Skylar Thompson connected with Dalton Schoen on a 15-yard touchdown pass with 5:37 remaining to give Kansas State a 31-24 victory over Mississippi State in a non-conference game Saturday at Starkville, Miss.

After Mississippi State (2-1) punted, Kansas State (3-0) took possession at its own 47 with 8:56 left. Thompson completed a 20-yard pass to Schoen before the two connected for the winning score.

Kansas State tied the score at 24 when Malik Knowles returned a kickoff 100 yards with 14:36 left.

True freshman quarterback Garrett Shrader, who replaced an ineffective Tommy Stevens in the third quarter, drove the Bulldogs to the Kansas State 20 before turning over the ball on downs with 2:27 left.

Mississippi State got the ball at its 20 with 30 seconds to go but only moved the ball 15 yards before time expired.

Thompson completed 10 of 18 pass attempts for 123 yards. Schoen had three receptions for 50 yards.

Shrader completed 4 of 12 passes for 51 yards and rushed for 82 yards on 10 carries with a touchdown. Kylin Hill rushed 24 times for 111 yards for the Bulldogs.

Shrader replaced Stevens, who threw two interceptions, and led a 12-play, 79-yard scoring drive that built a 21-17 Bulldogs' lead. Shrader ran 5 yards for the TD with 4:47 left in the third quarter.

After Kansas State fumbled on a punt return, Mississippi State's Jace Christman kicked a 47-yard field goal to increase the lead to 24-17 with 14:50 left in the fourth.

Kansas State played without starting defensive end Wyatt Hubert, who suffered a head injury last week.

The Wildcats defense limited Mississippi State to 48 first-half yards rushing and took a 17-14 halftime lead. Kansas State had 117 rushing yards in the first half.

Jordon Brown, who had 38 yards on four first-half carries, gave the Wildcats a 10-0 cushion on a 7-yard run with 13:31 left in the second quarter.

Stevens then engineered a nine-play, 51-yard drive in 5:05, capped by his 2-yard scoring run with 5:39 left in the half.

Stevens fumbled the ball on the next possession and it was recovered by Kansas State's Daniel Green, who returned it 9 yards to the Mississippi State 30. Five plays later, Thompson ran 1 yard to increase the Wildcats' lead to 17-7 with 46 seconds left in the half.

Mississippi State pulled within 17-14 with nine seconds left in the half. Stevens completed 2 passes for 47 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown connection with Osirus Mitchell.

--Field Level Media