Zeon Chriss passed for 103 yards and a touchdown without any incompletions as Houston came back in the fourth quarter to defeat No. 17 Kansas State 24-19 on Saturday.
Starting the fourth quarter down 19-10, Chriss connected with Maliq Carr for a 1-yard touchdown with 11 minutes remaining. After forcing a punt, Chriss sprinted for a 41-yard touchdown with just 2:31 left in the game.
Chriss completed 11 of 11 passes, rushed for 75 yards, and caught an 8-yard pass.
“We’ve faced a lot (of adversity) this season,” Chriss said. “We were trying to stay positive and trust in the defense. The defense told us, ‘We got y’all,’ and we got them.”
Linebacker Michael Batton intercepted Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson on the following drive.
After Houston (4-5, 3-3 Big 12) had to punt with 40 seconds left, the Wildcats moved to the Cougars’ 39-yard line with 4 seconds on the clock, but Johnson’s throw was knocked out of the end zone.
“We didn’t play a perfect game, but we played well enough to win, and that’s what matters,” said Houston coach Willie Fritz.
This victory was Houston’s first against a ranked team since defeating No. 19 SMU 44-37 on October 30, 2021. “They’re going to start believing,” Fritz said about Houston’s second straight win by one possession. “We got to keep going.”
The loss ended Kansas State’s four-game winning streak.
Wildcats coach Chris Klieman mentioned that his team didn’t play “with good enough fundamentals and techniques” and pointed out their struggle to run the ball, finishing with only 89 rushing yards.
“We weren’t running the ball a lick,” Klieman said. “Our inability to rush the football makes it harder to throw.”
Avery Johnson completed 23 of 39 passes for 238 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He connected with Keagan Johnson for a 7-yard touchdown pass just before halftime, giving the Wildcats (7-2, 4-2) a 16-10 lead at the break. Keagan Johnson also had 76 receiving yards.
“It just felt like we were flat offensively,” Avery Johnson said. “We couldn’t get anything going. We stalled a lot in the second half. We didn’t really play collectively as well as we wanted to.”
DJ Giddens rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown as Kansas State outgained the Cougars 327-232.
“I don’t want to take anything away from them, but I feel like we let it slip away,” Keagan Johnson said. “They’re a good team. They played better today. It comes down to that. We didn’t execute when we needed to.”
The game was delayed for 55 minutes at the start due to lightning.
