Kansas State upsets No. 6 Oklahoma behind Adrian Martinez’s 5 touchdowns

NORMAN, Okla. — Kansas State has finished it once more.

Quarterback Adrian Martinez ran for 148 yards and 4 touchdowns, and the Wildcats surprised No. 6 Oklahoma 41-34 on Saturday evening.

Kansas State beat Oklahoma in 2012, 2014, 2019 and 2020, however an upset appeared unlikely this time — the Wildcats had been coming off a house loss to Tulane the earlier week.

“I simply know that our youngsters consider that they seem to be a good soccer staff, they usually must go on the market and show it,” Kansas State coach Chris Klieman mentioned. “And tonight, they proved it.”

Martinez additionally handed for 234 yards and a rating. He was Nebraska’s quarterback final yr when the Cornhuskers misplaced to Oklahoma 23-16 in the identical stadium.

Martinez, a senior, mentioned it was his finest faculty efficiency.

“Completely, beating a staff like this, on a staff like this, it is a particular feeling, and one I’ve by no means had in my profession,” he mentioned.

Deuce Vaughn rushed for 116 yards for the Wildcats (3-1, 1-0 Massive 12).

It was first-year Oklahoma coach Brent Venables’ first loss as a head coach, and it got here towards his alma mater.

“I do not assume that we performed, clearly, like we have now these first three weeks,” he mentioned. “It begins with the person within the mirror and it begins with us as coaches. Clearly, we did a poor job of getting our guys able to play. Clearly, we did not deal with success very nicely. Typically, it is simply the opposite staff. They simply outplayed you, outcoached you.”

Added Venables: “They clearly had been the higher staff tonight. I assumed they performed extra bodily than us, performed with higher fundamentals, they performed with higher precision on each side of the ball.”

Dillon Gabriel handed for 330 yards and 4 touchdowns and Eric Grey ran for 114 yards for the Sooners (3-1, 0-1).

Kansas State broke out to a 14-0 lead about 9 minutes into the sport behind Martinez’s 6-yard landing run and 6-yard scoring go to Malik Knowles.

“I believe popping out actually quick helped us as a unit,” Martinez mentioned. “Instantly, we knew we might rating on these guys.”

The Wildcats gained 279 yards within the first half to take a 24-17 lead on the break.

Martinez scored his third landing run of the sport from 15 yards out to place Kansas State up 34-20 with 8 minutes to play.

Gabriel discovered Brayden Willis for a 1-yard landing go with 4:36 remaining to chop Kansas State’s result in 34-27. However on the Wildcats’ subsequent possession, Martinez broke free for 55 yards on a third-and-16. He completed the drive with a 1-yard scoring run – his fourth landing dashing of the sport.

Gabriel discovered Willis for a 10-yard landing go with 35 seconds left, and the Sooners lower the deficit to 41-34, however Kansas State’s Kade Warner recovered Oklahoma’s onside kick.

“They onside kicked it to the child that is acquired the very best fingers on our staff in Kade Warner, and I felt fairly good,” Klieman mentioned. “When he recovered that, I used to be like, ‘Wow. We will beat these guys once more right here.’ It is superb to do that two instances in a row right here.”

The Related Press contributed to this report