It wasn't until a field goal with less than two minutes remaining in the second quarter that the No. 3 Kansas State Wildcats earned their first lead, but with six touchdowns in the second half they pulled away and handily defeated the No. 14 Texas Tech Red Raiders, 55-24.
On the opening drive of the second half, Collin Klein found the success that he struggled to find in the first. After rushing for only 7 yards and passing for fewer than 100 yards in the first two quarters, Klein led a quick 75-yard drive before throwing a 21-yard touchdown to Tramaine Thompson.
Klein then added two rushing touchdowns in the remainder of the third quarter, running in from 16 and 22 yards out to get the Wildcats out to a 34-17 lead. In the fourth quarter, K-State scored 21 more unanswered points including a 37-yard interception return for a touchdown by senior linebacker Arthur Brown, who has been in All-American discussions.
While Seth Doege found Eric Ward for a 4-yard touchdown with less than two minutes remaining, it was far too little, too late for the Red Raiders as they lost for a second week in a row.
Box Score Hero: The Heisman front-runner looked like he belonged in that role, as he accounted for four second-half touchdowns to put the Wildcats well out of reach for the Red Raiders. Klein completed 19-of-26 passes for 233 through the air and two passing touchdowns while adding 83 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Rankings Ramifications: The Wildcats were the No. 3 team in the country and earned a quality victory over the No. 14 team. With the win, K-State will likely remain in the top three and could move up if the No. 2 Florida Gators can't beat the No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs. The loss will drop the Red Raiders in the rankings, but it's doubtful that they fall out of the top 25 entirely.
But Did They Cover? K-State was favored by 7 points and managed to cover after dominating the second half and winning by a 31-point margin.
Next Week's Schedule: The Wildcats will look to stay undefeated when they host the Oklahoma State Cowboys, while Texas Tech will look to bounce back at home against the Texas Longhorns.
This story was originally published on SB Nation.com.