by @Alec_Busse
On Saturday night, No. 13 Kansas State saw their comeback attempt vs. No. 24 Texas fall short after Adrian Martinez fumbled on the Wildcats’ final drive leading to Texas holding on for a 34-27 victory.
Kansas State allowed a touchdown on Texas’ opening drive of the game and played from behind for the entity of the game. At halftime, the Wildcats trailed Texas 31-10 after the Longhorns capitalized with a touchdown.
But the Longhorn offense struggled to gain momentum in the second half scoring just one field goal.
Meanwhile, Kansas State’s offense capitalized on Texas’ mistakes to gradually eat into the Longhorn lead. With less than three minutes left in the game, the Wildcat offense took over possession looking to tie the game at 34 with a touchdown.
After a few first-down conversions, Martinez had the ball knocked out of his hand before Texas recovered the fumble to secure the win.
With the win, Texas clinches bowl eligibility and moves to 4-2 in the Big 12. Kansas is now 6-3 overall with a 4-2 record in the Big 12. The two teams are now tied for second place in the Big 12 behind undefeated TCU.
MARTINEZ RETURNS AS QB1
Despite Will Howard playing exceedingly well the last two weeks for Kansas State — including nearly 300 yards and four touchdowns last week in a 48-0 win over Oklahoma State — Adrian Martinez assumed his role as the Wildcats’ starting quarterback.
Martinez was ruled out last week with his injured knee, a bruise he suffered vs. Iowa State. Two weeks ago, Martinez played just one series in the Wildcats’ 38-28 loss to still-undefeated TCU. Howard had three total touchdowns in the loss to TCU and seven total touchdowns over the last two weeks.
In his return to the lineup as the Wildcats starting quarterback, Martinez completed 24-of-36 passes for 329 yards and two touchdowns. In the first half, Martinez threw his first interception of the season with about 1:30 left in the second quarter. Texas capitalized on the interception by scoring a touchdown onXavier Worthy’s second touchdown reception of the night, which put Texas up 31-10 at halftime.
Martinez had two competitions in the first half that went for explosive plays, including a 28 yard touchdown pass to running back Deuce Vaughn up the season on the Cats first possession. Later, he found Malik Knowles over the middle on a crossing pattern that went for 62 yards, including the run after the catch.
The Wildcats starting quarterback had a commanding second half where he helped the Wildcats fight back from their 31-10 halftime deficit to make the game 34-27 after a Ty Zentner field goal with less than five minutes left in the game.
BIJAN BULLDOZES CATS’ DEFENSE
All-American Texas running back Bijan Robinson had another career day against the Kansas State defense after totaling 209 yards and one touchdown. Robinson opened the game with a 36-yard touchdown run on Texas’ first drive of the game to put the Longhorns up 7–0.
In the second quarter, Robinson busted a run of 68 yards down the sideline inside the Kansas State 10-yard line. Texas would be forced to settle for a field goal after the long run .
Saturday night’s game marks the second time in Robinson’s career that he has eclipsed 170 yards rushing against Kansas State. Back in 2020, Robinson ran for 172 yards and three touchdowns against the Wildcats in a Longhorn victory at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Texas took over possession with 4:26 left in the fourth quarter after K-State’s field goal to make the score 34-27, and Robinson became the focal point of the Longhorn offense hoping to run out the clock.
But the Wildcat defense was able to force a three and out after Robinson was stuffed for a loss on third down on a pitch play to the right with less than three minutes left in the game.
UP NEXT
Next week, Kansas State plays at Baylor. The Bears (6-3, 4-2 Big 12) beat Oklahoma 38-35. Kansas State lost to Baylor last season and haven’t beaten the Bears since 2017.
