Kansas State runs away from Nicholls, 71-3

Nicholls went three-and-out on 71% of its drives. That is the game. Kansas State runs away from Nicholls, 71-3 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Kansas State led from start to finish and never let Nicholls within striking distance. Avery Johnson threw for 199 yards on 21 attempts with three touchdowns and ran four times for 23 yards and one score.

One team finished its drives

Kansas State scored on 75% of its drives to Nicholls's 14%, led by Avery Johnson (24 pts), Joe Jackson (12 pts) and Rodney Fields Jr. (6 pts). Kansas State converted 9 of 11 third downs (82%) to Nicholls's 25%: Avery Johnson (3/4), Rodney Fields Jr. (3/3) and Blake Barnett (2/2). Stacked together, it was never close.

The names on it

Avery Johnson threw for 199 yards on 21 attempts with three touchdowns and ran four times for 23 yards and one score — three of them from inside the 20, three third-down conversions and a hand in three plays of 15 yards or more. Joe Jackson ran seven times for 38 yards and one score and caught two passes for 48 yards, one of them for a touchdown, including that score from inside the 20. Rodney Fields Jr. ran 14 times for 101 yards and one score, including three third-down conversions. For Nicholls, Ean Rodrigue threw for 30 yards on 19 attempts and ran six times for 24 yards. Shane Lee ran 10 times for 12 yards. Darien Whitaker Jr. was the disruptive one for Kansas State: 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 fumble rec, 2 tackles.

What Nicholls has to fix

The problems had names: Ean Rodrigue (1 lost fumble).

The defensive story

Three names to keep: Darien Whitaker Jr. (1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 fumble rec, 2 tackles) for Kansas State, R.Van (1 forced fumble) for Kansas State and Alex Villavaso (1 TFL, 1 forced fumble, 1.5 tackles) for Nicholls.

The takeaway

Kansas State did exactly what a better team should against Nicholls: leave no doubt.