The Auburn Tigers struggled to run the ball against Kansas State on Thursday night. However, that did not stop them from winning thanks to two touchdown passes from Nick Marshall. D'haquille Williams caught 8 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown to help the Tigers win 20-14.

Kansas State was sloppy on both offense and special teams, which undoubtedly cost them the upset. Jack Cantele misses three field goals while Jake Waters fumbled a ball that led to a field goal for Auburn. Waters also threw an interception on Auburn's one yard line that took points off the board, though that could be attributed to Tyler Lockett for not catching the pass that was in his hands.

Auburn's first possession came to nothing, but they survived a scary situation on the punt. Matthew Shiel mishandled the snap and had to kick a rugby style punt to save himself. He did well to get the ball down to the Kansas State 12 yard line. Three plays later, Waters fumbled the ball and Robenson Therezie recovered at the Kansas State 21 yard line. Auburn would have to settle for a 34 yard field goal after the Wildcats stood tall on defense. Daniel Carlson knocked it through to give the Tigers the early 3-0 lead.

Kansas State had a great drive down to the Auburn one yard line. However, on second and goal from the one, Waters pass hit Lockett on the hands and tipped the ball into the air. Jonathan Jones was there to intercept it for a touchback.

Auburn did nothing with the ensuing possession, but Kansas State had yet another chance to score. Jack Cantele's 41 yard field goal was wide left in a sign of things to come.

Early in the second quarter, Marshall's first down pass was tipped at the line by Travis Britz and intercepted by Dakorey Johnson for the Wildcats at the Auburn 39. However, Kansas State's offense did nothing with the ball and they Wildcats were forced to punt it back to Auburn.

Kansas State finally got on the board with less than five minutes remaining. Jake Waters completed two pass of 20 yards or more and then DeMarcus Robinson finished the drive with a 3 yard touchdown run. Kansas State led 7-3, but it would not last long.

Marshall led Auburn to the 40 yard line of Kansas State. On first and 10, Marshall completed a pass to Ricardo Louis to the 20 yard line with Louis doing the rest to get into the end zone. Auburn quickly reclaimed the lead at 10-7.

Kansas State had a chance to tie the game at 10 going into the break, but Cantele's 42 yard field goal was wide right and Auburn clung to a 10-7 lead at halftime.

Kansas State's second drive of the third quarter saw them methodically move down the field. After being stopped on third and four at the Auburn 5 yard line, Bill Snyder elected to try a 22 yard field goal. Cantele missed an easy chip shot and that was the last action he saw for kicking duties.

After the missed field goal, Auburn used a 15 play, 80 yard drive that took 5:34 off the clock to go up 17-7. Marshall hit Williams in the back corner for a 9 yard touchdown on a fade route. Kansas State's next drive ended with Waters throwing an interception to Trovon Reed.

A touchdown would have practically ended the game, but Kansas State's defense stiffened in the red zone allowing only a 25 yard field goal to Carlson. With 6:28 left, Auburn led 20-7.

Kansas State got within six points after Waters completed four passes to Curry Sexton on the drive for 47 yards. Charles Jones' 1 yard touchdown made it 20-14.

Auburn was faced with a third and 9 on their own 37 yard line with Gus Malzahn calling a passing play. Marshall hit Williams, who was wide open, for a 39 yard gain to end the game.

Marshall finished the game going 17 of 31 for 231 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. He was the second leading rusher with 46 yards. The leading rusher was Cameron Artis-Payne who had 63 yards on 22 carries. The entire team found it difficult to get much going on the ground. The Tigers finished the game with 128 yards on 45 carries, which translates to a 2.8 yards-per-carry average.

Williams had 8 catches for 110 yards and a touchdown. Ricardo Louis had 3 catches for 55 yards and a touchdown. Sammie Coates caught 2 passes for 24 yards with a couple more just out of his reach for big gainers.

Jake Waters went 24 of 40 for 245 yards and two interceptions. He also had the lost fumble. DeMarcus Robinson had 8 carries for 25 yards and a touchdown while Charles Jones finished with 11 carries for 22 yards and a touchdown.

Curry Sexton was the leading receiver for Kansas State with 11 catches for 121 yards. Tyler Lockett caught 6 passes for 45 yards, but was held in check during the second half. He had 1 catch for 6 yards the entire second half.

Lockett was spectacular on his three punt returns with three returns for 71 yards. He set the Wildcats up with excellent field position every time he returned a punt.

Auburn (3-0, 1-0) will face Louisiana Tech on September 27 back home. Kansas State (2-1, 1-0) gets another home game next Saturday when they face UTEP.