MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Oklahoma has made a habit of squandering early leads much of this season.

The Sooners went the other way Saturday night.

Rodney Anderson ran 22 yards for the go-ahead score with 7 seconds left, Baker Mayfield threw for 410 yards and accounted for four touchdowns, and the nation’s ninth-ranked team overcame a 21-10 halftime deficit to beat Kansas State 42-35 and keep their playoff hopes alive.

Anderson finished with 147 yards rushing and also caught a TD pass for the Sooners (6-1, 3-1 Big 12), who shredded the overmatched defense of the Wildcats (3-4, 1-3) over the final 30 minutes.

“Our guys at halftime had a great look in their eye. They were determined to come out and play a lot better,” Sooners coach Lincoln Riley said. “But the mentality really went to another level there in the locker room at halftime. They were really ready to play.”

Kansas State sophomore Alex Delton’s first career touchdown pass with 2:25 left it tied at 35, but Mayfield and Anderson calmly went to work. The Heisman Trophy candidate hit a series of throws downfield before Anderson took a carry around the left side for the decisive score.

“As a leadership group, we took care of it and handled it,” Mayfield said. “That’s a huge win for us, considering we haven’t played well in the second half most of the season.”

Making his second career start, Delton finished with 161 yards rushing and three TDs while going 12 of 14 for 144 yards through the air. Alex Barnes added 108 yards and a touchdown on just six carries.

It was the Sooners’ nation-leading 14th consecutive true road victory, and it extended their run of dominance in Manhattan. They haven’t lost to the Wildcats in their home stadium since 1996.

“I’m tired of coming into the locker room under such circumstances,” said Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, whose team has lost three straight to the Sooners. “We’ve lost far too many games. You have to play complete games in this conference. One half won’t do it.”

It was Kansas State that was rolling early, though, with Barnes taking a handoff up the middle on the game’s second play for a 75-yard TD run. The Sooners needed a couple minutes for Mayfield to provide the answer, but his touchdown toss to tight end Mark Andrews was his highlight of the half.

Mayfield threw a pick in the end zone on the Sooners’ ensuing possession, just his second of the season. Then he was inexplicably split wide as Oklahoma went to the Wildcat set in short-yardage spots.

Kansas State stuffed Trey Sermon and Dimitri Flowers for no gain on consecutive plays to force one turnover on downs, then dumped Flowers for a loss at the goal line to force a field goal.

Delton’s two touchdown runs staked Kansas State to a 21-10 lead at the break.

“It was still important for us to play that last 30 minutes,” Snyder said.

Indeed, whatever momentum the Wildcats took into the locker room stayed there, because Mayfield and the Sooners got going in the second half. They tromped 80 yards for a touchdown on their first possession, 69 yards for a field goal on their second and 93 yards for another touchdown on their third.

The 2-point conversion gave them a 28-21 lead with 14:19 left, their first of the game.

It took a snap over punter Austin Seibert’s head midway through the fourth quarter for the Wildcats to draw even, which they did on Delton’s third TD run. But Mayfield’s 66-yard pitch-and-catch to Marquise Brown set up a go-ahead TD toss to Anderson with 5:16 to go.

Kansas State drove downfield to tie it at 35 on Delton’s first career TD pass, but it came with 2:25 still on the clock. And that was enough time for Oklahoma to score one more time.

“You’re trying to turn the tide and start the season over,” Kansas State defensive tackle Will Geary said. “When they score like that, it just takes away all your spirit.”

THE TAKEAWAY

Oklahoma showed off its deep stable of offensive weapons. Mayfield had with 69 yards rushing, Brown had six catches for 126 yards and tight end Mark Andrews had a team-high seven catches for 61 yards. That helped make up for freshman running back Trey Sermon, who had just four carries for 18 yards.

Kansas State made strides offensively from last week’s dismal showing against TCU, when it managed 216 yards total offense. The Wildcats had 202 in the first quarter alone. But it was the defense that let them down this time, keeping them from their first home win over a Top 10 opponent since 2006.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma returns home to play Texas Tech on Saturday night.

Kansas State heads down Interstate 70 to face Kansas on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — TCU and Kansas State had gone through pregame stretching and warm-ups, even tossed the coin, and were minutes away from kickoff Saturday when the first flash of lightning lit up the sky.

After a 3-hour weather delay, the Horned Frogs returned to the field to start the game.

The Wildcats never really showed up.

Sixth-ranked TCU’s stingy defense shut down the ailing Kansas State offense, and Kenny Hill threw for 297 yards while running for a touchdown in a 26-6 victory that kept the Horned Frogs undefeated.

