Kansas State football’s culture won out in comeback road victory over Tulane

Kansas State’s football team lost its share of battles against Tulane, but ultimately it was the Wildcats who won the culture war.

At least that was K-State coach Chris Klieman’s explanation after the Wildcats were outplayed for most of the game Saturday before rallying for an improbable 34-27 victory over the Green Wave at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans.

“Great resolve by our guys,” Klieman said after the Wildcats came back from a 10-point halftime deficit to take the lead and then stopped sealed it with an end zone interception to end the game. “I told the guys at the end of the game, that was a culture win.

“Discipline, toughness, commitment, be selfless, and that’s what that was today. And we beat a good Tulane team, dang good Tulane team on the road. So happy to escape with a win.”

Culture clearly was the word of the day, because through the first half especially, Tulane (1-1) had its way with the Wildcats. The Green Wave made K-State look silly on defense, racking up 291 yards before intermission against a defense that allowed just 134 for the whole game to Tennessee-Martin the week prior.

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“We made some changes. It was really we were just beating ourselves,” said super-senior defensive end and team captain Brendan Mott. “K-State was beating K-State, and if we don’t make those errors and everybody does their job, we’re a really tough team to beat, and that’s something that we were preaching about at halftime.

“And man, we had a bunch of leaders on the whole team — o-line, safeties, d-line, linebacker everywhere. It wasn’t just one guy in that locker room at halftime that was saying something. And that really shows to our culture, and I think we came out in that second half and really made some changes and got after it.”

The defense, which didn’t keep Tulane on its own side of the field once in six first-half possessions, got three straight stops in the third quarter that allowed the Wildcats to come back and tie it at 20-20. It also created the two fourth-quarter turnovers that produced the game-winning touchdown with Austin Romaine’s strip sack and Jack Fabris’ 60-yard fumble return, and then iced it on VJ Payne’s end zone interception with five seconds remaining.

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The offense had 200 yards, two touchdowns and a field goal after intermission, with Avery Johnson completing 7 of 8 passes for 119 of his 181 yards. It was his 45-yard completion to running back DJ Giddens on a fourth down that finally got it tied at 20-20 late in the third quarter.

“We had a lot of guys step up and be vocal in the locker room and just challenge the rest of our team, and some guys stepped up and made bit plays and ultimately got us the win today,” Johnson said.

Giddens, who had another big game with 114 rushing yards and four catches for 63, said safety Marques Sigle and linebacker Austin Moore, both team captains, were particularly vocal during halftime.

“Marques Sigle, he was in my ear even before halftime,” Giddens said. “After halftime, he was pushing me to my limit. Austin Moore, when we first came in here, he got everybody’s mind right.”

And that, Klieman agreed, made all the difference. Especially with a team that did not fare well in close games last year, going 1-4 in one-possession contests.

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“I challenged the guys at halftime,” Kileman said. I’m not upset or anything, I just said we can play better. We can play better on both sides.

“And Marques Sigle, Avery, Hadley (Panzer), Austin Moore, some of the older guys and captains, they stepped up and it was player led.”

The fact that the players took control meant everything.

“Culture is holding each other accountable,” Klieman added. “And one of our awards we gave to Avery, and Avery gave it to Marques Sigle, because Marques Sigle challenged Avery and challenged his leadership.

“That’s awesome to see, because we have kids that are holding each other to the standard that they expect. That’s a culture.”

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.