Five takeaways from Kansas State’s mistake-filled loss against BYU in Big 12 opener

For years, Kansas State has been known as a football team that never beats itself.

That changed during a humbling 38-9 loss against BYU on Saturday in front of 64,201 at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

The No. 14 Wildcats shot themselves in the proverbial foot time and time against the Cougars, and they paid a price for it.

K-State (3-1, 0-1 Big 12) suffered its first loss of the season and watched in disbelief as BYU (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) ran away with things for a lopsided win that was played late at night in the mountains of Utah.

BYU coach Kalani Sitake and the Cougars deserve credit for taking advantage of K-State’s miscues. They were clearly the better team. But it’s worth pointing out that the Wildcats were outplaying them and leading 6-3 late in the second quarter before Chris Klieman’s squad committed a calamity of errors.

A quick recap of the plays that went against K-State:

• DJ Giddens lost a fumble and BYU safety Tommy Prassas returned the loose ball for a touchdown.

• Avery Johnson threw an interception and BYU immediately scored a touchdown on offense.

• Johnson threw another pick and BYU scored another touchdown on offense.

• BYU sophomore Parker Kingston returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown.

Just like that, K-State went from leading 6-3 to trailing 31-6 in the span of 6 minutes, 25 seconds of game action.

There was no coming back from that.

Next up for the Wildcats is a home game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Until then, here are some takeaways from Saturday’s action.

Avery Johnson showed his age

It was bound to happen eventually.

Avery Johnson began his time as Kansas State’s starting quarterback with four straight victories, starting with an impressive win over North Carolina State at the Pop-Tarts Bowl last year. But the sophomore was going to encounter adversity at some point.

The time came on Saturday night in front of a rowdy crowd of BYU fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

He did not respond well.

Johnson threw an interception late in the second quarter and then did the exact same thing when he got the ball back at the beginning of the third quarter. Both of his throws were ill-advised and led to fantastic field position for BYU, which the Cougars parlayed into a pair of easy touchdowns.

Johnson had a solid day as a runner, as he finished the game with 74 yards on 11 carries. But he was not sharp as a passer. His stat line: 15-of-28 for 130 yards with two picks and no touchdowns.

This was his first forgettable game in a purple uniform.

Perhaps that should have been expected, as this was the first loud road environment he has encountered, and he has only made five starts. You could chalk up his mistakes to growing pains.

Klieman could tell Johnson was a little off, so he offered him a hug and some words of encouragement as they walked off the field together at the end of the second quarter.

It will be interesting to see how he responds from a game like this. K-State will need him to be on top of his game against the Cowboys.

The end of the first half was a disaster for K-State

As mentioned above, things were shaping up nicely for the Wildcats when they gained possession with 2 minutes, 10 seconds remaining in the first half. They were leading 6-3 and were set to receive the opening kickoff of the third quarter.

At worst, it looked like K-State was going to take a lead into the locker room. At best, it looked like K-State was going to go ahead by two scores.

Then disaster struck.

Giddens lost a fumble while he was trying to get to the edge for a third-down conversion and Prassas scooped up the loose ball. He then ran 30 yards for an easy touchdown that gave the Cougars an unexpected 10-6 lead with 1:08 remaining in the second quarter.

But things were about to get worse. The Wildcats opted to stay aggressive when they got the ball back, and Johnson threw a bad interception that gave the ball back to the Cougars in excellent field position. Once again, BYU took advantage when Jake Retzlaff found Chase Roberts in the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown.

Just like that, BYU surged ahead 17-6 with three scores in the span of 1 minute, 41 seconds.

Those are the types of momentum-changing plays that typically go in favor of K-State. But they worked against the Wildcats on Saturday and put them in a hole.

Chris Klieman has never started 4-0 at K-State

This was always going to be a tricky game for the Wildcats, given it was played on the road against a solid opponent in a hostile environment.

But it’s also worth noting that K-State rarely makes it this far into a season without taking at least one loss.

Klieman has never started 4-0 with the Wildcats. You have to go all the way back to 2012 to find a 4-0 start in the K-State media guide.

Life as a road favorite has also been unkind to K-State in recent years. The Wildcats lost to Missouri and Oklahoma State when they were expected to win last season. This was another setback. The oddsmakers had K-State by a touchdown against BYU.

K-State lost a tight end to injury

Brayden Loftin caught a pass for seven yards on K-State’s opening drive and then spent the remainder of the game watching from the sidelines.

The sophomore tight end suffered an injury to his lower body and was unable to return.

His absence was notable given how often Johnson has targeted his tight ends this season, particularly in the red zone. His status will be worth monitoring heading into next week.

BYU has an impressive home-field advantage

This might turn out to be one of the best road environments that K-State will play in all season.

The Cougars have a good game day atmosphere. Their fans were ready for this one. That was most obvious by looking at the student section on the south end of the stadium. It was jam-packed more than an hour before kickoff. And the stands remained full deep into the fourth quarter.

BYU is a new member in the Big 12 but its stadium is just as loud as many of the places that the Wildcats have visited for years.

Throw in late kickoffs and altitude and it’s easy to see why the Cougars are hard to beat in Provo.