Recap: Kansas State football dominates in season opener, shuts out South Dakota 34-0
MANHATTAN — Kansas State raced to a 20-point lead in the first quarter and never looked back on the way to a season-opening shutout of South Dakota on Saturday night at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Final score: Kansas State 34, South Dakota 0
K-State racked up 393 yards total offense, including 297 rushing. Deuce Vaughn ran for 126 yards in three quarters of work and the defense came up with a fourth-down stop inside its 5-yard line in the final minute to preserve the shutout.
End of the third quarter: Kansas State 34, South Dakota 0
The game slowed to a crawl in the third quarter, but K-State did pad its lead with a touchdown.
Here comes redshirt freshman Jake Rubley to take over at quarterback.
DJ Giddens scores first career TD for K-State
DJ Giddens, a redshirt freshman from nearby Junction City, picks up his first career touchdown, going untouched for 12 yards to cap K-State's first possession of the second half.
The drive covered 63 yards in 11 plays and put the Wildcats up 34-0 with 8:43 left in the third quarter.
Halftime score: Kansas State 27, South Dakota 0
K-State has little trouble on the way to a 27-0 halftime lead. The Wildcats had 269 yards total offense in the first half, including 220 on the ground.
Deuce Vaughn is off to a strong start with 13 carries for 89 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown run. New quarterback Adrian Martinez has been solid, completing 9 of 11 passes for 49 yards with 29 and a touchdown rushing. Malik Knowles ran 75 yards for a score on the game's first play and caught three passes in the half.
Still, it was an uneven first half on offense for the Wildcats, who punted three times.
The defense set up one touchdown on a Sincere Mason interceptions, and special teams came through with a score when Seth Porter blocked a punt and Desmond Purnell scooped it up and took it to the end zone from 17 yards.
South Dakota had 99 yards total offense in the half.
Adrian Martinez scores first Wildcat touchdown
Kansas State quarterback Adrian Martinez scores his first Wildcat touchdown on a 6-yard run with 5:49 left in the half. Chris Tennan's PAT makes i5 27-0.
Redshirt freshman DJ Giddens helped set up the score with runs of 17 and 11 yards on his first two collegiate carries after Deuce Vaughn was on the receiving end of a facemask penalty.
K-State right guard Taylor Poitier went down during the drive.
End of the first quarter: K-State 20, South Dakota 0
Kansas State takes a 20-0 lead to the second quarter. The Wildcats have 183 yards total offense to 46 for South Dakota.
K-State's touchdowns have come on runs of 75 yards by Malik Knowles and 39 yards by Deuce Vaughn, plus Des Purnell's 17-yard return after Seth Porter blocked a Coyote punt.
Deuce to the house
K-State All-America running back Deuce Vaughn gets his first touchdown of the season on a 39-yard run. He now has 69 yards n eight carries, and after Chris Tennant missed the extra point, the Wildcats lead 20-0 with less than a minute to go in the first quarter.
The touchdown was set up by a Cincere Mason interception, the first forced turnover for the Wildcats.
K-State special teams on the board
South Dakota's second possession ends with a three-and-out, and K-State cashes in as Seth Porter blocks the punt and Des Purnell scoops and scores from 17 yards out. Wildcats lead 14-0 with 8:14 left in the first quarter.
Wildcats strike first
It took exactly 10 seconds for Kansas State's first touchdown of the season. Malik Knowles takes the handoff on a reverse sweep around left end and goes 75 yards for the score.
The Wildcats lead 7-0 with 14:50 left in the first.
Wildcats want the ball
There's no deferring for Kansas State tonight. The Wildcats win the toss and choose to receive. Here we go.
Welcome back, Ell Roberson
Former Kansas State quarterback Ell Roberson, who is joining the Ring of Honor, gets to open the door for the Wildcats to come out of the locker room.
Setting the stage
Weather conditions for tonight's game: 88 degrees under clear skies and wind from the north at 10 mph. We're less than 10 minutes from kickoff.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Recap, scores from Kansas State football vs. South Dakota
