KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After great throws, clutch catches and back-and-forth momentum swings, everything came down to one guy making one play that hardly anyone would expect.
With Iowa State needing just an extra point to tie the game with 32 seconds left Saturday, Kansas State’s Emmanuel Lamur blocked the kick and the Wildcats escaped with a 24-23 victory at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.
Austen Arnaud had thrown a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jake Williams, who beat two defenders in the end zone and brought Iowa State to within a point. All the Cyclones needed was Grant Mahoney’s 48th consecutive extra point.
“Actually, the rotation of the ball, it was very good,” said Lamur, a 6-foot-4 defensive back who also blocked a field goal earlier in the season.
“It was straight down the middle,” Lamur said. “I was like, ‘Man, I’ve got to block this.’ I’m very confident in myself. We went all out, and we blocked the kick.”
Both quarterbacks made enormous plays in a wild fourth quarter.
Grant Gregory, a surprise starter, threw two touchdown passes in the final period for Kansas State.
Arnaud, before his perfectly thrown TD pass to Williams, kept the Cyclones alive with a 22-yard completion to Marquis Hamilton on fourth-and-5.
But as coaches were preparing their overtime strategy, Lamur stepped in and ensured the win for the Wildcats.
Five minutes earlier, the Cyclones almost had Gregory sacked for a huge loss before he twisted away and connected with Brandon Banks on a 54-yard TD play that put the Wildcats on top 24-17.
It was the first PAT that Mahoney has missed.
“I was shocked because I thought I hit it fine and I thought we were going into overtime,” he said.
Ark. 47, Texas A&M 19
ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas A&M’s Jerrod Johnson was 30-of-58 for 345 yards and two touchdowns, with most of the numbers piled up mostly after the Aggies fell way behind as they had their three-game winning streak snapped.
A&M gained 458 total yards, well below the nation-leading 574.3 it was averaging. The defense gave up nearly as many points in one game as it had in the previous three games combined and had only two sacks, both in the opening minutes, after coming in with a national-best 4.7 per game.
Texas Tech 48, New Mexico 28
LUBBOCK, Texas — Backup quarterback Steven Sheffield threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns and New Mexico lost its ninth straight dating to last season.
Taylor Potts, the nation’s leading passer, left the game before halftime after two hard sacks appeared to affect his balance. Officials from Texas Tech declined to comment on his injury.
Baylor 31, Kent State 15
WACO, Texas — Freshman third-string quarterback Nick Florence rushed for two touchdowns in his first career start and Baylor won its first game without standout Robert Griffin. Blake Szymanski, who was expected to start at quarterback, did not play after missing significant practice time this week because of a bruised shoulder.
