The 2022 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University in the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wildcats played their home games at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas, and competed in the Big 12 Conference. They were led by fourth-year head coach Chris Klieman.

The Wildcats improved on their 8–5 performance the previous year by virtue of defeating in-state rival Kansas 47–27 on November 26. The following week, the Wildcats defeated 3rd-ranked TCU in the 2022 Big 12 Championship Game, securing their first conference title since 2012 and seventh overall.

Preseason Award watch lists Listed in the order that they were released Lott Trophy Felix Anudike-Uzomah DEJr.Maxwell AwardDeuce VaughnRBJr.Bednarik AwardFelix Anudike-Uzomah DEJr.Doak Walker AwardDeuce VaughnRBJr.Jim Thorpe AwardJuJu BrentsCBSr.Outland TrophyCooper BeebeOLJr.Bronko Nagurski Trophy Felix Anudike-Uzomah DEJr.Wuerffel TrophyWill HowardQBJr.Walter Camp AwardDeuce VaughnRBJr.Rotary Lombardi AwardFelix Anudike-Uzomah Cooper BeebeDE OLJr. Jr.Patrick Mannelly AwardRanden PlattnerLSSr.Paul Hornung AwardMalik KnowlesWRSr.Ray Guy AwardTy ZentnerP/KSr.

Big 12 media poll The preseason poll was released on July 7, 2022.

First place votes in ()

Big 12 media poll 1 Baylor (17) 365 2 Oklahoma (12) 354 3 Oklahoma State (9) 342 4 Texas (2) 289 5 Kansas State 261 6 Iowa State (1) 180 7 TCU 149 8 West Virginia 147 9 Texas Tech 119 10 Kansas 48

Preseason Big-12 awards 2022 Preseason All-Big 12 teams

Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Player No. Position Class Source Felix Anudike-Uzomah 91 DL Junior

Position Player Class OffenseRBDeuce VaughnJuniorOLCooper Beebe JuniorPK/KRMalik KnowlesSenior DefenseDL Felix Anudike-UzomahJuniorLB Daniel GreenSeniorDBJuJu BrentsSenior Source:

Schedule Kansas State and the Big 12 announced the 2022 football schedule on December 1, 2021.

Game summaries South Dakota

Sources: ESPN Box Score K-State Box Score

Statistics South DakotaKansas State First downs 13 19 Total yards 270 392 Rushes/yards 35/131 45/297 Passing yards 139 95 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 18–34–1 15–19–0 Turnovers 1 0 Time of possession 27:41 32:19 Penalties−yards 9−75 4−34 Team Category Player StatisticsSouth Dakota Passing Carson Camp 18/34, 139 YDS, 1 INT Rushing Shomari Lawrence 14 CAR, 84 YDS, 17 Long Receiving Jack Martens 2 REC, 35 YDS, 22 LongKansas State Passing Adrian Martinez 11/15, 53 YDS Rushing Deuce Vaughn 18 CAR, 126 YDS, 1 TD, 39 Long Receiving Will Swanson 2 REC, 23 YDS, 18 Long

Kansas State's season opener produced an official 50,469 fans and its first sellout crowd since 2019. Kansas State did hold back a number of players on injured reserve, including linebackers Will Honas and Shawn Robinson, as well as safeties Josh Hayes and TJ Smith. Highlights included the Wildcats blocking a punt and running it in for a touchdown, what was called an "impressive" ground game, and Malik Knowles scored the earliest touchdown in school history just ten seconds into the game. Kansas State won the game 34-0. Coach Chris Klieman said about the shutout, “It’s really rare in college football so we are all really excited about it.”

Missouri

Sources: ESPN Box Score Team Stats K-State Box Score

StatisticsMissouriKansas State First downs 14 18 Total yards 222 336 Rushes/yards 35/94 43/235 Passing yards 128 101 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 15–31–4 9–20–0 Turnovers 4 1 Time of possession 27:59 32:01 Penalties−yards 8−46 8−68 Team Category Player StatisticsMissouri Passing Brady Cook 15/27, 128 YDS, 2 INT Rushing Brady Cook 13 CAR, 56 YDS, 11 Long Receiving Dominic Lovett 3 REC, 66 YDS, 39 LongKansas State Passing Adrian Martinez 9/20, 101 YDS Rushing Deuce Vaughn 24 CAR, 145 YDS, 2 TD, 29 Long Receiving Phillip Brooks 3 REC, 57 yards, 28 Long

Kansas State and Mizzou have a history of 97 previous football games, but when Mizzou left the Big 12 conference to join the SEC, they ceased playing each other. Kansas State won that last meeting in 2011 with a final score of 24-17 in Manhattan, but Missouri leads the overall series 60-32-5.

