WACO, Texas (AP) — Will Howard threw for three touchdowns after Adrian Martinez left with an injury, and No. 23…
WACO, Texas (AP) — Will Howard threw for three touchdowns after Adrian Martinez left with an injury and No. 23 Kansas State kept its Big 12 title hopes alive with a 31-3 rout of Baylor on Saturday night.
The defending conference champion Bears (6-4, 4-3 Big 12) will need help getting back to the title game after a three-game winning streak put them back in contention.
The Wildcats (7-3, 5-2) entered the game in a three-way tie for second place in the Big 12 with Baylor and No. 18 Texas, which later played undefeated and fourth-ranked TCU.
Howard took the field after Martinez appeared to hurt his lower body after taking a first-quarter hit from a quarterback.
The junior, who threw four TD passes in a 48-0 win over then-No. 9 Oklahoma State put the Wildcats up 7-0 two weeks ago on the same drive with a 15-yard scoring pass to Ben Sinnott.
Howard threw seven TD passes without an interception in three-plus quarters, replacing Martinez, who was on the sideline wearing a helmet after being checked by medical personnel.
Martinez returned last week against Texas and threw for 326 yards, but had an interception that turned into a touchdown and lost a fumble that gave the Longhorns the win.
Blake Shapen had two interceptions in the Bears’ worst offense in Big 12 play this season as their four-game winning streak came to an end.
Deuce Vaughn caught a 20-yard touchdown and ran for 104 yards, making him the third Kansas State running back with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons (1,079 this season).
Howard was 18 of 26 for 186 yards and Sinnott had another TD of 19 yards to finish with seven catches for 89 yards.
FOR TAKE AWAY
Kansas State: The Wildcats wasted little time showing their faith in Howard. On his first drive, they ran a reverse flick and he completed a 23-yard pass to Sinnott. Sinnott’s TD throw came two plays later.
Baylor: Coach Dave Aranda tried to spark a late-third-quarter rushing attack on fourth-and-3 from Baylor’s 19-yard line. Manaray Baldwin’s catch gained just 1 yard and DJ Giddens sent many fans to the exits on a 1-yard TD to give Kansas State a 31-3 lead early in the fourth.
FURTHER
Kansas State: The Mountaineers beat Oklahoma 23-20 on a field goal at West Virginia next Saturday. The Wildcats snapped a five-game losing streak with a 34-17 home win last year.
Baylor: No. 4 TCU visits McLane Stadium next Saturday. The Horned Frogs have won six of seven in the series since the Bears’ 61-58 home victory in McLain’s debut season in 2014. Both teams had one loss this year and were eliminated from the first four-team playoff.
___
AP College Football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25. Subscribe to the AP Football News Newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/mrxhe6f2
Copyright © 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or distributed.
