2009 Kansas State Wildcats football team The 2009 Kansas State Wildcats football team ( variously " Kansas State " , " KSU " , " K - State " , or " Wildcats " ) represented Kansas State University in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The Wildcats played their home games in Bill Snyder Family Stadium , in Manhattan , Kansas as they have done since 1968 . It was the 114th season in school history . The non - conference schedule kicked off with a home game against the UMass Minutemen , and culminated with the second trip in school history to Los Angeles , California to play UCLA in the Rose Bowl . ( They played at USC in 2001 ) . The Big 12 Conference schedule began with a trip to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City , Missouri to play the Iowa State Cyclones . It was K - State ' s third trip to Arrowhead Stadium to play a regular season game . They played the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Eddie Robinson Classic in 2000 and the California Golden Bears in the BCA Classic in 2003 . Kansas State has also participated in two Big 12 Championship Game s at Arrowhead Stadium , in 2000 and 2003 . They finished the regular season on November 21 with a trip to Lincoln , Nebraska and faced the Nebraska Cornhuskers . Pre - season . Bill Snyder returned to the sidelines as head coach after three years of retirement . He replaced Ron Prince , the man who replaced him in 2005 . This is Snyder ' s 18th season as the Wildcats ' head coach . He was rehired to the position on November 24 , 2008 , making him one of the few college football head coaches to have non - consecutive tenure at the same school . He compiled a 136 - 68 - 1 record from 1988 – 2005 in his previous stint , considered by most as the greatest turnaround in college football history . In 57 seasons prior to Snyder ' s arrival , Kansas State ' s football program had only been able to muster 137 wins , one more than Snyder won in just 17 seasons there . Kansas State was picked by some publications to have a record of 8 - 4 , or as low as 5 - 7 , with a 2 - 6 record in conference play . Carson Coffman won the starting quarterback role during the pre - season but lost his job to Grant Gregory at the start of conference play . Deon Murphy left the team in the offseason for personal reasons . The Wildcats lost three - year starter , Josh Freeman who was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 17th pick in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft . Schedule . ! colspan = 8 | Non - conference Schedule ! colspan = 8 | Big 12 Schedule Game notes . Massachusetts . The season opener against the UMASS Minutemen marked the return of head coach Bill Snyder , and was dubbed as the Kansas State " Family Reunion " . Over 300 former Kansas State players were in attendance , and 50 , 750 fans ( the largest crowd to witness a season opener in Manhattan ) watched the Wildcats beat UMASS 21 - 17 . K - State quarterback Carson Coffman completed 14 out of 27 passes , totaling to 182 yards , including two passing touchdowns and a rushing score . This was the second all - time meeting between the Wildcats and Minutemen , the Wildcats now own the series 2 - 0 . Louisiana Lafayette . This was the first ever trip for the Wildcats to Lafayette , Louisiana . K - State was favored by 7 points going into the game . Tyler Albrecht ' s first career field goal attempt was a memorable one as the junior nailed a 48 - yarder with 32 seconds left to give Louisiana - Lafayette a 17 - 15 victory over Kansas State . The Ragin ' Cajuns , unbeaten through their first two games for the first time since 1990 , trailed 15 - 14 before driving from their 33 to the Kansas State 30 . Louisiana - Lafayette had only two first downs in the second half before quarterback Chris Masson completed four passes for 30 yards in the final drive . Kansas State ( 1 - 1 ) rallied from a 14 - 2 deficit with two fourth - quarter touchdowns . Wildcat running back Daniel Thomas threw for one score and ran for one , throwing a 3 - yard jump pass to Jeron Mastrud off a direct snap on the first play of the final quarter . Seven minutes later , Thomas capped an 86 - yard drive with a 3 - yard run , and Josh Cherry hit the extra point for the 15 - 14 lead with 8 : 08 left . Thomas finished with 136 rushing yards , 92 in the second half . The Wildcats took a 2 - 0 lead when Masson ran out of his own end zone after a bad snap with 2 : 