NORMAN, Okla. — Kansas State has done it again.
Quarterback Adrian Martinez ran for 148 yards and four touchdowns, and the Wildcats stunned No. 6 Oklahoma 41-34 on Saturday night.
Kansas State beat Oklahoma in 2012, 2014, 2019 and 2020, but an upset seemed unlikely this time; the Wildcats were coming off a home loss to Tulane the previous week.
“I just know that our kids believe that they’re a good football team and they have to go out there and prove it,” Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said. “And tonight, they proved it.”
Martinez also passed for 234 yards and a score. He was Nebraska‘s quarterback last year when the Cornhuskers lost to Oklahoma 23-16 in the same stadium.
Martinez, a senior, said it was his best college performance.
“Absolutely, beating a team like this, on a team like this, it’s a special feeling, and one I’ve never had in my career,” he said.
Deuce Vaughn rushed for 116 yards for the Wildcats (3-1, 1-0 Big 12).
It was first-year Oklahoma coach Brent Venables’ first loss as a head coach, and it came against his alma mater.
“I don’t think that we played, obviously, like we have these first three weeks,” he said. “It starts with the man in the mirror, and it starts with us as coaches. Obviously, we did a poor job of getting our guys ready to play. Obviously, we didn’t handle success very well. Sometimes it’s just the other team. They just outplayed you, outcoached you.”
Venables added: “They obviously were the better team tonight. I thought they played more physical than us, played with better fundamentals. They played with better precision on both sides of the ball.”
Dillon Gabriel passed for 330 yards and four touchdowns and Eric Gray ran for 114 yards for the Sooners (3-1, 0-1).
Kansas State broke out to a 14-0 lead about nine minutes into the game behind Martinez’s 6-yard touchdown run and 6-yard scoring pass to Malik Knowles.
“I think coming out really fast helped us as a unit,” Martinez said. “Immediately, we knew we could score on these guys.”
The Wildcats gained 279 yards in the first half to take a 24-17 lead at the break.
Martinez scored his third touchdown run of the game from 15 yards out to put Kansas State up 34-20 with eight minutes to play.
Gabriel found Brayden Willis for a 1-yard touchdown pass with 4:36 remaining to cut Kansas State’s lead to 34-27. But on the Wildcats’ next possession, Martinez broke loose for 55 yards on a third-and-16. He finished the drive with a 1-yard scoring run — his fourth rushing touchdown of the game.
Gabriel found Willis for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 35 seconds left to cut the Sooners’ deficit to 41-34, but Kansas State’s Kade Warner recovered Oklahoma’s onside kick.
“They onside kicked it to the kid that’s got the best hands on our team in Kade Warner, and I felt pretty good,” Klieman said. “When he recovered that, I was like, ‘Wow. We’re going to beat these guys again here.’ It’s amazing to do this two times in a row here.”