Former Kansas State players made their presence felt in all three phases in Week 4, and Austin Romaine’s day at Texas Tech was the one that truly bent a game.
Romaine delivered one of the strangest sequences of the college football weekend in Texas Tech’s 49-14 win over Sam Houston, turning back-to-back interceptions into touchdowns early in the second quarter. The first pick went 15 yards to the end zone, and the next came 31 yards for another score just seven seconds later. It marked the first time in 13 years that an FBS player had returned consecutive opponent passes for touchdowns.
Texas Tech needed every bit of it. The Red Raiders managed only seven first-half points on offense, and quarterback Will Hammond threw three interceptions in the final 5:30 before halftime. Sam Houston trimmed a 21-0 hole to 21-14 by the break, so without Romaine’s 14 points, Texas Tech could have been looking at a halftime deficit despite being favored by nearly five touchdowns.
Romaine ended up with a team-high eight tackles, two interceptions and two touchdowns. His teammates eventually settled in after halftime and scored four times in the second half, but the early rescue act belonged to the defender wearing No. 15.
Qua Moss also gave his new team a spark, even if Tennessee came up short in a 20-17 loss to No. 1 Texas.
Moss flipped the game’s energy with a 57-yard punt return touchdown early in the third quarter, tying the score at 10. He caught the punt with room to operate, burst through the coverage unit and sent Neyland Stadium into a frenzy.
That was Tennessee’s first punt-return touchdown since 2023, and it arrived after the Volunteers had gone into halftime trailing 10-3. Moss’ return was the kind of explosive play that can change the temperature of a game in a snap.
It also invites a familiar question for Kansas State fans: where was that at K-State?
Moss had shown the kind of athleticism and return upside that could have mattered there, but Chris Klieman and Nate Kaczor never seemed eager to give him a real shot in that role. Instead, Kansas State used Sterling Lockett on punt returns. Lockett may have been steady, but Moss showed a far higher ceiling against the top-ranked team in the country.
Jayce Brown had the roughest Saturday of the group, even in LSU’s 35-6 win over No. 23 Texas A&M. Avery Johnson’s former top target had a chance to haul in a touchdown in the end zone but couldn’t finish the play, and LSU fans let him hear about it online.
The Tigers didn’t need the score, either. They controlled the game throughout and put it away with a 21-point third quarter. But Brown’s miss still stood out in a crowded receiver room where coaches and quarterbacks tend to lean on players who finish the easy ones, especially near the goal line and in big moments.
Brown has not been effective so far and hasn’t earned much trust in LSU’s offense. For LSU fans, Saturday looked less like an isolated mistake and more like another missed opportunity from a transfer receiver still trying to find his place.
Snap Count
Amarion Fortenberry (USF), 61; Daniel Cobbs (Baylor), 53; Colby McCalister (Baylor), 47; Ryan Davis (Baylor), 44; Austin Romaine (Texas Tech), 43; Qua Moss (Tennessee), 40; Malcolm Alcorn-Crowder (SMU), 36; Brayden Loftin (UCLA), 33; Tobi Osunsanmi (Indiana), 30; Jayce Brown (LSU), 23; Chiddi Obiazor (Indiana), 13; Andrew Metzger (Ohio), 19
In Other News...
Kansas State Suddenly Has A Big 12 Problem It Can't Ignore
The loss to Cincinnati left Kansas State with more than just a mark in the standings. Collin Klein made it clear afterward that the Wildcats have a run-defense issue to clean up, after the Bearcats rolled up 271 rushing yards on 38 carries and controlled enough of the game to leave Manhattan with a 31-26 win. Gi'Bran and Cole Tabb fueled that ground attack, giving Kansas State a long afternoon trying to slow things down at the line of scrimmage.
Klein also pointed to the offense's stalled drives as part of why the Wildcats came up short, which only adds to the pressure heading into the stretch ahead. For a team with Big 12 aspirations, getting pushed around on the ground is the kind of problem that can follow you if it is not corrected quickly, especially when the margin for error is already getting thinner. [Read more 🡒]
Cincinnati Just Made The Kind Of Big 12 Statement Fans Needed
Cincinnatis first Big 12 game of the season delivered exactly the kind of message the league tends to notice, and Kansas State was on the wrong side of it. The Bearcats pushed through an early deficit, leaned on their run blocking and got important production on the ground from GiBran Payne and Cole Tabb. For a team trying to show it can handle life in this conference, the win mattered plenty, and it lifted Cincinnati to 4-0 for the first time since 2021.
For Kansas State, the loss serves as an early reminder that Big 12 openers can turn fast when the other side starts controlling the line of scrimmage. Cincinnatis second-half response was the difference, and it left the Wildcats having to sort through how a game they led early slipped away. In a league where every road test can turn into a statement opportunity, this one belonged to the Bearcats. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas State Wasted A Huge Day With One Crushing Mistake
Derrick Salley Jr. gave Kansas State plenty to build on with a huge afternoon against Cincinnati, piling up seven catches for 140 yards and a touchdown in a game that had the Wildcats in position to make a statement. For most of the day, he looked like the kind of difference-maker who can tilt a close Big 12 matchup, giving the passing game a needed spark and keeping Kansas State within reach.
Collin Klein, though, knows the Wildcats were left to rue one costly sequence. Salleys fumble on the first play of the second half swung the momentum toward Cincinnati and helped turn a promising spot into a 31-26 loss. It was the kind of mistake that can erase a big individual performance in a hurry, and Kansas State now has to sort out how to pair production with cleaner execution when the margin is this thin. [Read more 🡒]