43 left in the opening quarter . Masson , who finished 20 - for - 36 for 185 yards , came back to guide the Ragin ' Cajuns on a 61 - yard drive that was capped by Undrea Sails ' 9 - yard touchdown run with 9 : 37 left in the first half . Louisiana - Lafayette drove 73 yards in the final 2 : 19 of the half to take a 14 - 2 halftime lead on Masson ' s 1 - yard pass to Luke Aubrey . The Ragin ' Cajuns had three first - half turnovers , but the Wildcats couldn ' t take advantage despite having five first - half possessions in Ragin ' Cajun territory . Kansas State was 0 - for - 8 on third - down conversions in the first half . UCLA . UCLA had a 2 - 0 record at game time , winning over San Diego State 33 - 14 at home and beating Tennessee 19 - 15 on the road . UCLA was favored by 11½ points going into the game in the Rose Bowl . It was the first ever game between the two schools . Senior quarterback Kevin Craft took over from injured Kevin Prince for the Bruins . Craft passed for 186 yards and a touchdown to lead the Bruins to a 23 - 9 victory over the Wildcats . Freshman Johnathan Franklin rushed for a career - best 119 yards on 23 carries and Kai Forbath kicked three field goals in the victory . Craft completed 13 of 24 passes with one interception including a game - clinching 51 - yard scoring pass to Terrence Austin with 6 : 18 remaining . Josh Cherry kicked a 26 - yard field goal in the first quarter and Daniel Thomas had a 7 - yard run in the third quarter for the Wildcats . Ryan Doerr ' s PAT pass failed . UCLA ' s one fumble loss and eight penalties for 80 yards were the ugly part of the victory . The Wildcats had two fumbles and four penalties for 50 yards . Alterra Verner had two interceptions and returned them for 47 yards for the Bruins . Tennessee Tech . Senior Brandon Banks became the 12th player in NCAA history , including the first Big 12 player , to return two kickoff for touchdowns in the same game , as Kansas State rolled past Tennessee Tech , 49 - 7 Bill Snyder Family Stadium . Banks , whose 303 all - purpose yards ranks fifth in school history , broke a 7 - all tie with a 91 - yard kick return with 2 : 28 remaining in the first quarter then jump - started the second half with a 92 - yard return to give the Wildcats a 28 - 7 lead . Banks also had three receptions for 90 yards , including an electrifying 64 - yard reception to set up a 2 - yard score by junior running back Daniel Thomas in the second quarter . The last player to achieve the feat of two kickoff returns for touchdowns was UCLA ' s Brandon Breazell against Northwestern in the Sun Bowl on Dec . 30 , 2005 . Banks ' banner day overshadowed another fine outing by Thomas , who recorded his third 100 - yard rushing game of the season with a career - high 139 yards to go with two touchdowns . Two other rushers - seniors Keithen Valentine ( 73 yards on 10 carries ) and Grant Gregory ( 58 yards on nine carries ) - tallied 50 or more yards to help the Wildcats post their highest rushing total since 2005 . Junior quarterback Carson Coffman was also solid on the day , completing 8 - of - 9 passes for 131 yards . He also capped K - State ' s second offensive scoring drive with a 5 - yard score in the second quarter . Backup signal caller Grant Gregory saw his most significant action of the season , playing most of the third and fourth quarters . Gregory was a perfect 2 - of - 2 passing for 21 yards to go with 58 yards rushing . He scored his first career touchdown as a Wildcat on a one - yard run with 10 : 50 left in the fourth quarter that capped the scoring . The Kansas State offense finished with a season - high 49 points , which was four more than it had totaled in its three previous games of the season . The squad also collected season bests for total yards ( 448 ) and rushing yards ( 296 ) . The 296 yards rushing were the most since the Wildcats had 305 yards against North Texas on Sept . 24 , 2005 . The defense was again stellar on the afternoon , holding the Golden Eagles to just 107 yards of total offense including negative 19 yards rushing to go with three sacks . It was the fewest yards yielded an opponent since allowing 53 yards against Ball State on Sept . 16 , 2000 , while it was lowest rushing output by an foe since Baylor had minus 37 yards rushing on Oct . 