K-State got a dominant performance from its defense, and Deuce Vaughn rushed for 124 yards on 13 carries as the Wildcats took down Stanford in its season opener 24-7 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday.
Skylar Thompson threw for 144 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns, including a six yard run in the first quarter. Deuce Vaughn had perhaps the play of the game, a 59-yard scamper with 6:17 left in the 2nd quarter, putting the Cats up 14-0 at halftime, K-State’s offense outgained Stanford in the first half 240-124. On the defensive side, the K-State pitched a first half shutout, highlighted by a Russ Yeast interception of Stanford quarterback Jack West, his first as a Wildcat.
Following a scoreless third quarter by both teams, K-State tacked on a Taiten Winkel field goal early in the 4th quarter, to go up 17-0. The defense cashed in again a few plays later, this time as TJ Smith collected the second interception of the day and returned it 39 yards to set up the Cats deep in Stanford territory. Two plays later, Thompson rushed for his second score of the day, this time from 13 yards out, giving the Cats a 24-0 lead with 7:10 to play.
The shutout remained intact until late in the fourth quarter as quarterback Tanner McKee found Brycen Treamayne for a 14-yard completion in the corner of the end zone.
The K-State defense held Stanford to only 39 rushing yards. K-State outgained Stanford in total offense 340-233.
K-State improves to 1-0 and will return to Manhattan to face Southern Illinois next Saturday (Sept. 11) for a 6 p.m. kickoff at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
