2007 Kansas State Wildcats football team The 2007 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The team ' s head football coach was Ron Prince . The Wildcats played their home games in Bill Snyder Family Stadium . 2007 saw the wildcats finish with a record of 5 – 7 , and a 3 – 5 record in Big 12 Conference play . Game notes . Auburn . Coming into the game , Auburn was favored by 13½ . Auburn quarterback Brandon Cox threw a touchdown pass to Gabe McKenzie with 2 : 01 remaining in the fourth quarter and Antonio Coleman returned a fumble for a score moments later to give No . 18 Auburn a 23 - 13 win over Kansas State . Auburn ' s offense struggled all night , and Kansas State seemed poised for its 18th straight season - opening win , the first against a ranked opponent on the road . Josh Freeman completed 32 of 57 passes for 268 yards and was intercepted twice , including on Kansas State ' s final possession after Coleman ' s fumble return . Freeman ' s passing numbers rank as some of the best in school history . His 32 completions rank as the second - most in school history and most since Chad May had 33 against Kansas on Oct . 6 , 1994 , while his 57 attempts are the third - most in school history and the most since Dennis Morrison had 59 against Iowa State on Oct . 21 , 1972 . With the Wildcats trailing 6 - 3 after a first half dominated by defense , Kansas State ' s Marcus Watts intercepted Cox at the Wildcats 31 on the first play of the third quarter . Freeman directed the offense to the Auburn 21 , and it was time for a trick . Freeman took the snap and turned left , tossing a lateral to wide receiver Jordy Nelson on a third - and - 6 play . Nelson heaved the ball deep to Leon Patton , who was all alone in the right side of the end zone for the first touchdown of the game . Kansas State held Auburn to only 62 yards rushing . San Jose State . " see also 2007 San Jose State Spartans football team " Kansas State was favored by 17 points going into the game . Josh Freeman threw for 272 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score in Kansas State ' s 34 - 14 victory over San Jose State . James Johnson ran for 111 yards and one TD for Kansas State ( 1 - 1 ) , which won its 18th straight home opener and avoided its first 0 - 2 start since losing its first three games in 1989 . Deon Murphy caught Freeman ' s touchdown pass and ran 21 yards on a reverse for a 34 - 7 lead for the Wildcats , who had 153 yards rushing Saturday night after being held to 27 in last week ' s 23 - 13 loss at Auburn . Brooks Rossman kicked field goals of 26 yards in the first quarter and 43 yards in the fourth for Kansas State . Missouri State . Senior Jordy Nelson set single - game school records with 15 receptions for 209 yards , catching one touchdown pass and throwing another in Kansas State ' s 61 - 10 victory over Missouri State . James Johnson ran for 114 yards and three touchdowns for Kansas State ( 2 - 1 ) , which scored touchdowns on its first three possessions against the Bears ( 2 - 1 ) and opened the second half with three straight TD drives and a punt return for another score . Deon Murphy caught Nelson ' s touchdown pass on a trick play and returned a punt 80 yards early in the fourth quarter for a 54 - 10 lead . Nelson ' s 18 - yard catch from Josh Freeman late in the third quarter , putting the Wildcats up 47 - 10 , was the senior ' s 14th reception of the game . That broke Michael Smith ' s record of 13 catches against Missouri in 1989 and gave Nelson 207 yards receiving , breaking Darnell McDonald ' s record of 206 yards set against Syracuse in the 1997 Fiesta Bowl . Terry Petrie ran 3 yards for Kansas State ' s final score in the closing minutes . The Wildcats broke the 60 - point mark for the first time since a 64 - 0 win over Kansas in 2002 . Freeman was 26 - for - 39 for 287 yards and didn ' t throw an interception , breaking a string of five games in which he threw at least one pick . Missouri State coach Terry Allen lost for the sixth straight time against Kansas State . He coached Northern Iowa to a 10 - 8 victory in Manhattan in 1989 — the last time Kansas State lost a home opener — but was 0 - 5 against the Wildcats as Kansas coach from 1997 - 2001 . Texas . Texas was favored by 15½ coming into the game . Two kick returns for touchdowns and an interception return for another score propelled the Wildcats to a 41 - 21 win over the No . 