MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — No. 11 Kansas State's rapidly improving defense led the first shutout of Texas in more than a decade in a 23-0 victory Saturday that kept the Wildcats unbeaten in Big 12 play.
Matthew McCrane kicked three field goals, and DeMarcus Robinson and Charles Jones each ran for a touchdown to lead the Wildcats (6-1, 4-0). Jake Waters threw for 224 yards, and Tyler Lockett had eight catches for 103 yards to climb another notch in the school record books.
Tyrone Swoopes was just 13 of 25 for 106 yards for the Longhorns (3-5, 2-3), who were shut out for the first time since a 12-0 loss to Oklahoma on Oct. 9, 2004. The blanking came just one week after they put up 524 yards of offense in a 48-45 victory over Iowa State.
It was also the first shutout by the Wildcats since beating Kent State 37-0 three years ago, and the first in conference play since routing the Cyclones 45-0 on Nov. 8, 2003.
Kansas State, the only school in the Big 12 with a winning record against Texas, has won six of the last seven meetings. The Longhorns won last year in Austin.
The Longhorns, who mustered 196 yards of offense, only had two good scoring chances.
The first came early in the second quarter, when they marched to the Kansas State 16. They were hit with a holding penalty on the next play, and Swoopes threw an incompletion and then was sacked by Elijah Lee to take coach Charlie Strong's team out of field-goal range.
The second chance came with the Wildcats leading 16-0 early in the fourth quarter.
Texas had again marched deep into Kansas State territory, but the drive stalled at the 15-yard line. Strong elected to go for it on fourth-and-1, and running back Johnathan Gray was stood up trying to dive over the left side of the line. The officials reviewed the spot but the video was inconclusive, and the ball went over to the Wildcats on downs.
Kansas State promptly drove 86 yards the other way, Waters twice picking up third downs with long passes to Lockett and Deante Burton. Jones finished off the drive by dancing through a cloud of defenders for a 1-yard touchdown run and a 23-0 lead with 9:31 left in the game.
Earlier in the game, Lockett moved past Michael Smith for the third-most receptions in school history. The latest Lockett to star at Kansas State has 186 catches in his career.
The Wildcats moved the ball most of the game, but had to keep settling for field goals.
McCrane hit the first, a 19-yarder, midway through the first quarter. He connected from 30 yards on the next season, and the freshman added his third late in the third quarter.
By that point, Robinson had also scored on a short TD run and the Wildcats led 16-0.
Swoopes, who had more than 400 yards of offense a week ago, struggled to find open receivers all afternoon. And when he tucked the ball and ran, he usually had more than one purple jersey on his heels. The sophomore quarterback finished with 31 yards on the ground.
Gray had just 24 yards on 10 carries. Malcolm Brown ran six times for 21 yards.
