Cantele kicks 42-yard FG; Kansas St. beats Iowa St. 38-35

Cantele kicks 42-yard FG; Kansas St. beats Iowa St. 38-35

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State coach Bill Snyder couldn’t help but laugh when asked about the enthusiastic locker room he had just stepped out of.

Over the last six weeks, the Wildcats squandered leads, came up short in frantic comeback attempts and been blown out – culminating in the program’s worst losing streak since 1989.

But on Saturday there was finally reason to celebrate.

Jack Cantele kicked a 42-yard field goal with three seconds left to cap Kansas State’s 38-35 come-from-behind victory over Iowa State.

“They enjoyed the daylights out of it,” Snyder said. “I told them that I had been here for a couple 100 years and I have never seen our locker room like that. We always say, ‘Act like you’ve been there before.’ We didn’t act like we’ve been there before, but we needed that.”

Kansas State (4-6, 1-6 Big 12 Conference) recovered three Iowa State (3-8, 2-6) fumbles in the final seven minutes and rallied from a 35-14 first-half deficit.

Joe Hubener had 216 yards passing and a touchdown, and had 20 carries for 90 yards to lead Kansas State, which needed the win to stay bowl eligible. Charles Jones ran for 65 yards and two touchdowns.

Iowa State elected to not take a knee, and Warren fumbled again with 1:31 to play. Elijah Lee recovered the football at the Wildcat 44.

“The decision was based on being able to run out the clock and never having to punt the football,” Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads said. “You take a knee on that play and they are going to call a timeout.”

Warren then had his long touchdown run, and Lanning connected on a 16-yard scoring strike to Lazard with 29 seconds left in the first half to give the Cyclones a 35-14 halftime lead.

Rhoads was fired Sunday morning and will brief the media during a news conference today. Rhoads will still coach the final game of the season against West Virginia.