7 Longhorns , handing Texas its worst home defeat in 10 years under coach Mack Brown . Linebacker Ian Campbell scored on a 41 - yard interception return in the second quarter and James Johnson took a kickoff 85 yards for a 21 - 14 lead moments after Texas had tied the score . Jordy Nelson ' s 89 - yard punt return in the third put the Wildcats up 34 - 21 and all but sealed their second consecutive victory over Texas . Kansas State ( 3 - 1 , 1 - 0 ) scored on its opening drive , then didn ' t need another offensive touchdown until the fourth quarter . The Wildcats put up the most points scored against Texas ( 4 - 1 , 0 - 1 ) in Austin since 1997 , the Longhorns ' infamous " Rout 66 " loss to UCLA , 66 - 3 . That blowout came under former coach Mack Brown . Until Saturday , Brown ' s worst home loss was a 35 - 17 defeat by Kansas State in 1999 . It was also Texas ' first loss in a Big 12 opener since 1998 , which also came against the Wildcats . Kansas . The Wildcats were favored by 3 going into the game . Sophomore quarterback Josh Freeman threw for 305 yards and one touchdown and senior wide receiver Jordy Nelson had 10 catches for 137 yards and a score , as Kansas State dropped a 30 - 24 decision to archrival Kansas at Bill Snyder Family Stadium . Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing threw for 267 yards and three touchdowns and the Jayhawks overcame some potentially ruinous mistakes to beat their in - state rivals and start a season 5 - 0 for just the third time in 39 years . Freeman , Kansas State ' s 6 - 6 sophomore , outgained the 5 - 9 Reesing , hitting 31 of 48 passes for 305 yards and a touchdown . But he was also intercepted three times , the last by Aqib Talib , Kansas ' two - way star , with 1 : 12 to play . Talib , beaten on a 68 - yard touchdown pass by Jordy Nelson in the first quarter , got his payback just before halftime when he somehow was left uncovered and caught a 5 - yard touchdown pass that tied it 14 - 14 at halftime . It was the sixth consecutive game the all - Big 12 cornerback had scored a touchdown . Nelson , who came into the game with 42 catches for 497 yards and was the Big 12 offensive player of the week after the Texas win , caught 10 balls for 137 yards and a TD in Kansas State ' s first game as a ranked team in three years . Working against Talib , he made two outstanding catches on the 11 - play , 80 - yard drive that gave Kansas State a 14 - 7 lead late in the half . Stretched out full length and keeping on his toes just inches onto the edge of the playing field while falling out of bounds , Nelson picked up 15 yards to the Kansas 43 The Jayhawks got their first touchdown on Kansas State ' s home field since 1999 when Jake Sharp , apparently stopped for a short gain , burst out of a gang of tacklers and sped 20 yards to make it 7 - 7 with 9 : 11 left in the first half . Sharp had picked up 14 yards the previous play . Colorado . Kansas State was favored by 5 going into the game . James Johnson ran for 159 yards and two scores , Deon Murphy caught one touchdown pass and scored on a 20 - yard reverse in leading the Wilcats with a 47 - 20 victory . Johnson opened Kansas State ' s scoring with a 5 - yard run in the first quarter and closed it with a 63 - yard TD burst late in the fourth . Brooks Rossman kicked four field goals for the Wildcats ( 4 - 2 , 2 - 1 Big 12 ) , including a 52 - yarder as time ran out in the first half for a 23 - 13 lead . He was the first Kansas State player with four field goals in a game since Joe Rheem hit four against Louisiana - Lafayette on Sept . 18 , 2004 . Oklahoma State . The Cowboys were favored by 3 going into the game . Jason Ricks kicked a 26 - yard field goal with 2 seconds remaining and Oklahoma State overcame the best passing performance of Josh Freeman ' s career to beat No . 25 Kansas State 41 - 39 . The Wildcats ( 4 - 3 , 2 - 2 Big 12 ) called all three of their timeouts as Ricks was setting up , but his kick was right down the middle to cap a comeback made necessary when K - State coach Ron Prince decided to go for two points instead of the tie after Leon Patton ' s 11 - yard touchdown run with 1 : 10 remaining . Josh Freeman threw for a career - best 404 yards and three touchdowns to star receiver Jordy Nelson , who also caught the go - ahead 2 - point conversion , but it wasn ' t enough for the Wildcats . Nelson finished with 176 yards on 12 receptions . He had a 17 - yard touchdown catch as K - State opened an early 14 - 0 lead , and he beat cornerback Perrish Cox down the left side for a 46 - yard TD grab that made it 21 - 7 . Baylor . The Wildcats were favored by 25½ coming into the game . Josh Freeman threw touchdown passes on three straight possessions to open the second half , and wide receiver Jordy Nelson broke another school record in Kansas State ' s 51 - 13 victory over Baylor . Nelson had eight catches for 105 yards and broke the Kansas State record for receptions in a season . His 8 - yard catch from backup Carson Coffman was his 76th this year , breaking Darnell McDonald ' s mark of 75 in 1988 . Nelson added a 92 - yard punt return for Kansas State ' s last touchdown in the closing seconds of the game . Earlier this year , he set single - game records with 15 catches for 109 yards in a 61 - 10 win over Missouri State . Freeman threw for 247 yards and had two 1 - yard TD carries for the Wildcats ( 5 - 3 , 3 - 2 Big 12 ) , who pulled away from a 10 - point halftime lead to hand Baylor ( 3 - 6 , 0 - 5 ) its eighth straight conference loss . Kansas State ' s Brooks Rossman kicked three field goals . Leon Patton had 115 yards on 17 carries for Kansas State , and Daniel Gonzalez caught seven passes for 104 yards and a touchdown . Baylor committed seven turnovers and managed just 13 yards rushing against Kansas State ' s defense , which gave up 329 yards on the ground in the previous week ' s 41 - 39 loss at Oklahoma State . By the time quarterback Blake Szymanski came in , it was too late to save the Bears ' passing game after fill - in Michael Machen struggled . Iowa State . Kansas State was favored by 14 points going into the game . Jordy Nelson recorded his second 200 - yard receiving effort and re - established the KSU single - game receiving yards record , but it was not enough as Iowa State stunned Kansas State 31 - 20 . Nelson , a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist , hauled in game - highs of 14 receptions for a school - record 214 yards and a touchdown . The former walk - on from Riley , Kansas , moved into third - place in school history for career receiving yards with 2 , 418 and is just 39 yards from tying Michael Smith ( 1988 – 91 ) for second . His second quarter 13 - yard touchdown reception was the 17th in his career and moved him into fourth in school history . The game got off to an inauspicious start for K - State , as kick returner James Johnson fumbled the opening kickoff and was recovered by Iowa State ' s James Smith at the Wildcat 32 . The Cyclones ( 2 - 8 , 1 - 5 Big 12 ) quickly capitalized , as Brett Meyer found Derrick Catlett from one - yard out for the early 7 - 0 advantage . Nebraska . Kansas State was favored by 7½ going into the game . Kansas State had two 100 - yard receivers and James Johnson rushed for over 100 yards but Nebraska held the upper hand Saturday in a 73 - 31 win in Lincoln . Joe Ganz threw for 510 yards and seven touchdowns to set school records and Nebraska scored on 11 straight possessions while ending a five - game losing streak in the win over the Wildcats . Kansas State ( 5 - 5 , 3 - 4 ) hadn ' t given up so many points since a 75 - 28 defeat to Oklahoma in 1971 . Nebraska ' s defense pressured Josh Freeman all day , sacking him four times . The Wildcats had 428 yards , but most came after the game was out of hand . Jordy Nelson set a new school record for receiving yards in a season after collecting 125 yards on nine catches , breaking James Terry ' s mark of 1 , 232 set back in 2003 . The 100 - yard receiving effort was also his seventh of the season , a new K - State record . Nebraska had 702 total yards , which were the most since the 1995 team had 776 against Iowa State . Missouri . The Tigers were favored by 7 points going into the game . Kansas State ' s James Johnson rushed for a career - high 172 yards and surpassed 1 , 000 yards on the season , but No . 6 Missouri proved to be too much for K - State . This made for the first three - game losing streak for the Wildcats since the 2005 season . Missouri ' s Jeremy Maclin scored three touchdowns and had 252 total yards to set the NCAA single - season freshman record for all - purpose yards , helping the No . 6 Tigers rally from a sluggish first half for a 49 - 32 win . Maclin returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and caught two touchdown passes , giving him 2 , 201 all - purpose yards for the season - 175 more than Terrell Willis of Rutgers had in 1993 . Maclin finished with nine catches for 143 yards . Chase Daniel threw for 284 yards and four touchdowns , including two to tight end Martin Rucker , helping Missouri ( 10 - 1 , 6 - 1 Big 12 ) to its first win in Manhattan since 1989 . Fresno State . The Bulldogs were favored by 1 point going into the game . Tom Brandstater passed for a career - high 313 yards and two touchdowns to Marlon Moore , and Fresno State knocked Kansas State from bowl contention with 45 - 29 . Anthony Harding rushed for a career - best 115 yards and a touchdown and backfield mate Lonyae Miller added 91 yards and a score for Fresno State ( 7 - 4 ) . The Bulldogs , members of the Western Athletic Conference , snapped a seven - game losing streak to teams from Bowl Championship Series conferences , a skid that dated to the 2004 MPC Computers Bowl against Virginia . Kansas State ( 5 - 7 ) , which needed a victory to become bowl eligible , ended the season on a four - game losing streak under second - year coach Ron Prince . Receiver Jordy Nelson led the Wildcats with 15 catches for 165 yards and a touchdown . Tailback James Johnson had 71 rushing yards , including a 67 - yard score on the game ' s first drive . Kansas State was making its first visit to California since 2001 when the Wildcats defeated USC .