Game Time arrived but a weather delay at the beginning and one hour-long delay later in the middle of the game slowed the action. The game started with light rain which grew to more storms. Through the weather, Missouri scored first with a field goal in the first quarter, but following a Kansas State touchdown on the next series, the Wildcats led the rest of the game.

Kansas State highlights included a 76-yard punt return for a touchdown by Phillip Brooks, just two plays after play resumed from the second weather delay. Credit was also given to Kansas State's defense and their ability to overwhelm the Missouri offensive line leading to pressure on Missouri's passing offense.

The Missouri Defense held Kansas State to 89 yards rushing and 14 points in the first half. Missouri did finally score a touchdown on the last play of the game, but it was far from enough. Kansas State won 40-12 for the first meeting of the program since 2011.

Tulane

Sources: K-State Box Score

Statistics TulaneKansas State First downs 18 15 Total yards 336 336 Rushes/yards 40/160 42/186 Passing yards 176 150 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 13–26–2 21–31–0 Turnovers 2 0 Time of possession 28:17 31:43 Penalties−yards 3−25 5−23 Team Category Player StatisticsTulane Passing Michael Pratt 13/26, 176 YDS, 1 TD, 2 INT Rushing Michael Pratt 13 CAR, 87 YDS, 24 Long Receiving Duece Watts 3 REC, 60 YDS, 23 LongKansas State Passing Adrian Martinez 21/31, 150 YDS, 1 TD Rushing Deuce Vaughn 20 CAR, 81 YDS, 26 Long Receiving Malik Knowles 5 REC, 52 YDS, 19 Long

Kansas State was a heavy favorite coming into the game and was stunned at home in losing to Tulane, 17-10. The offense gained just 336 yards while going 2 of 15 on third downs and 1 of 5 on fourth downs.

No. 6 Oklahoma

Sources: K-State Box Score

Statistics Kansas StateOklahoma First downs 28 26 Total yards 509 550 Rushes/yards 49/275 34/220 Passing yards 234 330 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 21–34–0 26–39–0 Turnovers 0 0 Time of possession 35:04 24:56 Penalties−yards 6−37 11−87 Team Category Player StatisticsKansas State Passing Adrian Martinez 21/34, 234 YDS, 1 TD Rushing Adrian Martinez 21 CAR, 148 YDS, 4 TD, 55 Long Receiving Ben Sinnott 4 REC, 80 YDS, 27 LongOklahoma Passing Dillon Gabriel 26/39, 330 YDS, 4 TD Rushing Eric Gray 16 CAR, 114 YDS, 25 Long Receiving Marvin Mims 4 REC, 87 YDS, 1 TD, 50 Long

Coming into the game as two-touchdown underdogs, K-State looked to rebound in a big way from a frustrating loss the week before against Tulane. The Wildcats jumped out to an excellent start, taking a 14-0 lead less than ten minutes into the contest on an Adrian Martinez touchdown run, followed by a TD pass to Malik Knowles.

Oklahoma, though, rallied with consecutive quick-strike touchdown drives (both scoring plays were over 50 yards) to tie the game at 14 each early in the second quarter. K-State, however, received a 58-yard kick return from Knowles to set up a short field, which Martinez converted into his second touchdown run, putting K-State back up 21-14. The Wildcats led the rest of the game from that point.

After both teams traded field goals to go into halftime with K-State ahead 24-17, the two squads again traded field goals as the only scores of the third quarter. In the fourth, K-State finally found the end zone again as Martinez scampered in from 15 yards out to put K-State ahead 34-20 with eight minutes to play. Oklahoma answered with a TD march to cut the deficit back to a touchdown, but K-State had the decisive answer.

Facing 3rd-and-16, Martinez scrambled for 55 yards down to the Oklahoma 4 yard line. Two plays later, he scored from a yard out for his fourth rushing touchdown of the night with 1:58 left to put K-State ahead 41-27. Oklahoma drove downfield and scored with 35 seconds left, but K-State recovered an onside kick to secure the win.

Martinez finished the night with 148 yards on the ground, the most by a K-State QB since 2016. Deuce Vaughn added 115 yards on the ground as well as K-State had two 100-yard rushers for the first time since the 2017 Cactus Bowl. K-State also defeated Oklahoma for the third time in four seasons. Postgame, Martinez said, "It's without a doubt my favorite game of all time."

