ORLANDO, Fla. — Kansas State football saved all its second-half offense for one huge drive.

After North Carolina State trimmed an 11-point deficit to two points in the third quarter, the Wildcats came up with a 15-play, 72-yard drive that took nearly 7 1/2 minutes off the clock Thursday night to ice the game with 2:48 left on the way to a 28-19 Pop-Tarts Bowl victory at Camping World Stadium.

DJ Giddens converted a fourth down from the Wolfpack, 21-yard line and Avery Johnson hit Jayce Brown for the 11-yard touchdown to make it a two-possession game.

K-State led 21-10 at halftime, but North Carolina started the second half with a field goal and then got a touchdown, only to have the two-point conversion erased by a VJ Payne sack.

K-State improved to 9-4 and finished with at least nine victories for the second straight year. North Carolina State saw a five-game winning streak end and finished at 9-4.

Here are three takeaways from the Wildcats' victory.

K-State coach Chris Klieman, aka The Gambler

Chris Klieman has not relied on trick plays often during his five years at K-State, but he rolled the dice in the second quarter against N.C. State, and it paid off big.

On a fourth down and 5 from the Wildcat 29-yard line, punter Jack Blumer took off up the middle for a 30-yard gain, and three plays later K-State went up 14-0 on a 5-yard Giddens touchdown run.

Klieman also kept the offense on the field on fourth-and-5 on the game's opening drive, and Avery Johnson hit Giddens over the middle for a 37-yard score.

With the game on the line and the Wildcats up by two, Klieman passed up a short field goal, and Giddens picked up the first down on fourth-and 1 with under four minutes to go. Giddens picked up 8 yards on the play to the Wolfpack 13.

DJ Giddens carries the load for Wildcats

Kansas State's opening drive to start the game was all DJ Giddens. Giddens, the Wildcats' sophomore running backs rushed four times for 38 yards, and he capped the 75-yard drive with a 37-yard touchdown reception from Avery Johnson.

Giddens, who rushed for 1,075 yards and nine touchdowns during the regular season, finished the game with 28 carries for 152 yards.

Battle of the running quarterbacks

North Carolina State quarterback Brennan Armstrong showed why he was the Wolfpack's leading rusher for the regular season despite losing his starting job for four games. He gashed K-State's defense for 117 yards in the first half alone and finished with 121 on 17 carries.

K-State freshman Avery Johnson who ran for 225 yards in a reserve role, including a school record-tying five touchdowns at Texas Tech, finally showed off his legs in the second quarter, keeping a drive alive with a 12-yard keeper and then scoring from 19 yards out to give the Wildcats a 21-7 lead. Johnson finished with 71 rushing yards on seven attempts.

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Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Three takeaways from Kansas State football in Pop-Tarts Bowl