By Charles Goldberg
AuburnTigers.com
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- In a game in which yards and points were a premium, Auburn's defense gave the Tigers room to breathe.
Whew, said Auburn.
The Tigers beat Kansas State 20-14 Thursday night in a Top 25 battle then didn't go to script, unless you played on defense. Auburn played a lot of defense.
"That was a big factor. Our defense really did a super job," said Auburn coach Gus Malzahn.
No. 5 Auburn led 20-7 until No. 20 Kansas State scored late. Too late.
Auburn's offense played keep-away the final 3:49, thanks, in part to a gutsy third-and-9 pass with 2:06 remaining. Thirty-nine yards later, Auburn happily was able to run out the clock.
"I told them after the game that this will be one of those games I really feel like will help us in the future," Malzahn said.
"We faced some major adversity tonight, and our guys responded well."
Auburn led 10-7 at the half, and at the end of the third quarter, too.
The Tigers didn't find any of that breathing room until early in the fourth quarter when quarterback Nick Marshall threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Duke Williams for a 17-7 lead. The Tigers made it 20-7 until K-State's late TD.
Kansas State wanted the ball back, of course.
Malzahn's call to throw it to Williams on that third-and-9 play prevented it.
"It was one of those deals that you run the football, take away 40 seconds and give them a chance to win the game. Or you can go ahead and try to win the game yourself," Malzahn said.
"We just felt strong that, 'let's give our guys a chance to win the game here.' We caught them in a defense we liked."
Kansas State could only watch the clock tick away after that. Marshall had pulled out another game, overcoming a few dropped passes and a running game that had trouble in the first half.
"He's got that knack," Malzahn said.
"When the game is on the line, he's got the knack. He did it all last year. He did it tonight. He found a way to help our guys win the game."
All the while, Auburn's defense was turning in a solid performance. K-State had only 40 yards rushing and turned away the Wildcats in three of five trips in the red zone.
Auburn's offense converted on 8-of-11 third-down plays in the second half.
The game that promised offense was all about defense most of the way. A scoreless third quarter said so.
Marshall's touchdown pass to Williams made it 17-7 lead with 14:10 remaining. Daniel Carlson kicked a 25-yard field goal with 6:28 left to make it 20-7. But K-State's cut the lead to 20-14 on Charles Jones' 1-yard TD run with 3:49 left.
The Wildcats never saw the ball again.
The Marshall-to-Williams' touchdown pass was pretty. Before then, both offenses struggled to score because of the defenses, dropped passes and three missed field goals by Kansas State.
Much of the pregame hype was about Auburn's Marshall and Kansas State's Jake Waters. But the two dual-threat quarterbacks were upstaged by the two defenses for much of the game.
Malzahn wanted his hurry-up offense to hurry up in the first half, but, even trying to make it happen by wind-milling his arms encouraging a better pace. But, for the most part, the Tigers couldn't snap it quickly.
Kansas State's defense had Marshall seemingly changing plays as the play clock ticked under 10, then 8, then 5 seconds time after time.
Auburn's first three drives produced only 38 yards and an un-Auburn-like two first downs. Marshall was intercepted, and a couple of receivers missed the ball. But he came through when it mattered.
After a Carlson 34-yard field goal made it 3-0 Auburn, Marcus Robinson's 3-yard TD run gave K-State a lead. But Marshall found Ricardo Louis, who made a nice catch, then made nicer moves dodging defenders on a 40-yard touchdown pass to give Auburn its 10-7 with 1:34 left in the first half.
That was the halftime score, too, after Kansas State's Jack Cantelle missed his second field goal try, this time a 42-yarder on the last play of the half.
Worse, he missed a chipped-shot 22-yard field goal in the third quarter.
Auburn's second-quarter touchdown drive pushed the Tigers' halftime stats to 173 total yards, five more than Kansas State. But the rushing yards were down across the board.
Auburn held K-State to 17 yards rushing in the first half. Auburn, which led the nation in rushing last season, had a modest 55.
Auburn rebounded in the second half, finishing the night with 359 yards.
'Super job': Auburn turns to defense in win over K-State