“Honestly no,” Hill said, when asked whether he thought TCU would be the Big 12’s lone remaining unbeaten team. “To get to this point, I wasn’t expecting that at all. I mean, it’s a good feeling, but you’ve got to keep pushing, keep plugging away and keep trying to get another win.”

Sewo Olonilua added two short touchdown runs for the Horned Frogs (6-0, 3-0), who held the Wildcats (3-3, 1-2) without points both times they ventured into the red zone.

Kansas State was forced to play without quarterback Jesse Ertz, who was hurt in last week’s double-overtime loss at Texas. Sophomore backup Alex Delton got his first start and was 11 of 29 for 146 yards, struggling to run coach Bill Snyder’s complex offense against the Big 12’s best defense.

The Wildcats’ ground-based attack managed just 70 yards on 29 carries.

“There are some things that I need to get straightened out,” Snyder said. “They gave good effort. There are just some things that are not taking place. That falls into my lap.”

After kickoff was delayed because of the lightning, the Horned Frogs wasted little time in taking the lead. Their defense got the ball back deep in Kansas State territory, and Aaron Hicks pounded away five straight times before Hill scampered in from seven yards out for the touchdown.

Jonathan Song added a pair of field goals later in the first half.

“We had the same thing happen to us at Texas where we had a delay a couple of years ago,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said, “and so I let them play some music and they were singing, doing all the things they wanted to do to stay loose.”

The Wildcats’ most promising drive reached the TCU 5, but they followed with a pair of penalties on Byron Pringle — including pass interference to wipe out his TD catch — before fumbling the ball away.

They had a similar meltdown late in the third quarter, when they marched inside the TCU 10. The Horned Frogs’ defense proceeded to stuff Delton on third-and-2, and then shot through the line to bring down running back Justin Silmon on fourth-and-inches to get the ball back.

“That’s very surprising. I expect us to convert all the time,” Wildcats offensive lineman Abdul Beecham said. “It’s very disappointing no matter who we’re playing not to find the end zone.”

Early in the fourth quarter, another lightning spell sent the teams back to the locker room.

Only a few thousand water-logged fans were left when the teams returned to play the final 12:49, and the Horned Frogs made sure they stayed quiet. They forced a quick punt by Kansas State and breezed 65 yards downfield before Olonilua scored from one yard out for a 26-3 lead.

The Horned Frogs cruised the rest of the way in avenging a defeat from last year for the fourth time in their first six games. They’ve also beaten Arkansas, Oklahoma State and West Virginia.

“All I know is, we’re bowl-eligible and that’s my first goal, is to get to six, and now it’s going to be to get to seven,” Patterson said. “But you got to have six first.”

CORNERING DELTON

Patterson called more blitzes than he has in years to keep the athletic Delton from scrambling for big gains. It worked. He carried 19 times for 39 yards. “We did not want to let Delton out,” Patterson said, “and it’s the first time he’s starting, so we kept doing things to confuse him.”

THE TAKEAWAY

TCU’s defense bailed out an offense that played well in back-to-back wins over the Cowboys and Mountaineers but squandered plenty of changes Saturday. Darius Anderson fumbled the ball away in his own territory to set up Kansas State’s first field goal, and KaVontae Turpin dropped a pass in stride early in the fourth quarter that would have gone for a game-sealing touchdown.

Kansas State simply looked inept on offense. Delton’s inconsistency in the passing game allowed the Horned Frogs to stack the line of scrimmage, taking away the Wildcats’ run game. Offensive coordinator Dana Dimel hardly helped with some head-scratching decisions, such as running out of the shotgun when the Wildcats were stuffed on their fourth-and-inches try.

UP NEXT

TCU returns home to face struggling Kansas next Saturday.

Kansas State gets another stiff test in No. 12 Oklahoma on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)– Texas running back Chris Warren III scored on a 2-yard touchdown run in the second overtime when the powerful running back moved a pile of Kansas State tacklers across the goal line, sending the Longhorns to 40-34 win Saturday night.

Warren appeared to be stopped short, but refused to go down and kept pushing his 250 pounds forward. Helped by a push of the pile by his teammates, Warren bowled into end zone, taking several Wildcats with him.

The touchdown came after Kansas State’s Matthew McCrane missed a 53-yard field goal attempt that bounced off the left upright.

The win puts Texas (3-2) at 2-0 in the Big 12 for the first time since 2013, the last time the Longhorns played for the league crown.

Freshman Sam Ehlinger passed for 380 yards and two touchdowns in his third career start for Texas. He also ran for 107 yards, using his legs for big gains on the game-tying drive in the fourth quarter and to set up Warren’s game-winning score in overtime.

