With the virtual clock winding down in virtual Manhattan this virtual Saturday, and the virtual Jayhawks luck ticking down just as virtually fast, the virtual Mark Mangino pulled out the biggest virtual trick out of his virtual sleeve when he brought in virtual redshirt freshman Kerry Meier.

The virtual Meier, who connected on five-of-seven passes for 57 yards in the fourth quarter, hit the virtual Brian Murph for a 24-yard touchdown pass and engineered the game-winning drive that concluded with the virtual Scott Webb’s 39-yard field goal in the closing seconds that lifted the virtual Jayhawks to a 24-23 victory over the virtual Wildcats.

“I might smoke a cigar on my back deck,” virtual KU coach Mark Mangino might virtually say, considering the real flesh and blood Mangino said the same thing in Lawrence last year after the Jayhawks ended the Wildcats’ 11-year winning streak.

The virtual Mangino gave everyone of his quarterbacks a shot Saturday, but after all of the other QB candidates (virtual starter Adam Barmann, virtual back-up Brian Luke, the virtual Marcus Hereford and the virtual Jason Swanson) failed to ignite KU’s virtual offense Mangino inserted the virtual Pittsburg, Kan., native.

The virtual Lee Corso picked the Wildcats to win the Governor's Cup during a pre-game segment.

 Get the stats: KU-K-State virtual box score

With Meier’s virtual brother, KSU quarterback Dylan, watching helplessly on the sidelines, the young Meier starred in his first collegiate opportunity.

Trailing 23-14 with just over five minutes left in the game, Meier connected on the first pass he threw — a 12-yard out to Mark Simmons.

Six virtual plays later the Jayhawks were not only on the board — thanks to Meier’s 24-yard strike to a leaping Murph in the back of the end zone — but still clung to hope of a virtual victory for the first time in the virtual Little Apple since 1989.

“It’s not the best catch I’ve ever made,” the virtual Murph might say considering that’s the line the tangible Mark Simmons uttered last year after his one-handed highlight reel catch helped break the K-State streak.

“But it probably was the biggest.”

After KU’s virtual defense, which limited virtual KSU to just 255 yards of total offense, held the virtual Wildcats to three-and-out, the virtual Meier was back on the field.

With less than two virtual minutes now showing, Meier, who the real-life Mangino has praised often because of his grasp of KU’s offense during practice, demonstrated the same composure in the virtual KSU stadium.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder executed a nice dump pass to the virtual Jon Cornish — who replaced the virtual Clark Green, who after rushing for almost 100 yards in the first half left the game with an apparent lower leg injury. The virtual Meier followed that with another check at the line of scrimmage and audible into a nice run by Cornish for a clutch first down.

With less than 25 seconds remaining the virtual Meier hit virtual tight-end Derek Fine for a long gain over the middle and called a quick virtual timeout to set up Webb’s straight on-shot from almost 40 yards out.

“I can’t think of a more gutty performance by a player in recent years here,” the virtual Mangino might say, considering he said the same thing when Barmann stepped up at Texas A&M as a freshman.

“He not only played well, he managed the huddle, he checked at the line of scrimmage and was correct in almost every audible he made. Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable to think this was his first action in Manhattan, Kansas — one of the more hostile venues — in college football. For a guy to perform like that is unbelievable.”

So too was the virtual Jayhawks comeback, although it certainly looked like virtual Kansas was setting up nicely in the virtual Sunflower Showdown early on.

Virtual KU scored twice off its first four possessions — thanks to a 13-yard jaunt by Clark Green and a 21-yard strike to the virtual Simmons, who has scored in every virtual game this season.

After the early success, though KU’s virtual offense became virtually stagnate and the virtual ‘Cats clawed their way back in the game.

The virtual Thomas Clayton, who rushed for 100 yards in the second half, got KSU on the scoreboard with a five-yard run at the end of the first quarter.

From there the virtual contest turned into a defensive slugfest, in which the virtual Charles Gordon became the biggest star.

KU’s virtual cornerback picked off a pass, and put a vicious hit on KSU wideout Jermaine Moreira. A visibly shaken-up Moreira lost the football and Gordon — who has four INTs and four forced fumbles on the year — came up with the pigskin.

Virtual K-State linebacker Ted Sims, who led the Wildcats with seven tackles, got in on the virtual defensive festivities, picking up a Luke fumble in the second half and taking it 55 yards into the end zone to tie the game at 14.

With two minutes left in the third, virtual KSU took its first lead when virtual kicker Jeff Snodgrass (who later could not convert an extra point because of a botched snap) booted a 33-yarder.

The tables had really turned the other way when the Moreira got his pay back when he snagged a deflected pass off Theo Baines’ shoulder pad and went the distance for a 49-yard touchdown that gave virtual KSU 23-14 cushion with 5:25 to go.

But then the virtual Mangino utilized a trick his virtual teacher (Bill Snyder) showed him.

“(I learned to) Just keep at it and keep working,” the real Mangino said during his weekly press conference this week. “No matter what the situation is, just keep at it.”

That’s exactly what the virtual Jayhawks did, thanks to a little help from their rookie quarterback.

“I think he answered the questions about our quarterback situation,” the virtual Gordon might say, considering the real Gordon said the same thing about Barmann after his stand out performance at Texas A&M.