Rapid Recap: Culture prevails for Kansas State

ADRIAN MARTINEZ’S BEST GAME

Adrian Martinez flipped the script and cut it loose on Saturday night. He threw for 234 yards and ran for another 148 and had five total touchdowns. Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman raved about his quarterback’s performance and called it a fun performance to watch.

He had told him all week that everyone in the Vanier Family Football Complex believed in him, trusted him and loved him. They just wanted him to come out, have fun and whip it around the yard. That’s exactly what Martinez did, and he did it all with confidence.

Klieman was proud of his senior, who was able to do it in front of his family.

Martinez went as far as to call it the best game of his career and the most fun he has ever had playing football. He wanted to play well after the Tulane game, sharing that he thought he let his K-State teammates down and didn’t give enough heart.

Saturday’s performance is what he felt he owed to them.

CRITICAL THIRD DOWN

Probably the biggest play of the game was a third down conversion that came with Martinez using his legs on a 3rd and 16. Martinez scrambled for 55 yards after the play broke down when they ran four verticals.

Kansas State wanted to hit a seam route against cover three coverage that they had success with earlier in the game. Instead, Martinez, made a man miss and cranked it up another gear that they had seen often in preseason practices, according to the K-State head coach.

CULTURE

How a team responds to a loss usually depends on culture. Kansas State has harped on that facet of their program throughout the offseason and it continued after the win. Plenty of players referred to it. The head coach referred to it.

The Wildcats had a good week of preparation in practice and they were able to put the Tulane loss behind them and were loose all week in practice. They all discussed how they used that setback as fuel and that the maturity and leadership within the locker room took hold and allowed them to persevere and be resilient.

K-State very much still believes that they have a special group.

STARTING FAST

Something that should not be overlooked is how fast Kansas State started tonight when they took a 14-0 lead from the jump in the first quarter. K-State also elected to receive after winning the coin toss and wanted the ball first to provide Martinez an immediate spark.

Klieman made sure to note that and poked a little fun at the media members in attendance because it had come up a few weeks ago after they did so against both LSU and South Dakota.

They knew they could score on Oklahoma after the opening drive and their mindset did not change throughout the game. Even when the Sooners began to chip away at the lead, the Wildcats remained confident in their capability when Martinez had the ball in his hands.