MANHATTAN, Kan. — Special teams was the story in the 118th edition of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown.
Kansas State got two punt returns for touchdown from Sophmore WR Phillip Brooks in the first half, coasting to a 34-7 halftime advantage over their in-state rival.
The rest is history.
That history was written in form of a series-record 12th consecutive victory over Kansas for the Wildcats. They've now won 25 of the last 30 meetings in the series.
"This is a big game for us," said Klieman. "This is a big game for our kids from Kansas and Missouri, and to be able to dominate the football game like we did, I'm really pleased."
The 20th-ranked Wildcats won their fourth game in a row, starting Big 12 play at the 4-0 mark for just the first time since 2014, and just the sixth time in K-State's history.
In the week leading up to the Sunflower Showdown, the narrative of local products playing at K-State being overlooked by Kansas was thrown around a lot. The reason being, K-State's roster boasting 65 kids from the state of Kansas and 15 more from the Missouri side of the Kansas City Metro.
Phillip Brooks is one of those local products. The Lee's Summit, Missouri native made his case for a Big 12 and National Special Teams Player of the Week honor with his two punt return touchdowns in the game.
"We take pride in special teams," Brooks said. "This is Special Teams U."
Special teams certainly overshadowed the K-State offense, who struggled at times in the first half, amassing just 150 total yards and one touchdown, before the Cats got rolling in the third quarter.
Defense deserves its credit as well, with Justin Gardner collecting a pick-six off the hands of KU Freshman QB Jalon Daniels in the second quarter to help add to K-State's cushion early.
The second half started off with a bang, as K-State drove down the field at will. Deuce Vaughn broke into the end zone for a 1-yard score and extending K-State's lead to 41-7.
The remainder of the contest was academic.
Kansas would score their lone second half touchdown off of a K-State fumble that set the Jayhawks up with a short field. Jalon Daniels ran it in from four yards out to bring Kansas to within a modest 55-14, which would end up being the final.
The game seemed to amplify the glaring problems within the Kansas football program as a whole, not just within the Sunflower Showdown rivalry.
The Jayhawks have been outscored 187-52 in Big 12 play this season, and have not won a Big 12 road game since 2008. Their struggles against Kansas State were only magnified by their performance Saturday. But, in the now 12-straight losses to the Wildcats, Kansas has been outscored by an average of over 27 points per game.
The Jayhawks will now turn their attention to Iowa State next week in Lawrence.
The Wildcats will take their 4-0 Big 12 record and head to Morgantown, West Virginia to take on WVU at 11a.m. next week for an opportunity to secure a fifth-straight win on the season.
POSTGAME AUDIO