26 , 2002 . Iowa State . Iowa State was favored by 2 points going into the game . Kansas State sophomore defensive back Emmanuel Lamur blocked the tying extra - point with 32 seconds remaining to help Kansas State earn its first Big 12 win with a 24 - 23 victory over Iowa State at Arrowhead Stadium . Senior quarterback Grant Gregory threw two fourth - quarter touchdowns in his first career start as a Wildcat , completing 16 of 23 passes for 206 yards to go with 29 yards rushing on 14 carries and one touchdown . The go - ahead score came with 5 : 36 remaining in the game in which Gregory rolled out to avoid the rush before hitting senior wideout Brandon Banks on a 54 - yard strike . Junior running back Daniel Thomas nearly collected his fourth 100 - yard game of the season , posting 96 yards on 25 carries . He also had five catches for 38 yards , including a 13 - yard catch . Banks , the reigning Big 12 Special Teams of the Week , totaled 164 of all - purpose yards , including four catches for 66 yards and a touchdown and three kickoffs for 67 yards . The offenses were nearly identical with Iowa State ( 3 - 2 , 0 - 1 Big 12 ) holding a narrow advantage on total yards , 371 - 360 . The Wildcats ( 3 - 2 , 1 - 0 Big 12 ) had 206 yards passing to go with 154 yards on the ground . Once again , K - State held the edge in time of possession ( 33 : 33 to 26 : 27 ) and converted eight of 16 third - down conversions . Gregory got the scoring started with a 2 - yard run to cap a 13 - play , 89 - yard drive on its opening possession that consumed seven minutes of the first quarter . Thomas got the ball on the first five possession and totaled 30 yards on seven rushes . Iowa State responded with a 32 - yard field goal from Grant Mahoney with 9 : 39 left in the second quarter then took a 10 - 7 lead on a 22 - yard touchdown pass from Austen Arnaud to Derrick Catlett with 3 : 55 left in the quarter . However , the Wildcats tied the score at 10 - all with a 39 - yard field goal from Josh Cherry just five seconds before the half . Gregory was stellar on the 10 - play , 48 - yard drive , completing four of seven passes for 39 yards . He hit senior Attrail Snipes for a 24 - yard touchdown on a key third down play to put the Wildcats in Iowa State territory . The third quarter belonged to the Cyclones , who went ahead 17 - 10 on a 3 - yard run by Arnaud that capped a 12 - play , 80 - yard drive . However , just minutes into the fourth quarter , sophomore David Garrett forced a fumble after a 12 - yard catch by Derrick Catlett and Tysyn Hartman recovered on the Iowa State 36 . Seven plays later , on third and goal from the 16 , Gregory connected on a 16 - yard pass to wideout Lamark Brown tie the game up at 17 apiece . K - State then went ahead on the dramatic 54 - yard catch by Banks with 5 : 36 remaining in the game . After the Wildcat defense forced a third - and - out , K - State tried to run out the clock with a six - play drive that cut the time to 1 : 49 . However , Arnaud converted a key 4 - and - 5 play with a 22 - yard pass completion to Marqui Hamilton for a first down at the Kansas State 23 . He then connected on a 23 - yard strike to Jake Williams over two defenders to cut the deficit to 24 - 23 . On the next play , Lamur blocked the Grant Mahoney ' s extra point to give the Wildcats the win . The defense was led by the play of linebacker Alex Hrebec , who had a team - high eight tackles . Defensive back Joshua Moore had 5½ tackles and a break - up , while Jeffrey Fitzgerald totaled five tackles . Linebacker John Houlik posted 4½ tackles and one fumble recovery and defensive back Stephen Harrison had four stops and two pass break - ups . Texas Tech . Texas Tech was favored by 16½ points going into the game . Tech quarterback Steven Sheffield threw for 490 yards and seven touchdown passes in his first career start to help Texas Tech beat Kansas State 66 - 14 . The Red Raiders backup quarterback was 33 - for - 41 and finished with TDs passes of 52 , 6 , 4 , 72 , 28 , 12 and 25 yards to five receivers . It was the second time this season that a Texas Tech ( 4 - 2 , 1 - 1 Big 12 ) quarterback notched seven passing touchdowns . Taylor Potts , out with a concussion this week , threw seven in a 55 - 10 win over Rice . Texas Tech put the game out of reach by halftime . The Wildcats ( 3 - 3 , 1 - 1 Big 12 ) got into Texas Tech territory only once in the first half and punted five times . Sheffield , who had 370 yards by halftime , threw two TDs to Detron Lewis and Torres , and one each to Tramain Swindall , Jacoby Franks and Lyle Leong . Sheffield ' s first - half yardage set a school record , besting the 367 yards thrown by B . J . Symons against Mississippi in 2003 . Three Red Raiders receivers tallied 90 yards or more . Lewis caught eight passes for 100 yards , Franks had three passes for 99 yards and Swindall got 97 yards on five catches . Sheffield threw to 11 receivers before leaving the game with about 10 minutes remaining in the game . Texas Tech ' s running game kept Kansas State off - balance . Baron Batch rushed for 86 yards on nine carries and Harrison Jeffers got 55 yards on seven carries . The Wildcats offense was anemic in the first half . They sustained only one drive in the first half , managing four first downs and hanging onto the ball for more than six minutes on their opening possession . Grant Gregory got sacked three times - twice by Brandon Sharpe and once by Ra ' Jon Henley - before Carson Coffman replaced him late in the second quarter . Kansas State ' s first score came from its defense . Sheffield threw an interception on his first pass of the second half when Wildcats end Jeffrey Fitzgerald stepped in front of a ball meant for Alex Torres and returned it 17 yards to make it 38 - 7 . It wasn ' t until quarterback Carson Coffman replaced Gregory that the Wildcats showed some life . He was 11 - for - 17 and finished with 131 passing yards . Coffman found some success in the third quarter but it didn ' t translate into a touchdown . After a 52 - yard pass to Daniel Thomas and a 29 - yarder to Jeron Mastrud , the Wildcats failed on a fourth - and - 5 and gave the ball back to the Red Raiders . Kansas State scored its second touchdown - and its only offensive one - midway through the fourth quarter when Keithen Valentine ran for an 8 - yard touchdown to whittle the margin to 59 - 14 . Valentine rushed for a career - high 96 yards on eight carries Texas A & M . The Kansas State Wildcats made a statement in their 62 - 14 blistering of Texas A & M . Bill Snyder and his team put together a complete performance dominating the Aggies in all three phases - offense , defense and special teams . It was the most points K - State has scored in a Big 12 Conference game since defeating Kansas 64 - 0 on November 2 , 2002 . Already ahead 38 - 0 at the half , K - State ( 4 - 3 , 2 - 1 Big 12 ) got the ball first in the second half and immediately put points on the board . Return specialist Brandon Banks returned his school - record third kickoff of the year for a touchdown to pull ahead 45 - 0 . Then , K - State intercepted a pass and returned it inside the 10 - yard line and scored on the first play to put A & M further back , 52 - 0 . The Wildcats gained 424 yards of total offense on the day and saw a career day from running back Daniel Thomas , as he rushed for 91 yards and scored four touchdowns - all of them coming in the first half . His four TDs were one short of tying a school record . Texas A & M ( 3 - 3 , 0 - 2 Big 12 ) could not get anything going on offense as the Wildcats swarmed to the ball on defense and forced a season - high five turnovers on the night . The Aggies gained 301 total yards , and quarterback Jerrod Johnson threw his first three interceptions of the season . K - State ' s defense helped the Wildcats get on the board early in the game forcing a turnover on Texas A & M ' s second play from scrimmage . Jeffrey Fitzgerald stripped the ball out of Jamie McCoy ' s arms as the fumble was recovered by Troy Butler . The Wildcats would make quick work of the short field and score in four plays to cover the 29 yards to go ahead 7 - 0 on a Daniel Thomas touchdown run . It marked the third time this season the Wildcats have scored on their opening possession . The Wildcat defense came up with another stop after allowing the Aggies to gain one first down on their second possession . A penalty on the punt return by Texas A & M and a pass interference call helped K - State push the ball downfield before a 23 - yard field goal by Josh Cherry gave the Wildcats a 10 - point advantage . K - State ' s defense continued to pour it on against the Aggies forcing a three - and - out following the field goal . After an incomplete pass , Fitzgerald tallied a tackle for loss on a rushing attempt by the Aggies . Then , Fitzgerald struck again with a sack to put A & M ' s punter in the shadow of his own goal post . A big return by Brandon Banks , paired with a face mask penalty at the end of the return , helped set up another quick