Adrian Martinez, Kansas State shock Oklahoma with 41-34 upset in Norman
For the third time in the past four seasons, Kansas State had Oklahoma’s number. The Wildcats walked into Norman on Saturday and scored on their first two drive to take an early lead, never trailing on their way to a 41-34 victory against the No. 6 Sooners.
It was a thrilling performance from K-State quarterback Adrian Martinez, who torched the OU defense for a career-high five total touchdowns (four rushing, one passing). He finished the contest 21-of-34 passing for 234 yards and led the Wildcats with 148 yards rushing.
After the game, Martinez tried to explain what this victory means for the Wildcats after losing to Tulane this past week.
“I think again, we realized we struggled last week,” he said postgame. “It wasn’t close to what we’re capable of. We wanted to come out here and we had something to prove. I think we know how good of a team we can be and we showed a little bit of that tonight.”
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Martinez’s biggest play of the evening came late in the fourth quarter with the Wildcats leading 34-27. Martinez broke off on a 55-yard run to the Oklahoma 4-yard line, setting up his fifth and final touchdown of the game.
That ultimately ended up being the deciding score as K-State won by a touchdown.
“Just win this game,” Martinez said of what he was thinking on that play. “We’re gonna have to take it. It wasn’t gonna be given to us. We couldn’t hope for, ‘Oh, let’s run the clock a little more then take a timeout and hope our defense stops them.’ Let’s go take this thing. Just proud that the crease was there, our guys believed in me and I was able to make it happen tonight.”
The Sooners would go on to score on the next drive to make it a one-possession game with 35 seconds remaining. However, Kansas State later recovered the onside kick to squash what little hope of an OU comeback there was left.
“Just ultimately confidence in my teammates,” Martinez said. “A lot of people believe in me back home. A lot of people believe in me on this team. I felt like I kind of let them down last week. I wanted to come into this week with a mindset of just letting it rip. Playing with my heart on the line.”
The victory is the first loss of the season for Oklahoma under coach Brent Venables. It also marks the third loss to the Wildcats in the past four years. Although Martinez wasn’t around for those other victories, he is proud to be a part of this one.
“I can only speak to our program,” he said. “I’m really proud to be a Wildcat. I think our culture is special and coach (Chris) Klieman, just the stuff we’re building here is different. I think we come and play with an edge every game.”
Oklahoma will hope to bounce back from this loss to Kansas State next week when the Sooners travel to Fort Worth to take on TCU.