Kansas State Wildcats coach Chris Klieman needed a spark in the worst way during Saturday afternoon’s road game against the Houston Cougars.

Despite the eventual 24-19 loss, which dropped the Wildcats five spots from No. 17 to No. 22 in the AP poll, Klieman tried to lean on quarterback Avery Johnson to win the match instead of going back to what wasn’t working: the race.

The Wildcats were outscored 121-89 on the field. The Cougars (4-5, 3-3 Big 12) held running back DJ Giddens to 50 yards, his lowest total of the season thus far. Colorado transfer Dylan Edwards was held to fewer than 100 yards for the ninth straight game, finishing with 31 yards. Despite Edwards’ longest run of 13 yards, it wasn’t enough for Klieman to stick to the ground game with a nine-point lead late in the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t play with the ball,” Klieman said. “Gain a yard, gain two yards, and he made an errant throw, and this happens…Our inability to rush the ball makes it harder to throw.”

Johnson struggled with the game at the line, finishing 23 of 39 for 238 yards. Johnson threw a touchdown, but two costly turnovers were the difference in the Wildcats’ first loss since falling to BYU, 38-9, on Sept. 21. Kansas State was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) are still alive in the conference title race. They sit on the outside of a three-way tie for first place, which includes Colorado (4-1 Big 12), Iowa State (4-1 Big 12) and BYU (5-0 Big 12). So there is no margin for error going forward.

Kansas State concludes the regular season on Ames Thanksgiving weekend, which could be a win-win scenario barring what happens over the next few weeks. The Wildcats hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against Colorado.

Kansas State faces Arizona State on November 16.

Zain Bando is a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats On SI. He can be contacted at [email protected] and on Instagram/’X’ @zainbando99.

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