Kansas State (3-2, 1-1) quarterback Jesse Ertz threw touchdown passes of 82 and 12 yards to Dalton Schoen in the first half. But Ertz took himself out of the game after an awkward trip and fall on a short run in the third quarter. The Wildcats trailed but Alex Delton came in and ran for the tying touchdown and later drove the Wildcats to a go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter. Delton also ran for a touchdown in the first overtime.

THE TAKEWAY

The Wildcats will feel like they let a tough road win get away. The Wildcats led by 10 in the first half and had fought back to lead again in the fourth. But the Wildcats’ typically stout defense gave up big chunks of ground to Ehlinger late as the Longhorns sent the game to overtime. Delton gave them a boost with his legs late, but the Wildcats could have used Ertz’ arm in overtime.

The Texas offense is growing up behind Ehlinger, who is now 2-1 as starter and seems to get more comfortable with every throw. While Texas has said Shane Buechele has been dogged with shoulder and ankle injuries this season, Ehlinger is becoming the leader of the Longhorns offense and gives them a powerful running dimension when plays break down.

UP NEXT

Kansas State hosts No. 8 TCU next Saturday

Texas plays No. 3 Oklahoma in Dallas in the annual Red River.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. – With a career-high tying four field goals to help Kansas State earn a 33-20 win over Baylor on Saturday, Wildcat senior place kicker Matthew McCrane has been named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday.

It is the second weekly conference accolade for McCrane, who also received the honor following the Kansas game in his freshman season of 2014. The Wildcats now have 46 player of the week honors since 2011, the second most in the Big 12, while 25 of those have been of the special teams variety, the most in the Big 12.

A product of Brownwood, Texas, McCrane connected on field goals of 37, 21, 49 and 23 yards on the afternoon, including two in the fourth quarter that secured the win. His 4-for-4 mark was the best perfect game of his career, tied for the second best in school history and tied for the third best in the nation this season. Additionally, his 15 points scored in the game was one shy of setting the single-game school record among kickers.

McCrane improved his career mark to 44-of-50 as his 88.0-percent success rate ranks first in school history and third in the nation. He also ranks first in school history in career extra-point percentage (99.1), second in career field goals made, fourth in career scoring among kickers (234) and eighth overall in scoring.

K-State travels to take on Texas this Saturday at 6 p.m., inside Texas Memorial Stadium.

— KSU Athletics —

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — On an inconsistent day for the Kansas State offense, one player emerged amidst the dropped passes and potential big plays that went bust: Kansas State’s dual-threat quarterback.

Jesse Ertz ran for two touchdowns and Kansas State withstood a furious second half rally to post a 33-20 win over Baylor Saturday.

Ertz had 12 carries for 95 yards, including a 15-yard run in the 3rd quarter to extend the Kansas State lead to 27-13. The Wildcats tipped the balance of their offense in the second half with just five pass attempts compared to 23 rushes.

Baylor head coach Matt Rhule had seen a big play quarterback the week before in Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield. However, when compared to Ertz in the quarterback run game Rhule gave the edge to the Kansas State signal caller.

“Baker doesn’t run the football as much as Jesse and he (Ertz) is more of a power runner.” Rhule said when comparing the two.

“He made some crucial plays with the quarterback draw down in the red zone. He has the ability to run through you and over the top of you. I thought he did a nice job of getting us to jump offside early on with the hard count.”

For the game, Kansas State (3-1,1-0 Big 12) ran the ball 43 times for 225 yards and two touchdowns.

After falling behind 17-3 at the half, Baylor (0-5, 0-2 Big 12) had a chance to tie, but a bad snap over the head of Zach Smith was recovered by Kansas State near the end of the 3rd quarter.

Smith finished the contest with 291 yards passing on 44 attempts and one touchdown.

“We got the ball in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie the game.” Rhule said. “Snap the ball over the quarterbacks head and then drop the snap on a punt. Those were obviously two huge errors — miscues that put the game out of reach.”

TAKEAWAYS

Kansas State: Kansas State is now 10-5 after coming off of a bye week since 2009.

Baylor: The Bears fall to 0-5 for the first time since 1978.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Kansas State should receive votes into the AP Poll this coming week.

NEXT UP

Kansas State: The Wildcats are at Texas Saturday.

Baylor: The Bears play at Oklahoma State on Saturday, October 14.

