The Longhorns’ regular season is now over and, thanks to Kansas State’s finishing touches, they finished with an 8-4 record.

Not exactly the season Texas was hoping for.

Even with Case McCoy at quarterback, Texas couldn’t do the unthinkable.  Kansas State came alive in the second half and defeated Texas 42-24.

McCoy started the game with an incompletion and an interception, but then had 17 consecutive completions. Collin Klein took advantage of McCoy’s mistake and scored on a 1-yard run.

The Texas defense struggled with third downs early in the game, but Adrian Phillips picked off Klein in the end zone. Klein had two rushing touchdowns, a passing touchdown and an interception in the game.

“I have watched him [Klein] for three or four years now and he is so big and unselfish,” said head coach Mack Brown. “He is also hard to tackle, is accurate with his passing game, and that is what makes him such a great player.

After Phillips got the ball for Texas, McCoy threw a shovel pass to freshman Daje Johnson who ran it 70 yards to the ten-yard line.  But, Texas couldn’t get in the end zone and Nick Jordan hit a 37-yard field goal to make the score 7-3.

Thanks to a 27 yard run from Malcolm Brown, Texas took the lead at halftime after McCoy’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Jaxon Shipley.

But, the second half was much different than the first.

“They got a little bit of momentum and got the crowd back into the game, that is just a part of college football,” McCoy said. “As long as we fight it does not matter what bowl game we go to. We will have a great shot at winning.”

After holding Kansas State to just 114 total yards in the first half, the Wildcats scored on their first three possessions in the second half.  The Wildcats started the third quarter with a 75-yard touchdown drive that ended in a John Hubert 2-yard run into the end zone.

“Basically, they just out-executed us,” said safety Adrian Phillips. “They did what they were supposed to do, and we did not come out to do our job after halftime. That is why we got hurt.”

The Longhorns responded with a drive that included a 46-yard rush from D.J. Monroe.  Malcolm Brown scored a 2-yard touchdown to make the score 17-14.

Hubert’s second touchdown of the game gave the Wildcats a lead that they never surrendered. They pulled away from Texas when Collin Klein’s 55-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Lockett put them up 28-17.  A muffed punt return by Quandre Diggs gave the Wildcats possession and Hubert scored his third touchdown of the game.

McCoy was picked off for the second time of the game and Allen Chapman returned it to the Texas 10-yard line.  Two plays later, Klein scored his second rushing touchdown of the game.

“We were sitting there and K-State had just taken the lead and we had been going back and forth, back and forth,” said senior guard Mason Walters. “Our offense had a drive that stalled out. They played good defense on the drive. We just could not get anything going.”

Brown had his first career touchdown reception of his career to finish scoring in the game.

Turnovers and struggles down the stretch lost the Longhorns the game and allowed Kansas State clinch the Big 12 title.