strike by K - State ' s offense . Thomas scored his second touchdown of the day on a three - yard pitch - and - run to the right corner of the endzone on the third play of the drive , and the Wildcats went ahead 17 - 0 with 3 : 34 remaining in the first quarter . Thomas scored his third touchdown of the day to pull further ahead , 24 - 0 , on a nine - yard rush to the left midway through the second quarter . The 67 - yard scoring drive was set up by a 45 - yard completion to tight end Jeron Mastrud on the second play . The catch was Mastrud ' s 100th of his career to put him 10th all - time at K - State . Just as Texas A & M began to move the ball with its first significant drive of the evening , Tysyn Hartman picked off a pass across the middle in the redzone and the first surrendered by A & M quarterback Jerrod Johnson all season . Johnson had thrown 225 passes without being intercepted this season . The pick was Hartman ' s fourth of the year as well . The Daniel Thomas show continued heading into the locker room at the half . With just over a minute left in the second quarter , Thomas scored on a 17 - yard rush as the quarterback out of the Wildcat formation . The score gave him four touchdowns in the first half alone and gave K - State a 31 - 0 lead . A fumble recovery by Joseph Kassanavoid at the 16 - yard line with 15 seconds remaining put K - State in a position to put more points on the board heading into the locker room at halftime . On the ensuing play Grant Gregory found Collin Klein alone in the endzone for a 16 - yard touchdown pass and a 38 - 0 lead at halftime . The Wildcats controlled the clock in the second half with its ground game , and the Aggies still could not stop it . Keithen Valentine scored his second touchdown of the game on a 20 - yard scamper to the endzone that saw him change directions twice before cutting it across the middle for the score to pull ahead 59 - 0 . A & M scored 14 unanswered points in the third quarter to cut the lead to 59 - 14 , but it would not be enough as the Wildcats continued to milk the clock keeping the ball in bounds and gaining first downs . Colorado . Kansas State ' s defense came up big against Colorado to give the Wildcats a 20 - 6 homecoming victory and remain atop the Big 12 North standings . K - State limited the Buffaloes to 244 total yards on offense and just 60 on the ground . While the Wildcat defense was able to shut down the Buffalo offense , K - State ' s own offense controlled the tempo of the game with quick strikes in the first half to build a lead and long clock - eating drives in the second half to hold off the Buffaloes . After Colorado ( 2 - 5 , 1 - 2 Big 12 ) scored on its opening drive , K - State ( 5 - 3 , 3 - 1 ) stifled the Buffaloes the remainder of the game by not surrendering any points . This was the lowest point total allowed to a Big 12 opponent by the K - State defense since Oct . 8 , 2005 against Kansas . With Colorado threatening to score late in the game on fourth down from the two - yard line , Emmanuel Lamur came up with his second interception of the day to preserve the win . Both of Lamur ' s interceptions were 50 - 50 balls where he ripped the ball out of a receiver ' s hands as they both got to the play at the same time . Running back Daniel Thomas carried much of the load for K - State with a career - high 145 yards rushing on 20 carries with one score . Defensively for K - State , Ulla Pomele led with seven tackles , including his first sack of the season . Jeffrey Fitzgerald continued his strong play from a week ago with 1 . 5 sacks and a number of quarterback pressures . A 35 - yard rush by Thomas down the K - State sideline helped the Wildcats march down the field on their first drive of the game and put points on the board first with a 24 - yard field goal by Josh Cherry to cap off the drive of 61 yards . Cherry has converted four straight field goal opportunities and remains perfect in Big 12 action . The Buffaloes also scored on their first drive of the game to answer K - State ' s field goal with a touchdown by running back Rodney Stewart . Colorado would miss the extra point , however , to lead 6 - 3 . Thomas tallied his ninth touchdown run of the season early in the second quarter , as the Wildcats completed a 58 - yard drive to reclaim the lead , 10 - 6 . K - State saw the momentum shift to its side with the game ' s first turnover , when Colorado quarterback Tyler Hansen fumbled the