Keenan Garber wowed K-State fans and Arizona’s quarterback with this ‘fantastic’ play

The decibel levels at Bill Snyder Family Stadium spiked last week when Keenan Garber zoomed in front of a pass from Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita and grabbed an interception that turned out to be a game-changing play for Kansas State.

Not only did he create an important turnover for his team, he did so in the end zone and prevented the opposition from getting points on what looked to be a promising drive when the score was tied early in the second quarter.

A sellout crowd of 51,920 purple-clad supporters were cheering just for Garber. Fun as that moment was, he actually received higher praise when the night was over and K-State had secured a 31-7 victory.

Fans cheer for you at home whenever anything good happens. But you really know you played well when the other team also gives you flowers.

“That was a coverage that we prepared for all week long,” Fifita said afterward. “And I thought I saw the middle safety drop off on the play-fake. I thought I could hit (Malachi Riley) behind that second window. But great play by the corner falling off, that’s really all there is to it. Fantastic job by him.”

Garber’s first interception of the 2024 season was impressive for several reasons.

For starters, Garber lined up at the line of scrimmage 30 yards in front of the end zone and it looked like he was going to defend top Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan in man coverage. But Garber was actually playing zone coverage, and his job was to backtrack and prevent any pass from being completed on the right side of the field.

This made it appear as though Arizona wideout Malachi Riley was wide open as he streaked up the middle and into the end zone. K-State didn’t have a defender within 10 yards of Riley in any direction.

It’s easy to see why Fifita targeted him with confidence. It would have been a touchdown against many defenses. But Garber used his speed to make the open space around Riley disappear and he undercut the pass for a pick.

“I saw the pass go up,” Garber said, “and I knew I had to go get it.”

To recap: Garber ran all the way from the 30-yard line to the middle of the end zone to intercept a pass that was intended for a receiver no one could have expected him to defend.

No wonder K-State coach Chris Klieman called it one of the two biggest plays of the game.

“He was in a deep third on a zone, and the other safety was converging as well,” Klieman said. “He read the quarterback’s eyes, and Keenan has got a second gear. For him to go jump that thing was a big-time play.”

Garber’s teammates were still talking about that play this week.

It hasn’t been a perfect season for Garber or the K-State defense, as the Wildcats have allowed opponents to pass for an average of 236 yards through three games. But moments like that remind you that he is maturing into a playmaker.

“It was just a game changer,” K-State safety Marquis Sigle said. “We needed that turnover just to keep them off balance and get them sidetracked and make them adjust. We were mostly getting on top of them after that, because now we were getting to them with our looks and our disguises.

“That was the biggest thing right there, because we were playing a lot of man at the beginning, and then to come with a zone right there was perfect timing.”