#19 K-State (7-3, 5-2) won in dominant fashion on the road over Baylor (6-4, 4-3) by a final score of 31-3 thanks to junior quarterback Will Howard entering the game in relief and another impressive showing from the Wildcats’ defense.

K-State’s first drive of the game was slow and methodical as if Bill Snyder were still calling the shots. They drove the ball 43 yards down the field in over six-and-a-half minutes, but their drive came to an end on a failed fourth down conversion with quarterback Adrian Martinez getting sacked to give the Bears the ball at the long 46-yard line.

Baylor got three first downs, but quarterback Blake Shapen threw a ball high and it was intercepted by safety Kobe Savage, his third of the year.

On the second drive of the game, Martinez converted a QB sneak on a 3rd & 1, but he was shaken up on the play. That forced Howard into the game for the third time this season.

On his second throw, offensive coordinator Collin Klein called for a flea flicker, and they successfully executed it with a 23-yard reception from tight end Ben Sinnott. That was the final play of the first quarter as the game remained scoreless.

Two plays later, Sinnott would get his fifth catch of the evening and his first career touchdown. Howard had to thread it through a very tight window from the 15-yard line, and he squeezed it in perfectly to give K-State a 7-0 lead with 14:20 left in the second quarter.

After getting a stop, Howard continued to efficiently move the ball for K-State. However, they would be stopped in the redzone and forced Ty Zentner to kick a field goal and he drilled it from 31 yards out to go up 10-0 with 5:57 left in the half.

K-State’s defense continued to dominant with their first three-and-out of the game. Baylor’s defense was not prepared for a Howard-run K-State offense as their next drive consisted of five 10-plus yard plays including a 20-yard receiving touchdown from running back Deuce Vaughn. The Wildcats had a sizable 17-0 lead with 2:09 remaining in the first half.

Baylor had one more chance to get their first points and were able to get some chunk plays to get them in field goal range. Kicker John Mayers made a 37-yard field goal to make it 17-3 at the intermission.

The Bears got the ball to start the half, and the K-State defense got back on the right track. Head coach Dave Aranda tried to set the tone and went for it on 4th & 10, but safety Joshua Hayes broke up Shapen’s pass.

After both teams got stops, K-State hoped to break the third quarter stalemate doing so with Sinnott getting his second touchdown of the game. This one was from the 19-yard line to give K-State a 24-3 lead with 1:53 to go in the third quarter.

It was desperation time for the Bears as they went for it on a 4th & 3 from their own 19, and Hayes made a tackle one yard before the line to gain to turn them over on downs. The Wildcats capitalized with freshman running back DJ Giddens punching it in from the one-yard line to go up 31-3 with 14:06 left in the fourth quarter.

From there, K-State was able to take care of business by not giving up any more points and running out the clock to secure the emphatic road victory.

Howard finished 19-for-27 with 196 yards and three touchdowns. Vaughn had 33 touches with 156 yards from scrimmage and a receiving touchdown. Sinnott had seven receptions with 89 yards and his two scores.

K-State was 8-for-13 on 3rd down conversions and held Baylor to 4-for-12 on third downs. The Wildcats put up 405 total yards of offense and held Baylor 306 with only 103 yards on the ground.

The Wildcats outscored the two participants in the 2021 Big 12 Championship game 79-3 this season. Kansas State is now 5-2 and in solo-second place in the conference.

Head coach Chris Klieman said after the game that there will be a quarterback battle moving forward after Howard’s continued success.

They are now back in control of their own destiny to play in the Big 12 title game after TCU defeated Texas. They will have to win their remaining two games at West Virginia and at home against Kansas.