nick Florence found junior wide receiver Tevin Reese for a 38-yard touchdown pass to put Baylor up 7-0.
Kansas State answered with an 8-yd TD pass from senior QB Collin Klein to junior WR Torell Miller to tie it up at 7-7.
Baylor responded by going on a scoring spree. Florence’s 12-yd rushing TD put the Bears back up 14-7 at the end of the first quarter. With 6:42 in the second quarter, Florence hit senior WR Terrance Williams for a 22-yd TD pass that extended the lead to 21-7.
The outlook looked even scarier for K-State moments later, when a two-yard rushing TD by junior running back Glasco Martin gave the Bears a hefty 28-7 lead with 2:54 left in the second quarter. K-State cut the deficit to 28-17 before the half, thanks to a seven-yard TD pass from Klein to senior WR Chris Harper, and a 23-yd FG.
The game was still manageable for most of the third quarter, but K-State couldn’t stop Baylor’s onslaught of offense. Martin’s third rushing TD on the day put the Bears up 45-24 with 4:32 to play in the third.
At the end of the third, sophomore RB Lache Seastrunk put the nail in the coffin with an 80-yd TD run that gave Baylor a 52-24 lead.
Klein completed 27 of 50 passes for 286 yards, with two TD’s and three interceptions. He also had 17 carries for 39 yards and one rushing TD. Klein had thrown just three interceptions in the Wildcats’ previous 10 games.
K-State returns home to take on the 18th-ranked Texas Longhorns at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in two weeks.
