Joe Jackson’s Historic Night Spoiled by Fourth-Quarter Meltdown
BY Cole Deutschendorf | 365 Sports
Joe Jackson broke a 20-year-old Darren Sproles record for the most rushing yards in a game for a Wildcat, K-State set a record for the most rushing yards in a game in program history, and still, K-State was sent home from Rice-Eccles Stadium with a loss in heartbreaking fashion, falling 51-47 to Utah on the road. In a season full of injuries, this may have been the final insult. K-State had a 12-point lead with seven minutes left in the game, trying to upset a team that still has an outside shot at making the College Football Playoff. They were a two-point conversion away from making it a two-touchdown lead.
But a tip-drill interception returned for two points for the Utes, a Utah 20-yard touchdown pass, and then a 7-play, 70-yard touchdown drive in a minute and a half gave the Utes their four-point lead with 54 seconds remaining. Wildcat quarterback Avery Johnson would throw the interception that sealed the deal on the second play of the drive, allowing Utah to kneel it out and keep their Big 12 Championship and CFP hopes alive.
There were plenty of positives for the Wildcats in this game, no doubt. As previously mentioned, Joe Jackson ran for a program-record 293 yards on the ground. The team finished with 472 total. The defense had a timely forced fumble, with Jackson notching his third of three scores on the ground on K-State’s first play after the turnover. And yet, as it has so often this season, the game unraveled quickly thereafter.
K-State had a chance to put the game on ice with a couple of first downs late in the fourth quarter. But Avery Johnson was sacked on first down, Joe Jackson could only muster two yards on second and a six-yard completion from Johnson to wide receiver Jaron Tibbs left the Wildcats three yards short of a first down. They would punt, and the rest was history.
It was a crushing loss in a season full of them. Five of the six losses the Wildcats sustained this year were one-possession games. They’ve led by double-digits and lost on multiple occasions. But this one was different. No one believed K-State could even compete with Utah on the road, let alone win. The Wildcats would push Utah harder than any team not named Texas Tech and BYU. But they ultimately came up short.
The Wildcats now have one more chance to become bowl-eligible. It’ll be against former Big 8 foe Colorado, which has had a very disappointing season in its own right. The Buffaloes, who sit at 3-8 overall and 1-7 in Big 12 play, have been outscored by 113 points in their last four games. They sport one of the worst run defenses not only in the Big 12, but in all of FBS. Perhaps K-State will take out some of its frustrations on Colorado. They’ll need to make it to another bowl game.