Kansas State rallied from a 17-point deficit to defeat Rutgers, 44-41, behind a record-setting night from Dylan Edwards in the 35th annual Rate Bowl in downtown Phoenix.

Edwards earned Rate Bowl Offensive MVP honors and scored the game-winning touchdown on a 36-yard run with 4:15 on the clock to put the Wildcats ahead for good.

Edwards had a breakout game, recording 18 carries for a Kansas State bowl-record 196 yards and two touchdowns. Additionally, he added two catches for 27 yards and one score. Edwards' 196 rushing yards is the most in a Rate Bowl since Iowa's Marcus Coker in 2010.
 
"It was really important for [our players] to finish out strong, get these seniors a win, get a ninth win and catapult us into 2025," Kansas State Head Coach Chris Klieman said. "We've got a lot of good football players coming back, including Dylan [Edwards]."

Kansas State entered Bowl Season with the 18th-best rushing attack in the country at 204.5 yards per game, Edwards led a dominant rushing attack that totaled 347 yards. Quarterback Avery Johnson contributed 57 yards rushing and Joe Jackson recorded a career-high 50 yards on seven carries in his extended opportunities.

"I told Avery, we've got to beat these guys outside the hashes because I thought we had better team speed," Klieman said. "I think [Rutgers] was really good up front, and we needed to get those guys spread out and utilize our speed and space and that's what we were able to do."

Johnson also threw for 195 yards and three touchdowns, in addition to a score on the ground. Johnson became the all-time single-season leader in touchdown passes in a season (25).
 
Rutgers was led by running back Antwan Raymond, who like Edwards, took advantage of an increased opportunity. Raymond, a true freshman, ran for 113 yards and three touchdowns. Raymond became the eighth player in Rate Bowl history to record at least three rushing touchdowns and the first player to do so since Alex Delton (Kansas State) in 2017.

Raymond scored two of his three touchdowns in the first half as Rutgers orchestrated one of its best offensive halves of the past decade. The Rutgers offense dominated, recording 319 total yards and three touchdowns. Scoring on each of its final five possessions of the first half, Rutgers led 27-17 at halftime.
 
Ja'shon Benjamin's 7-yard touchdown reception from Athan Kaliakmanis gave Rutgers its largest lead of the game, 34-17, in the third quarter, but the Scarlet Knights could not hold it.

"I wish we could have give them a victory," Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano said. "But as I tell the players, in life, if you do everything you can to be the best you can be, you can be disappointed but you have peace. I know that this team did everything they could and just came up a little short. I feel bad for them, but that's the way life goes. We'll shake off the dirt and get back to work in a couple weeks and continue building this program."

In the second half, Rutgers mustered 82 yards, went three-and-out on three of its final six drives and committed a turnover on another following Benjamin's second touchdown of the game.

Edwards responded to break away for a 65-yard touchdown rush to bring Kansas State within 34-23.

The Wildcats scored again to make it a one-score game, 34-29, heading into the fourth quarter, when Johnson connected with Garrett Oakley for a 13-yard touchdown.
Rutgers briefly regained momentum, going up 41-29 early in the fourth quarter on Raymond's 1-yard TD run on a fake tush push.

Kansas State answered again with Johnson's 9-yard touchdown pass to Jackson to cap a 14-play, 85-yard drive. The score cut Rutgers' lead to 41-36 with seven minutes remaining and Edwards' 36-yard score on the Wildcats' next possession proved to be the game-winner the game.
 
"We play good football," Klieman said. "We have resolve. We have really good skill kids, as people find out. We have really good pass rushers. We blitzed the dog out of these guys in the third and fourth quarter, and we got hits on the QB. That's the kind of defense we play and the kind of offense we play."

The 85 combined points tied the fourth-highest scoring game in Rate Bowl history. It matches last year's 85 combined points between Kansas and UNLV. The 170 combined points between the last two Rate Bowls equals the most combined points in consecutive games in Rate Bowl history. The 2005 (Arizona State 45-40 over Rutgers) and 2006 (Texas Tech 44-41 over Minnesota) games also combined for 170 points.