INJURY REPORT

Following the game, Baylor head coach Matt Rhule fears that punter Drew Galitz may be out for the season as he had a non-contact injury during the opening kickoff.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Thanks to his two defensive touchdowns in Kansas State’s 55-7 victory over Charlotte on Saturday, Wildcat safety Kendall Adams picked up Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week accolades, the conference office announced Monday.

It was Adams’ first-career weekly conference honor and marked the second-straight week a Wildcat picked up player of the week accolades as D.J. Reed was the conference’s special teams player of the week after the season opener. Additionally, K-State now has 45 player of the week honors since 2011, the second most in the Big 12.

Adams accomplished a rare feat in the victory over the 49ers as he returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter before picking up a fumble and returning it 46 yards for a score in the second quarter. He became just the third Big 12 player to accomplish the feat, joining K-State’s Dyshod Carter against Missouri in 1999 and Texas Tech’s Paul McClendon against North Texas in 2001.

Adams also added five tackles to his line against Charlotte as he leads the team with 13 stops through two games of 2017.

K-State travels to Nashville, Tennessee, this Saturday to take on Vanderbilt at Vanderbilt Stadium. The game, which kicks off at 6:30 p.m., will be aired nationally on ESPNU.

— K-State Athletics —

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kendall Adams hadn’t scored since high school.

On Saturday, the defensive player reached the end zone twice in the first half returning an interception and fumble for touchdowns to lead Kansas State. The No. 19 Wildcats used those scores to rout Charlotte 55-7.

Kansas State (2-0) led 14-0 midway through the first quarter, before Adams took an interception 30 yards up the far sideline and made it 21-0.

“Coach Hayes had help set up what they were going to do,” Adams said. “We had that game plan and I sat on the route, broke on it, got the ball and just ran it in.”

The pick was Adams first of the season. With just over four minutes remaining before halftime, Adams was in the right place again as he picked up a fumble from 46 yards out to make the score 31-7.

“Coaches always tell us to pick up the ball if it’s borderline and that’s what I did, I couldn’t tell if it was a live ball or not so I just picked it up and took it in.”

The last Wildcat to accomplish this feat was Dyshod Carter against Missouri in 1999.

On offense, the Wildcats were just as effective with Alex Barnes, Jesse Ertz and Winston Dimel scoring.

After struggling in the running game a week ago, the Wildcats scored five rushing touchdowns and gained 304 yards on the ground against Charlotte (0-2).

One of the many highlights on the day for the Wildcats was a 20 yard gain by Alex Barnes that ended with him hurdling over a Charlotte defender.

Barnes ended his day with 102 yards rushing along with his one score.

“It just shows how diverse of an offense we are,” Barnes said. “Last week we were not getting it done on the ground so we threw for 400 yards. This week it was a little tougher in the air so wee just grounded the rock all day.”

TAKEAWAYS:

Kansas State: Bill Snyder improved to 19-1 all-time against Conference USA opponents.

Charlotte: Saturday’s loss to Kansas State marks the first time Charlotte has started 0-2 to begin the season since they became a member of NCAA’s FBS division starting in 2015.

INJURY REPORT:

Kansas State right tackle Dalton Risner left in the game’s first series with an injury and did not return for the rest of the game.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Kansas State will remain ranked in the AP’s Top 25 this coming week.

UP NEXT

Kansas State: The Wildcats visit Vanderbilt.

Charlotte: The 49ers host North Carolina A&T.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Backed by a combined 181 yards in returns last week against Central Arkansas, which featured a 62-yard punt return touchdown, Kansas State junior D.J. Reed was named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday.

It was Reed’s second career player of the week honor but the first of the special teams variety as he was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week following last year’s Texas Tech victory. K-State now has 44 player of the week accolades since 2011, the second most in the Big 12, while 24 have been special teams honors.

Reed took the opening kickoff 96 yards to the Bear 4-yard line to set up K-State’s first touchdown of the season, which bettered his previous long kickoff return of 76 yards last season at Baylor.

It was just the first of two long returns as Reed took a second-quarter punt 62 yards for a touchdown to give the Wildcats a 31-16 advantage. The score came on the first punt-return attempt of his career as he became the first Wildcat to take their first-career punt return for a touchdown since Thomas Randolph against New Mexico State in 1993.

The next Central Arkansas possession, Reed carded his fourth-career interception to set up another Wildcat touchdown as the Wildcats took a 22-point lead into the locker room en route to a 55-19 victory. With the pick, Reed became the first Wildcat to have an interception and a punt-return touchdown (non-blocked) in the same game since Terence Newman against Missouri in 2002.

K-State takes on Charlotte at 11 a.m., Saturday in Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

— K-State Athletics —