After a sloppy first half, the Kansas State defense seals the win against Tulane

Breath Wildcat fans...breathe.

Kansas State and Tulane came down to the wire and had Wildcat fans on the edge of their seats. K-State was able to pull off the crazy 34-27 win for their first-ever victory over the Tulane Green Wave, but it did not come without its stresses.

After a questionable first half where the Wildcats only put up 10 points and the defense allowed 20 to the Green Wave, K-State fans were wondering if Tulane was officially going to become their kryptonite.

However, like they did in Week 1, Kansas State came out looking like a whole new team in the second half. Well, the offense did have a three-and-out to start the third quarter, but the defense forced the same on Tulane.

After that three-and-out, it seemed like the Wildcat offense was firing on all cylinders. It all started with a great score by DJ Giddens on a pass from Avery Johnson on fourth-and-one. After getting stopped one yard short just barely in their own territory, head coach Chris Klieman was faced with a tough decision. Klieman decided to trust his young quarterback to get just one yard, but he did so much more than that.

Johnson got it to Giddens for a big touchdown that ended up tying the game, a touchdown that would be pivotal come the end of the game.

Now insert the defense.

In the second half, the Kansas Stae defense allowed just one touchdown to the Green Wave in the third quarter. Kansas State was able to get to young quarterback Darian Mensah, who had only won the starting position on the squad about three weeks ago.

Don't get me wrong, the defense still had its time of struggles in the second half, and in the game altogether as they allowed the Tulane offense 342 receiving yards and 128 yards on the ground. However, in the second half, the defense held up more than it did in the first half.

The defense's biggest play of the game came with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter when on a blitz, the Wildcats forced Mensah out of the pocket and the young quarterback was reckless with the football. Linebacker Austin Romaine knocked the ball loose and freshman safety Jack Fabris recovered the fumble and ran it back 60 yards for the scoop-and-score. Kansas State has led the country since 1998 in scoop-and-score plays.

Kansas State at that point had the lead and never relinquished it. After another punt by Tulane with about five minutes left in the game, K-State just needed a few first downs to run the clock down but unfortunately went three-and-out.

Now it was time for the defense to step up again. Tulane had a couple of big plays, and there were a few questionable calls by the refs as well, but with 12 seconds left, Tulane was first and goal on the K-State 16. After a Kansas State timeout, the teams lined up and hearts were pounding for both Tulane and Kansas State fans.

Mensah snapped the ball adn dropped back with the pocket collapsing around him. He chose to let the ball fly and on a dart threw it to one of his receivers, but VJ Payne came out of the back of the end zone to pick off Mensah and effectively seal the game for the Wildcats.

Even though Kansas State's defense looked rough in the first half, they were able to pull it together in the second half to get Kansas State to 2-0 on the road in New Orleans. This was a tough test for the Wildcats as they get ready for a non-conference game against Arizona on a quick turnaround on Friday.