Wildcats make a statement vs. Cowboys
No. 22 KSU leaves no doubt against No. 9 Oklahoma State
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Will Howard threw for 296 yards and four touchdowns, Deuce Vaughn ran for 158 yards and another score, and No. 22 Kansas State dealt ninthranked Oklahoma State its first shutout loss since 2009 with a 48-0 victory Saturday.
Kade Warner caught five passes for 97 yards and two scores, and Malik Knowles had eight catches for 113 yards, while a late interception gave the Wildcats (6-2, 4-1 Big 12) their first shutout of the Cowboys since a 10-0 win on Nov. 21, 1992.
Oklahoma State’s Spencer Sanders was just 13 of 26 for 147 yards with an interception before landing hard on his shoulder midway through the fourth quarter. The star quarterback did not return to the game.
Kansas State scored touchdowns on its first two possessions, finished with 495 yards of total offense and held Oklahoma State (6-2, 3-2), which had been the nation’s No. 3 scoring offense at 44.7 points per game, to just 217 yards.
The Cowboys’ most lopsided loss in nearly 18 seasons under coach Mike Gundy was also their first shutout loss to anyone since Nov. 28, 2009, when they lost 27-0 to Oklahoma in the Bedlam game.
The Wildcats have had some strangely easy wins over Oklahoma State. The last time a Gundy team was held to 12 points or fewer was in a 31-12 loss in Manhattan in 2018, and the last time the Cowboys trailed any game
by at least 38 points was during a 48-14 loss to the Wildcats in 2014.
The biggest question surrounding Kansas State was the health of its own quarterback, Adrian Martinez, who played just four snaps in last week’s loss to TCU because of a knee injury. And while he warmed up with the starters Saturday, it was the veteran backup Howard who headed out to the field on the opening possession of the game.
Howard proceeded to torture the banged-up Cowboys defense for the next 30 minutes. He capped the opening drive by hitting Warner on fourth-and-10 for a
38-yard TD reception. Then, after Vaughn ripped off a 62-yard touchdown run, Howard threw a 31-yard third-down scoring strike to Phillip Brooks to make it 21-0.
Howard’s fourth TD throw, also to Warner and also on third down, traveled about 10 yards through the air on a screen, but ended up going for 41 yards. And the final touchdown of the half, after Oklahoma State had stuffed Kansas State twice at the goal line, was a quick out to Vaughn with just 11 seconds left before halftime.
Meanwhile, the prolific Cowboys offense couldn’t answer any of them.