Texas Tech

Sources: K-State Box Score

Statistics Texas TechKansas State First downs 26 15 Total yards 473 459 Rushes/yards 34/114 39/343 Passing yards 359 116 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 34–48–2 12–19–0 Turnovers 4 1 Time of possession 32:26 27:34 Penalties−yards 5−40 5−47 Team Category Player StatisticsTexas Tech Passing Donovan Smith 34/48, 359 YDS, 2 TD, 2 INT Rushing SaRodorick Thompson 6 CAR, 55 YDS, 23 Long Receiving Xavier White 9 REC, 120 YDS, 1 TD, 26 LongKansas State Passing Adrian Martinez 12/19, 116 YDS, 1 TD Rushing Adrian Martinez 12 CAR, 171 YDS, 3 TD, 69 Long Receiving Kade Warner 3 REC, 47 YDS, 20 Long

Iowa State

Sources: K-State Box Score

Statistics Kansas StateIowa State First downs 16 13 Total yards 388 276 Rushes/yards 38/131 24/78 Passing yards 257 198 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 13–20–0 22–38–0 Turnovers 1 0 Time of possession 30:22 29:38 Penalties−yards 3−25 5−40 Team Category Player StatisticsKansas State Passing Adrian Martinez 12/19, 246 YDS, 1 TD Rushing Adrian Martinez 19 CAR, 77 YDS, 19 Long Receiving Phillip Brooks 4 REC, 119 YDS, 1 TD, 81 LongIowa State Passing Hunter Dekkers 22/38, 198 YDS Rushing Jirehl Brock 13 CAR, 33 YDS, 6 Long Receiving Xavier Hutchinson 8 REC, 100 YDS, 38 Long

No. 8 TCU

Sources: K-State Box Score

Statistics Kansas StateTCU First downs 15 26 Total yards 390 495 Rushes/yards 30/158 56/215 Passing yards 232 280 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 14–23–2 17–26–0 Turnovers 2 0 Time of possession 21:55 38:05 Penalties−yards 4−35 3−30 Team Category Player StatisticsKansas State Passing Will Howard 13/20, 225 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT Rushing Deuce Vaughn 12 CAR, 83 YDS, 1 TD, 47 Long Receiving Malik Knowles 4 REC, 69 YDS, 37 LongTCU Passing Max Duggan 17/26, 280 YDS, 3 TD Rushing Kendre Miller 29 CAR, 153 YDS, 2 TD, 48 Long Receiving Quentin Johnston 4 REC, 74 YDS, 1 TD, 55 Long

No. 9 Oklahoma State

Sources: K-State Box Score

Statistics Oklahoma StateKansas State First downs 14 21 Total yards 217 495 Rushes/yards 30/54 37/199 Passing yards 163 296 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 15–33–2 21–37–0 Turnovers 3 0 Time of possession 24:31 35:29 Penalties−yards 4−35 7−60 Team Category Player StatisticsOklahoma State Passing Spencer Sanders 13/26, 147 YDS, 1 INT Rushing Gunnar Gundy 5 CAR, 27 YDS, 22 Long Receiving Brennan Presley 2 REC, 49 YDS, 29 LongKansas State Passing Will Howard 21/37, 296 YDS, 4 TD Rushing Deuce Vaughn 22 CAR, 158 YDS, 1 TD, 62 Long Receiving Malik Knowles 8 REC, 113 YDS, 28 Long

No. 24 Texas

Sources: K-State Box Score Stats

Statistics Texas Kansas State First downs 22 25 Total yards 466 468 Rushes/yards 40/269 35/139 Passing yards 197 329 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 18–31–0 24–36–1 Turnovers 2 2 Time of possession 27:27 32:33 Penalties−yards 7−49 9−85 Team Category Player StatisticsTexas Passing Quinn Ewers 18–31, 197 yards, 2 TD Rushing Bijan Robinson 30 carries, 209 yards, 1 TD, 68 Long Receiving Ja'Tavion Sanders 5 receptions, 54 yards, 18 LongKansas State Passing Adrian Martinez 24–36, 329 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT Rushing Deuce Vaughn 19 carries, 73 yards, 11 Long Receiving Malik Knowles 3 receptions, 93 yards, 62 Long

Baylor

Sources: K-State Box Score

Statistics Kansas StateBaylor First downs 30 17 Total yards 405 306 Rushes/yards 44/184 23/103 Passing yards 221 203 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 26–35–0 22–38–2 Turnovers 0 2 Time of possession 37:37 22:23 Penalties−yards 4−23 6−51