Players of the game: Kansas State drops Big 12 opener

In a lackluster performance on offense for Kansas State, running back Deuce Vaughn still found a way to be productive. Instead of on the ground, Vaughn was more effective in the passing game.

His 55-yard touchdown, with about 50 yards after the catch, was the only touchdown for the Wildcats.

No one else really stuck out on the this side of the ball. Sammy Wheeler had one nice reception where he broke a couple tackles and picked up 18 yards. He saw increased usage due to Daniel Imatorbhebhe's injury.

Both quarterbacks, Jaren Lewis and Will Howard, turned it over once each.

Howard's was on a poor snap that was very difficult to handle and ended up as a defensive touchdown for Oklahoma State.

Lewis showed some solid pocket presence for many of his snaps, but his interception was to a defender that stood only 5-10 feet in front of him.

The defense really struggled to stop the Cowboys from doing what they wanted in the first half. The second half saw a more conservative approach from Mike Gundy and company and the Wildcats were able to hold Oklahoma State scoreless in the final two quarters.

Daniel Green didn't play in the second half after he committed a targeting penalty early in the second quarter. Cody Fletcher and Nick Allen finished as the team leaders in tackling. TJ Smith was up there in that category, too, but he also was dinged up during the game.

Felix Anudike did take down quarterback Spencer Sanders once, and since nothing else went very well for this defense, Anudike gets the nod for that sack and a couple of other nice tackles at the line of scrimmage.

Punter Ty Zentner had a lot of work, as K-State punted seven times. Zentner booted it an average of just under 50 yards a punt, three dropped inside the 20 and four went for over 50 yards. He had a fantastic boom that pinned the Cowboys inside the 10 as well.

Besides that, Malik Knowles had an impressive kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter. If not for a mistake later in the quarter, he would receive the honors in this particular phase for the Wildcats.

His mistake to run out a kick that resulted in him being tackled inside Kansas State's own 10-yard yard line, eventually resulted in a score for Oklahoma State. A poor snap from Noah Johnson couldn't be corralled by Will Howard and it was recovered for a score by the Cowboys.