Kansas State stuns No. 15 Baylor

By The Associated Press     Oct 2, 2011

? Arthur Brown never saw Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III.

The Kansas State linebacker just knew where he needed to be, sliding to his left after the snap, and was in the right position at the right time.

By the time Griffin’s pass cleared the line of scrimmage, Brown was the only one with a chance to catch it. His interception in the closing minutes set up Anthony Cantele’s 31-yard field goal with 3:10 left, and the Wildcats held on to beat No. 15 Baylor, 36-35, on Saturday.

“It felt like a God-given catch, you know?” Brown said quietly, long after the game. “I just happened to catch the ball. Finally catch the ball.”

Yes, finally.

Brown bobbled it once, twice — three times, according to his coaches — before he finally pulled it down. There was still time left for Baylor’s prolific offense, but Brown again came through, sacking Griffin and helping preserve the Wildcats’ victory.

“He’s getting out of character a little bit,” said wide receiver Chris Harper, who was enveloped in a bear hug by Brown as the clock wound down. “He’s showing emotion.”

It was the first interception thrown by Griffin all season, and spoiled another virtuoso performance by the Heisman Trophy candidate. He came into the game having thrown more touchdown passes than incompletions.

Griffin finished 23-of-31 for 346 yards and five touchdowns — and one big interception.

“I take sole responsibility for that,” he said. “I’m the leader of this team. I’m the guy that’s in the Heisman race, so I’ve got to help us win that game, and we didn’t win it.”

Griffin directed five impressive scoring drives, the longest taking just 2 minutes, 36 seconds, and one of them covering 75 yards in two plays and a whole 20 seconds.

Most of his offense was directed at Kendall Wright, who caught nine passes for a school-record 201 yards and three touchdowns.

“We didn’t get beat — we lost the game,” Wright said. “There’s a difference between getting beat and losing, and we lost the game.”

There’s no difference in the outcome, though.

Baylor missed out on a chance to start 4-0 for the first time since 1991, while Kansas State could nudge into the Top 25 before a showdown with Missouri next weekend.

PREV POST

Slow start not a problem for Red Raiders

NEXT POST

38932Kansas State stuns No. 15 Baylor