Kansas State’s astonishing loss against Houston didn’t come down to a single play, but it sure felt that way in the aftermath of a 24-19 defeat on Saturday at TDECU Stadium.

The Wildcats were in complete control of the football game with less than 13 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. They held a 19-10 lead and they possessed the ball at their own 12-yard line. K-State was in position to clinch a victory with a scoring drive or maybe even a few first downs. It also could have won by punting and playing strong defense against a team that wasn’t doing much of anything on offense in rainy conditions.

But Chris Klieman’s squad was unable to do any of those things. Why? Because the Wildcats decided to get aggressive and asked sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson to throw the ball. That led to a costly interception that Houston returned to the 9-yard line and quickly turned into a touchdown when Zeon Chriss found Maliq Carr in the end zone.

All of a sudden, K-State’s lead was down to 19-17 and Houston had life. And momentum.

The Cougars took advantage a few minutes later when Chriss scampered 41-yards into the end zone with 2:31 left.

“Really frustrating,” K-State linebacker Austin Romaine said.

“We let it slip away,” wide receiver Keagan Johnson added.

“It really just starts with that interception and giving them the ball in plus territory,” Avery Johnson said. “They score right there and I put our defense in a horrible position. Then they score again.”

Johnson took blame for the loss. He threw another costly interception late in the fourth quarter when the Wildcats were attempting to score a go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes. The game ended with Johnson throwing an unsuccessful Hail Mary pass out the back of the end zone and Houston fans rushing the field to celebrate.

K-State lost to a team that gained 232 yards in large part because of its own mistakes.

Johnson wishes he could have that one play back.

Here’s what happened: K-State was facing a second-and-eight from its own 12. Offensive coordinator Conor Riley called a run-pass option that gave Johnson the ability to hand the ball off to his running back, keep the ball for a run of his own or throw to a receiver. He read the defense and saw Keagan Johnson getting open to his left, so he decided to throw the ball that way.

But his pass was off the mark, and Houston defender Jeremiah Wilson came up with a game-changing turnover.

“I had a guy in my window and I was trying to throw around him and just led Keagan a little bit too much,” Avery Johnson said. “I have got be better right there and not put the ball in jeopardy, and especially not give them the ball in plus territory.”

Some K-State fans might wonder why Johnson had the green light to throw in that situation.

But Klieman defended the call, saying the Wildcats only averaged 2.6 yards when they ran the ball. He also didn’t feel comfortable going ultra conservative because a punt would have been into the wind and likely given Houston the ball at midfield.

“We weren’t running the ball a lick,” Klieman said. “We were getting 1 yard, getting 2 yards. He made an errant throw, and it happened. But there was a pretty stiff wind that we were going into. I don’t want to give them the ball at the (9), but our inability to rush the football makes it harder to throw.”

In any case, the rest of the game was a masterclass of how to lose a football game from K-State. That was surprising for a team that entered the weekend having won all three of its previous games that were decided by one score. Many people used the word “clutch” to define this team. Until now.

Houston scored the final 14 points of the night and improved to 4-5 on the season with a Big 12 record of 3-3.

K-State dropped to 7-2 and 4-2 in the Big 12. The Wildcats are now in a tie for fourth place in the conference standings. But they could have jumped into a tie for second thanks to a win from Texas Tech at Iowa State.

The Wildcats remain in the hunt for a conference championship, but they can’t afford any more blown leads if they want to hoist a trophy at the end of this season.