snap on a first - and - 20 situation from the Buffaloes ' own 15 - yard line . Pomele recovered the fumble for the Wildcats , and K - State kicked a 27 - yard field goal after the Wildcats could not punch the ball into the endzone to lead , 13 - 6 . All the swing plays seemed to go K - State ' s way in the first half with a muffed punt by Colorado gave the Wildcats the ball at the Colorado 20 - yard line with 3 : 35 remaining in the second quarter . After the Buffaloes forced a three - and - out on defense , Jason Espinoza muffed the punt and K - State long - snapper Corey Adams recovered the ball for K - State . The Wildcats would take full advantage of the turnover this time around , as Gregory punched the ball in on a rush up the middle for five yards to go ahead 20 - 6 with just over a minute remaining in the half . Another turnover in the closing seconds of the half gave K - State a shot at the endzone to finish the half . Lamur ripped a pass out of the hands of a Colorado receiver for an interception as they both went up for the ball at the same time . The pick gave K - State the ball at its own 46 - yard line but could not score heading into the locker room . The third quarter saw each team ' s defense shutdown the respective offenses with no points being scored . K - State gained just 49 yards in the third quarter while Colorado could only muster 25 with negative - three yards rushing thanks to a number of sacks and quarterback pressures by K - State . Oklahoma . Senior Brandon Banks tied the K - State school record with 351 all - purpose yards , including 98 on his fifth career kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter , but it wasn ' t enough as the Wildcats fell to No . 22 Oklahoma , 42 - 30 at Memorial Stadium . Banks totaled 195 yards on six kickoff returns to go with nine catches for 156 yards against the Sooners . The 351 all - purpose yards tied Darren Sproles ' school record , which he set against Louisiana – Lafayette on Sept . 18 , 2004 . Banks , who helped the Wildcats ' close the gap with his return , increased his Big 12 and school records with his fifth career kickoff return and fourth this season . K - State ( 5 - 4 , 3 - 2 Big 12 ) fell behind 21 - 0 to Oklahoma ( 5 - 3 , 3 - 1 Big 12 ) , but rallied to within five points on two occasions , including 35 - 30 after Banks ' 98 - yard return . However , the Sooners put the game away with a 3 - yard run by DeMarco Murray with 6 : 27 remaining in the fourth quarter . The Sooners stopped Kansas State on downs at the K - State 41 with 4 : 10 left and Quinton Carter intercepted a pass from Grant Gregory at the Oklahoma 2 with 42 seconds left . Despite the loss , the Wildcat offense totaled 30 points on the stingy Sooner defense , which previous opponent high was 21 points against Miami . The squad tallied 364 yards of total offense , including 215 through the air , and posted 20 first downs . K - State also remained atop the conference ' s North Division . Senior quarterback Grant Gregory was solid on the night , completing 19 - of - 30 passes for 174 yards to go with 46 yards on the ground on nine carries . It marked season - high for Gregory in passing yards , completions and attempts . Junior running back Daniel Thomas , who is 98 yards from 1 , 000 yards this season , rushed for 88 yards on 16 carries . He also completed one pass for 41 yards and had a 2 - point conversion to Jeron Mastrud on the Wildcats ' second touchdown . Senior running back Keithen Valentine had just four carries , but two of those went for scores , including a 14 - yard scamper on fourth - and - one in the third quarter . Oklahoma was led by redshirt freshman quarterback Landry Jones , who completed 26 of 37 passes for 294 yards and four touchdowns . DeJuan Miller , who had 11 catches all season entering the game , led the Sooners with nine for 94 yards , while Ryan Broyles had eight for 91 yards and two touchdowns . Running backs Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray combined for 145 yards rushing for the Sooners , including 83 from Brown on 15 carries . Oklahoma has won 28 straight home games , the longest active streak in the Bowl Subdivision . Oklahoma was favored by 28 points going into the game . Kansas . This was the 107th meeting between Kansas and Kansas State . Kansas was favored by 2½ points going into the game . Coaching staff . The following is a list of coaches at Kansas State for the 2009 season .