Recap: OSU Suffers Historic 48-0 Beatdown at Kansas State

Kansas State kicked Oklahoma State’s butt on Saturday in Manhattan, handing the Cowboys their largest loss since 2000 when they fell by 58 to Texas Tech, and their largest margin of defeat in the Gundy era since he took over the program in 2005.

“We got our butts kicked,” said Gundy postgame. “Obviously there’s not a lot I need to say.”

It happened early, too. Kansas State stunned OSU by going for it on a 4th-and-10 in the first quarter with backup quarterback Will Howard at the helm, and Howard delivered a dime down the field that went for a touchdown to give Kansas State the early momentum.

That was just foreshadowing of what turned out to be a career day for Howard, who before Saturday had played in only 15 career games and had 10 career starts. Howard gashed the OSU secondary early on and often, finishing with 296 yards passing and four passing touchdowns while connecting on 21 of his 37 passing attempts. All four of his passing touchdowns came in the second half.

On the other side, OSU’s passing game — much like its defense and its running game — was a virtual no-show. Spencer Sanders completed 13 of his 26 attempts for 147 yards and did not have any impact on the ground game. In the rushing game, Gunnar Gundy — who came in to relieve Sanders late after he left with injury — led the Pokes with 27 yards on five attempts. As a team they rushed for 54 yards on 30 attempts.

OSU was banged up after starting RB Dominic Richardson was ruled out pregame, plus Sanders, much like several offensive linemen, were not 100%. But it was a disheartening effort after defeating Texas last week to capture serious momentum in the Big 12 title race.

Things aren’t likely to let up anytime soon, either. OSU will again face a Kansas foe next weekend on the road with a tilt in Lawrence against the Jayhawks before Iowa State and Oklahoma set up the regular-season finale vs. West Virginia.