A point from OT, the kick is blocked: K-State 24, ISU 23

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Think about the time it takes to get up off the sofa while you're watching a game, walk to the kitchen, grab your favorite beverage out of the fridge and then return to the sofa.

Not very long, right?

Well, that's about how long it took Iowa State's football team to go from joy to despair Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium.

One moment the Cyclones were celebrating Jake Williams' 23-yard touchdown catch that drew them to within a point of Kansas State with 32 seconds left. The next - the unthinkable: Grant Mahoney's extra-point kick was blocked and K-State escaped with a 24-23 victory in the Big 12 opener.

“Utter disbelief and shock,” nose guard Nate Frere said as he searched for words to describe his feelings.

“It was a heartbreaker,” tight end Derrick Catlett added. “Everybody thinks those (extra points) are routine, but you've still got to kick it.”

Even with Kansas State burning the Cyclones for touchdown passes on two huge third-down plays to take a 24-17 lead, and even with the ISU offense stalling and fumbling the ball away in the second half, the game surely seemed headed for overtime.

After Austen Arnaud hit Marquis Hamilton for 22 yards on fourth-and-5 at the KSU 45, the Cyclones took a shot downfield - and converted. Arnaud lofted the ball toward the far right corner of the end zone, where Williams was covered by two defenders.

The ball cleared the defenders, Williams leaped and came down with it.

“It kind of all happened so fast, I'm not exactly sure what happened,” Williams said. “But I believe it went off (a defender's) hands and then just kind of happened to come in my direction. Just concentration, I guess.”

The touchdown was upheld after a quick review and Mahoney, a sophomore from Linn-Mar who had been 47 of 47 on PATs , set up for the extra point. ISU Coach Paul Rhoads was busy planning for the ensuing kickoff when he heard a roar from the Kansas State side of the stadium.

Emmanuel Lamur, a 6-foot-4 defensive back, leaped in the middle of the line, got a hand on the ball and knocked it aside, giving KSU Coach Bill Snyder a victory in his return to Big 12 play after three years away.

“It felt fine,” Mahoney said, “like it was a good kick.”

It certainly shocked the coaching staff, which quickly had to plan an onside kick that K-State recovered, ending the last flickering hopes for the ISU faithful, who made up half the crowd of 40,851.

“What I saw was a leaper,” Rhoads said. “I saw a leaper who looked like Matt Blair well above the crossbar. I didn't see any penetration. It looked to be a fairly normal trajectory of a kick. Kansas State made a hell of a football play to block the kick.”

The block was nothing new for Lamur, a sophomore who swatted away a field-goal attempt in K-State's season-opening win over Massachusetts.

“Actually, the rotation of the ball, it was very good,” Lamur said. “It was straight down the middle. I was very excited because I knew everything was on me. Coach was depending on me to block it with my height.”

The Cyclones, now 3-2, found themselves in scramble mode partly from their own failings.

They appeared to be on the verge of taking control after driving 80 yards in 12 plays to take a 17-10 lead on Arnaud's 3-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

But their next five series went fumble, fumble, three-and-out, three-and-out, three-and-out. After that stretch, the Wildcats led 24-17.

“We didn't take advantage of the opportunities,” said Arnaud, who threw two TD passes but was just 13 of 27 for 164 yards. “We weren't even 50 percent throwing and catching. It's all on me. We've got to get better on the little things that make you better in the long run.”

Catlett caught a 22-yard touchdown from Arnaud in the first half, but his fumble after a 12-yard reception in the third quarter was the most costly turnover. Iowa State had just forced a KSU punt after taking the lead and had started to move the ball again when Catlett coughed it up.

“That was a big momentum changer,” he said. “Our coaches preach it: Protect the ball. I didn't lock it up like I need to and they just knocked it out.”

Seven plays later, with K-State (3-2) facing third-and-goal at the ISU 16, quarterback Grant Gregory - who was making his first start - was given forever to look for a receiver and found Lamark Brown in the end zone. Safety James Smith fell as he moved in to try to break up the pass and Brown made a leaping catch to make it 17-all.

Midway through the fourth quarter, on third-and-4 at his 46, Gregory was flushed out of the pocket, skipped away from defensive end Christopher Lyle and found Brandon Banks on a crossing pattern. Safety David Sims just missed the ball in a diving attempt to knock it down and Banks took it the rest of the way for a 54-yard TD and a 24-17 lead.

“They converted when they needed to on third and long,” ISU linebacker Jesse Smith said. “It's the money down, third down. We've got to get off the field. They hurt us on third down.”

Iowa State played most of the game without leading rusher Alexander Robinson, who aggravated a groin injury on his fourth carry of the day. Robinson broke loose on a 37-yard run on the final play of the first quarter but was clearly laboring as he was brought down and joined an injury list that already included defensive end Rashawn Parker and wide receivers Houston Jones and Darius Reynolds.

Redshirt freshman Jeremiah Schwartz finished the game and did a decent job, carrying 21 times for 76 yards.

-The Associated Press