‘We Handled it on the Field’

Afterward, after Kansas State left the doubters all soaked and after the Wildcats plowed previous Kansas, 42-17, on the wet, fast-emptying newly-refurbished Memorial Stadium in Lawrence on Saturday, senior offensive lineman Taylor Poitier – believed to be the one participant in Okay-State historical past to beat Kansas seven occasions in a taking part in profession – hoisted the coveted Governor’s Cup above his head and took a protracted deep drink of water, rinsing his palate of the Jayhawks for a ultimate time, nonetheless standing in his white uniform following a Sunflower Showdown postgame locker room scene that may greatest be described as epic.

 

For the previous week, and maybe even longer, Okay-State gamers heard the speak about their nice demise, and the way the Wildcats had slipped, and the way Kansas was primed to carry its horribly lengthy shedding streak to Okay-State to an finish. Okay-State head coach Chris Klieman, in his opening remarks of his postgame information convention, stated that such discuss “kind of pissed off a lot of our older Kansas kids.”

 

That for positive included Poitier, the 6-foot-3, 302-pound native of Kansas City, Kansas, who years in the past adorned his childhood bed room with blue and pink, and who now for greater than half a decade has helped the Wildcats paint Lawrence purple.

 

“This,” he says, “means everything.”

 

Poitier stood close to the skin entrance to the customer’s locker room. It was 3:23 p.m., a pair hours previous lunchtime, and he posed together with his fellow Okay-State offensive linemen shirtless on the soccer area to have a good time how the Wildcats ate the Jayhawks’ lunch everywhere in the area. After Okay-State beat Kansas, 31-27, in Lawrence two years in the past after which escaped the Jayhawks, 29-27, final season in Manhattan, this sport on Saturday wasn’t a single-possession battle.
 
It was an old-school beatdown.
 
And it was a beatdown of historic significance. Not solely is Okay-State’s 17-game successful streak in opposition to Kansas the longest in Sunflower Showdown historical past, however Saturday’s win gave Okay-State the longest energetic successful streak in an uninterrupted sequence within the FBS. Georgia is second on the checklist with a 16-game successful streak over Kentucky.
 
Okay-State has now outscored Kansas 680-279 throughout its 17-straight wins over the Jayhawks.
 
“My final year at K-State, being able to know it’s seven years in a row for me beating KU, I’m really grateful,” Poitier stated. “Every time I come to this place, I get a little jittery because I love playing here, and I love to beat them here. I’m glad we got this W.”
 

For the primary time for the reason that successful streak started in 2009, Okay-State entered because the underdog within the rivalry sport. That stayed with the Wildcats all through the week. They practiced arduous, oh, how they practiced arduous, as a result of it doesn’t matter what, all of it comes right down to this: Beat KU.
 
“I saw all week KU was favored to win,” Poitier stated. “I used to be like, ‘What makes you guys assume that we will allow them to roll over us?’ We talked about all of it week that we needed to be elite. That’s what we confirmed on the market.
 
“We didn’t talk much smack. We handled it on the field.”
 
Okay-State improved to 4-4 total and 3-2 within the Big 12 Conference, and Kansas dropped to 4-4 and 2-3.
 
“I’m telling you,” Klieman stated, “there was a different vibe in our building this week about the importance and magnitude of us coming out and playing great football in Lawrence.”
 

Saturday’s victory continued a development for the ascending Wildcats within the powerhouse Big 12, as they’ve gained three of their final 4 video games with wins over UCF (34-20), TCU (41-28) and Kansas (42-17). Their lone loss within the month of October was a 35-34 defeat at Baylor on October 4.
 
Heading into November and the ultimate month of the common season, Okay-State hosts No. 13 Texas Tech (7-1 and 4-1) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, then travels to Oklahoma State (1-7 and 0-5) after which No. 24 Utah (6-2 and 3-2) earlier than internet hosting Colorado (3-5 and 1-4) in Senior Day in Manhattan.
 
On Sunday, one ESPN bowl prognosticator projected Okay-State to face Wake Forest within the Gasparilla Bowl in on December 19 in Tampa, Florida, whereas one other had the Wildcats going through East Carolina within the Armed Forces Bowl on January 2 in Fort Worth, Texas.
 
“We’re not going to stop fighting,” Okay-State quarterback Avery Johnson stated. “It simply reveals the quantity of grit this crew has. The season did not begin how we wished it to begin, and even shedding to Baylor within the vogue we did, perhaps if we win that sport, we’re 5-3 with one Big 12 loss, and we could be sitting even higher proper now.
 
“The whole message throughout the locker room is take it one week at the time. We have one-week seasons, and next up is Texas Tech. It’s going to be a tough one. If we come out and play like we did today, we have a really good chance. We have to focus on Tech now, and after that, we’ll focus on who comes after that. One-week season. Who knows how it’s going to shape up five weeks from now.”
 

A local of Wichita, Kansas, Johnson is one in every of 10 Okay-State starters that hail from the Sunflower State. But this was the primary time Johnson was beginning quarterback in opposition to Kansas in Lawrence. Johnson got here up massive in finishing 11-of-17 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns, and dashing six occasions for 17 yards and two scores.
 
“We’ve heard it the last three years — at least I’ve been hearing it since I’ve been in college — that whenever we play KU, it’s always going to be their year,” Johnson stated. “We by no means get too caught up in that. Maybe our report may replicate it was going to be their yr as a result of our report hasn’t been what it has been up to now main as much as this sport, however so far as the crew we’re, we’re nonetheless the extra proficient crew.
 
“We went out and played like it today.”
 
It’s a day that Klieman, Johnson, the remainder of the Okay-State coaches and gamers, retiring marching band director Dr. Frank Tracz, the Okay-State marching band, and followers won’t quickly neglect.
 
Poitier definitely will keep in mind it effectively.
 
“We can’t be average when we play these guys, we have to be elite, and that’s what we showed today,” Poitier stated. “I’m really grateful.”