Jake Waters, who went 21/27 for 271 yards, hit Tyler Lockett for three touchdowns to lead K-State to a convincing and stress-free victory over the Michigan Wolverines in the 2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
Very little went wrong for the Wildcats, who dominated Michigan in basically every aspect of the game. The Wolverines were mildly effective throwing the ball between the 20s, but K-State's red zone defense worked as designed, and Michigan was held to a pair of field goals until they finally got into the end zone with 1:15 to play.
Lockett ended the game with 116 yards receiving, breaking the school record for receptions in a bowl game, to go along with his three touchdowns. Tramaine Thompson ended his career with a 56-yard night on four catches, and Glenn Gronkowski once again had only one catch, but it went for 46 yards. John Hubert picked up 80 yards on the night; that was well more than enough to get him past the 1000-yard mark, but sadly he ended up a mere seven yards shy of 3000 for his career.
The Wildcats got started with a picture-perfect patented Kansas State drive, eating almost eight minutes to cover 75 yards before Waters dumped a six-yard toss to Lockett to open the scoring. Michigan rolled downfield on the ensuing drive, but had to settle for a 22-yard Matt Wile field goal. The Cats then displayed their quick-strike ability, burning 60 yards in five plays and closing on a 29-yard strike from Waters to Lockett with 43 seconds left in the first quarter. It marked the first time in history that Kansas State had scored in double digits in the first quarter of a bowl game.
Michigan embarked on a long drive to start the second period, but with the way the game was beginning to play out this was nothing more than playing into Bill Snyder's hands. The Wolverines chewed over eight-and-a-half minutes off the clock, but had to settle for three points on a 26-yard Wile kick. The Wildcats only needed 2:39 and four plays to stretch the lead to 15, Waters finding Lockett for the third time from the eight.
The third quarter was quiet, and K-State extended the lead to 18 on a 22-yard Ian Patterson field goal midway through the fourth. A little over five minutes later, Dante Barnett picked off Michigan's freshman backup-turned-starter Shane Morris and rambled all the way to the Michigan 7; two plays later, John Hubert bulled into the end zone to ice the game. Michigan did respond with a quick five-play, 82 yard drive to finally get into the end zone, but it was all over.
Michigan closes the season at 7-6, and surrenders the title of "Winningest Program in College Football History" to Notre Dame, who beat Rutgers in the day's first contest. The Wildcats, meanwhile, finish 8-5 after their horrific 2-4 start, and between the growth of the underclassmen this year and the promise of incoming recruits, things look particularly bright for 2014.
Lockett was named Offensive MVP, while Barnett earned Defensive MVP honors.
In closing, courtesy of our pal Kellis:
There it is pic.twitter.com/Y4fziJE4Gm
— Kellis Robinett (@KellisRobinett) December 29, 2013