MANHATTAN, Kansas – The K-State football captains led by example in the Wildcats’ 55-19 season-opening win over Central Arkansas at Bill Snyder Family Stadium Saturday night. Jesse Ertz set a K-State single-game record for passer rating (319.8), DJ Reed picked off a pass and returned a punt for a touchdown, Trent Tanking led the defense in tackles and Dalton Risner helped anchor a 500-yard effort by the offense as K-State rolled to a win in front of a sold-out – the 34th straight – crowd.

HOW IT HAPPENED
On the opening kickoff of the 2017 season, Reed set up the Wildcat offense on the Central Arkansas goalline with a 96-yard return. The Wildcat offense took control at the four-yard line and handed the ball to sophomore running back Alex Barnes who punched it in for the first score of the game.

Following a field goal for each team, Central Arkansas marched 75 yards to tie the contest at 10. Led by sophomore Carlos Blackman and a pesky option attack, the Bears rushed for 158 yards in the first half, including a 37-yard touchdown run to even the tally.

Up just one in the second quarter (17-16), K-State responded by scoring 21 unaswered points, including a pair of passing touchdowns Ertz, its senior quarterback who threw four in the game, and a 62-yard punt return for a score by Reed. Kansas State went into the locker room at the half with a 38-16 lead and never looked back.

In the second half, the Wildcats continued to add to the lead, as Ertz connected with sophomore Isaiah Harris on a 69-yard pass to extend the lead to 48-19. Ertz exited the game entering the fourth quarter, setting a new K-State record for passing efficiency in a game (319.8), previously set by Allen Webb in 2005 (300.87).

K-State’s surge included scoring on five consecutive offensive possessions, outscoring Central Arkansas 45-9 after the first quarter.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Wildcats were led by Tanking, the senior linebacker, who recorded nine total tackles in the game. The K-State defense forced Central Arkansas into two turnovers – including an interception by Reed – both of which led to K-State touchdowns.

K-State racked up 519 total yards on offense, including 333 through the air. Highly efficient on offense, the team averaged 11 yards per play, and exhausted the Central Arkansas defense.

OFFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE GAME
In the second quarter, Ertz connected on three passing touchdowns on consecutive offensive possessions, including a 70-yard strike to sophomore Dalton Schoen. Ertz finished the game 10 of 16 passing for 333 yards and four touchdowns.

Regularly on the opposite end of Ertz’s throws was junior wide receiver Byron Pringle, who had a career day accumulating 121 receiving yards and a touchdown. Pringle was targeted by Ertz seven times and hauled in a 55-yard touchdown in the first half. Tonight’s showing marked his third straight 100-yard game, the fifth K-State wide receiver to accomplish such a feat.

Along with Pringle’s success, Harris recorded triple-digit receiving yards, totaling 118 yards and a touchdown. The duo of Pringle and Harris marks the first time since 2015 two K-State receivers had 100+ receiving yards in a game, last recorded by Tyler Lockett and Curry Sexton against UCLA.

DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE GAME
On defense the Wildcats reached Central Arkansas quarterback Hayden Hildebrand on four occasions in the game. Late in the second quarter, cornerback Duke Shelley reached Hildebrand for a loss of five, leading to a Reed interception on the following play. Reed returned the interception for seven yards, before being tripped up by a teammate.

Tanking led the Wildcats defense in tackles, totaling nine in the game, including seven solo tackles.

SPECIAL TEAMS STARS OF THE GAME
The Wildcats special teams was headed by Reed, who took the opening kickoff 96 yards to the Central Arkansas four-yard line. Reed’s opening return led to an opening drive touchdown, and marked the longest of his career, previously a 76-yard return recorded against Baylor in 2016. In the second quarter, Reed continued his special team success, returning a Central Arkansas punt 62 yards to give the Wildcats a 31-16 advantage. Reed accounted for 188 total all-purpose yards in the game.

With his punt return touchdown and interception, Reed is the first K-State player to return a punt for a touchdown and record an interception in the same game Terrance Newman in 2002.

On the Wildcat’s third offensive possession the drive stalled in Central Arkansas territory. Kicker Matthew McCrane was called upon and connected on a career long 53-yard field goal to give the Wildcats a 10-3 advantage. McCrane went 2-3 in the game, missing his first attempt of 50 yards.

STATS OF THE GAME
319.8. K-State quarterback Jesse Ertz recorded a new K-State record for passing efficiency in a game with 319.8. The record was intact since 2005 when Allen Webb recorded a 300.87 passing efficiency against North Texas.

SEASON RECORD UPDATE
Kansas State: 1-0 (0-0 Big 12)
Central Arkansas: 0-1 (0-0 Southland)

K-STATE HEAD COACH BILL SNYDER’S COMMENTS
On D.J. Reed…
“I was pleased with D.J. [Reed]. I would have liked for his conditioning to have been better, but that is my fault, not his. We will make up for that on Monday and Tuesday of next week. He played very well. I was pleased with what he did.”

On Ertz’ passing…
“We want him to throw the ball whether it is the underneath ball or the deep ball. It kind of depends on what they give you. We still went in with the idea that we wanted to be balanced. That is not going to change. It became obvious after a while that we were not running the ball extremely well and we needed to throw it. After we threw it a little bit, things started to balance out. We did not throw anything that we would not throw in any other ball game. It was not any pre-conceived idea that all we wanted to do was throw it deep. We threw some other things in there as well, but we just tried to take what they gave us.”

On special teams…
“I think, fortunately, that we have several guys that can return kicks. [Byron] Pringle and [D.J.] Reed both did a nice job, so that is an advantage. But we have some other guys that can line up and play back there as well that I think pose the same issues for an opposing team. And they are only two guys. The other nine guys had a lot to do with what happened.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Next up the Wildcats (1-0) host the Charlotte 49er’s (0-1) at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Sept. 9. Kickoff is slated for 11:00 a.m. and will be broadcasted on FSN Midwest.