Weigman throws 4 TD passes to Overmyer in No. 22 Houston's 35-16 win over Kansas State

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Conner Weigman and tight end Patrick Overmyer connected for four touchdown passes and No. 22 Houston beat Kansas State 35-16 on Saturday.

Weigman was 19 of 30 for 242 yards for Houston (5-1, 2-1 Big 12). Overmyer tied an FBS record with his four touchdown receptions as a tight end.

Avery Johnson was 16 of 30 for 182 yards and two touchdowns with an interception for Kansas State (3-2, 0-2).

“I’m going to start off with something a little bit different,” Houston coach Willie Fritz said, looking ahead to next Saturday's matchup with Oklahoma State. “We got two teams that are ranked playing next Saturday. We need to get as many Coogs out there as humanly possible. It’s going to be great game. (We've) got two fantastic quarterbacks, probably two of the better quarterbacks in the nation.

"I’m really proud of the guys. I thought we played extremely well. We came out of the box hot. Finished some plays. We really played well in the first half, defensively. I thought we did a pretty good job of boxing a dangerous quarterback (Johnson).”

K-State coach Collin Klein pulled no punches.

“They kicked our butts on both sides of the football,” he said. “We weren't able to get any rhythm, running or throwing the ball. Their offense is capable of controlling the football, and that's exactly what happened.”

After forcing a punt on the Wildcats' opening possession of the second half, Houston responded with a 76-yard drive to take a 28-3 lead. Weigman found Overmyer for an 8-yard touchdown strike, the longest of the four scoring plays.

K-State used a 13-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Garrett Oakley to draw to 28-9. But Weigman then found Overmyer again for a 2-yard strike.

“He makes my life easy,” Weigman said. “Just give him the ball and get out the way. We just stuck with the game plan, and we executed when plays were called.”

Johnson hit Jaron Tibbs for a 6-yard touchdown pass to close the scoring.

Houston took the opening kickoff and went 75 yards in 12 plays to take a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard pass from Weigman to Overmyer. After Luis Rodriguez hit a 29-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 7-3, the Cougars used another 12-play, 75-yard drive to open a double-digit lead. Weigman hit Overmyer with a 2-yard TD pass.

Overmyer wasn't too interested in taking credit for tying the FBS record.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “But I just want to say thank you to my coaches and my team. They’re the ones that put me in that opportunity, and I was just lucky enough to be there when my name was called. So all credit goes to them.”

But Fritz was willing to give it.

“A lot of times when you get into two tight end sets, we run the ball a lot,” he said. “We can throw it too because those two guys are like receivers. ”

Houston stretched it to 21-3 with 3:17 left in the first half on a 13-yard run by Makhi Hughes.

Houston: The Cougars came into the game third in FBS in first downs per game at 27.2, going against K-State's fifth-best, first-down defense. Houston had 26 first downs, including 16 in the first half.

Kansas State: The Wildcats' passing defense let them down. They came into the game leading the nation with 106.3 yards allowed per game but gave up more than that before halftime.

Houston: Hosts No. 18 Oklahoma State next Saturday.

Kansas State: Hosts Kansas next Saturday.

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