Following a disastrous 17–10 home upset loss at the hands of Tulane last Saturday, Kansas State was forced to quickly put the defeat behind them as they prepared to go on the road and face No. 6 Oklahoma.
And boy, did they put that loss behind them in a hurry.
Quarterback Adrian Martinez accounted for 382 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns as Kansas State upset Oklahoma 41–34 on Saturday night in Norman. The Wildcats never trailed in the road upset.
Martinez, who transferred to Kansas State from Nebraska in the offseason, showed the type of quarterback he can be when the lights are brightest. After an uneven career at Nebraska under Scott Frost which featured plenty of ups and downs, the fifth-year senior picked up his first signature victory as the Wildcats’ starter.
Wildcats running back Deuce Vaughn rushed for 116 yards, and alongside Martinez showed the country what kind of 1-2 punch they could be in the running game.
Kansas State coach Chris Klieman improved to 3–1 against Oklahoma in his coaching career in Manhattan, proving once again to have the Sooners’ number no matter who is coaching the team in Norman.
Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel completed 26 of 39 passes for 330 yards and four touchdowns, but the story of the game fell on the side of the Sooners’ defense, which could not generate enough stops against Kansas State’s formidable offense.
First-year Sooners coach Brent Venables picked up his first loss of his head coaching career in Norman, and will need to quickly figure out how to account for a lackluster defensive effort from his team. Venables was hired away from Clemson in the offseason after Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for USC. The appeal of hiring Venables was rooted in his familiarity with the school and his sterling reputation that he built as a defensive coordinator at Clemson.
As a defensively-minded head coach, Venables will need to clean up the issues on that side of the ball for the Sooners as they look to bounce back next Saturday on the road against TCU.
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