RAPID RECAP: Kansas State upsets No. 6 Oklahoma 41-34 in Norman

NORMAN, OKLA. — Unranked Kansas State took a two-touchdown lead on the road at No. 6 Oklahoma with 8:00 left in the fourth quarter before a frantic eight minutes of football concluded with 41-34 Kansas State win on Saturday night at Gaylord Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla.

After three tough performances to open the season, Kansas State (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) quarterback Adrian Martinez ran 52 yards on third and 16 to get to the Oklahoma (3-1, 0-1 Big 12) four-yard line before later punching it in on a one-yard run up the middle for his fourth rushing touchdown of the night.

In addition to Martinez’s four rushing touchdowns on Saturday, he was the Wildcat’s leading rusher with 148 rushing yards against what was a porous Oklahoma defense that allowed 509 total yards.

Martinez was highly criticized for his play in Kansas State’s 17-10 loss last week against Tulane, but he the Nebraska transfer quarterback showed up big-time against the Big 12’s top-ranked team on Saturday night.

Kansas State’s offense gained 509 total yards on the night, and Martinez was responsible for 382 of them when combining his passing and rushing totals.

Despite not forcing a turnover and allowing a season-high in points, Kansas State’s defense was able to hold off a high-powered Oklahoma offense just enough to escape Oklahoma with a statement road victory following an embarrassing home loss last week in which the defense played well enough to earn a victory.

For the second time in as many trips to Norman — one of the Big 12’s most difficult environments to get a road victory — Kansas State leaves with a win. In 2020, Kansas State beat the Sooners 38-35 when Oklahoma was ranked No. 3 in the country. Kansas was also unranked in the 2020 game.

K-State has won four of its last six games at Oklahoma.

After looking locked up in the first three games of the season, Kansas State quarterback

found more success in the Wildcats’ fourth game of the season than he did in any of their first three games — combined.

Martinez completed 21-of-34 passes for 234 yards on Saturday night and had one passing touchdown. Martinez came out aggressive looking to throw the ball more down-field early in the game, and it helped contribute to K-State opening the game with a 14-0 lead after the Wildcats’ first two drives.

The Nebraska transfer also ran the football more against Oklahoma’s defense than he did in the first three weeks of the season. Martinez rushed 21 total times for 148 yards and his rushing touchdown in the first half helped put Kansas State up 21-14 before securing the game-winning touchdown with less than 2:00 left in the game.

His touchdown run included some impressive agility by diving over the pile at the line of scrimmage, but he was short of the goal line. To get over the goal line, Martinez planted his left hand in the grass and vaulted himself into the red grassed end zone.

Martinez silenced a lot of doubters following his ugly start to the season with his strong performance — on the ground and in the air — on Saturday against the Sooners. The former four-star prospect looked free, fast and confident in his talent on Saturday.

had a streak of eight straight games with at least 100 rushing yards snapped last week against Tulane. But Vaughn rushed for 116 yards against a stout Sooner defensive front.

The preseason All-American averaged 4.6 yards per carry, which is more than he averaged in any of K-State’s first three games this season. On multiple carries, Vaughn was able to make the Sooner’s first tackler miss by using a nifty juke move paired with a nasty head fake.

had five receptions for 22 yards entering Saturday’s game and just seven receptions for 37 yards in his career. But, Sinnott had a career game against the No. 6 ranked Sooners. The big-bodied tight end hauled in four catches for 80 yards on the night, both career highs. Three of Sinnott’s first four receptions all went for at least 20 yards, including one reception for 27 yards to get into Oklahoma territory on a drive that later put Kansas State up 34-20.

From a numbers perspective, Sooner quarterback

had a really impressive game. But Gabriel’s night wasn’t easy. The Sooner quarterback had four touchdown passes, including his first two which went at least 50 yards. He ended the night with 330 passing yards on the night.

But Kansas State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman did a quality job of moving his defensive backs around enough to make things a bit difficult for the Oklahoma transfer quarterback throughout the night.

Klanderman’s defense was able to get pressure on Gabriel in key moments, which helped fluster him in the pocket. Gabriel was able to escape pressure a few times, which contributed to his 61 rushing yards, but 26 yards of that came on one scramble down the sideline.

But Gabriel was really disciplined throughout the night in not throwing the ball into harm’s way against an opportunistic Kansas State defense that had a combined six interceptions in the last two weeks against Missouri and Tulane.

Kansas State returns to Bill Snyder Family Stadium next week to play Texas Tech in their second Big 12 game of the season. The Red Raiders beat No. 22 Texas on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas, to start Big 12 play 1-0.