WACO, Texas -- Kansas State won a second-place Big 12 matchup against Baylor 31-3 on Saturday night at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas, despite playing much of the game with their backup quarterback Will Howard.

After not scoring on their first drive, Kansas State's defense struggled to stop Baylor on the Bears' first drive until free safety Kobe Savage intercepted Blake Shapen's tipped pass near the end zone to end Baylor's nine-play, 44-yard drive in the end zone.

Kansas State's defense forced just one three-and-out on Saturday night, but Baylor's offense didn't have a single drive take more than four minutes off the clock on Saturday night.

Wildcat running back Deuce Vaughn topped 100 rushing yards in the Wildcats' win, but he also had 50 receiving yards and a touchdown in the first half in the passing game. In the last two games, Vaughn has emerged as one of Kansas State's top pass-catching threats after hauling in seven catches for 86 yards in the Wildcats' loss to Texas last week.

K-State tight end Ben Sinnott had his best game of the season -- and career -- on Saturday night. Sinnott hauled in a pair of touchdown catches and had 89 receiving yards. It's the first time Sinnott has found the end zone this season and the second time he has achieved at least 80 receiving yards. Previously, Sinnott had 80 receiving yards in the K-State win at Oklahoma earlier this season. Last week, Sinnot had 44 receiving yards vs. Texas. He's emerged as a legitimate pass-catching threat for Kansas State this season.

With the win, Kansas State moves into second place in the Big 12 behind TCU because the Horned Frogs beat Texas 17-10 on Saturday in Austin, Texas.

On the fifth play of Kansas State's second offensive drive, Adrian Martinez injured his right leg/knee while successfully converting on a third and one. Martinez was removed from the game and helped off the field by Kansas State's medical team.

Backup quarterback Will Howard was inserted into the game and helped Kansas State finish the drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ben Sinnott through multiple Bear defenders.

Later in the first half, Howard hit running back Deuce Vaughn in the chest on a wheel route for a 20-yard touchdown pass that put Kansas State ahead 17-0. It was the fifth pass completion Howard had to Vaughn on the night.

With 1:53 left in the third quarter, Howard hit Sinnot again in the end zone for a touchdown on a third and 10 from the Baylor 19-yard line. The grab put Kansas State ahead 24-3, and was Howard's ninth touchdown pass of the season.

Saturday's game is the third that Kansas State has inserted Howard into this season. Previously, he played in relief of Martinez in the Wildcats' loss to TCU three weeks ago. Against TCU, Howard threw two touchdowns and ran for a score on his first three drives leading the Kansas State offense. A week later, Howard threw for 296 yards and four touchdowns in the Wildcats' 48-0 win over Oklahoma State at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

Kansas State's coaching staff has publicly said they intend to redshirt Howard this season, but his play in three different games makes it harder for Howard to sit on the bench. The Wildcat coaching staff will likely have to reevaluate the quarterback decision with two games remaining in the regular season including at West Virginia next week.

Howard ended the game by completing 18-of-26 passes for 186 yards and three touchdown passes. His passer rating was 167.4.

Kansas State's linebackers had one of their best games of the season on Saturday night. Led by Daniel Green and Austin Moore, the Wildcat defense limited a potent Baylor rushing attack to just 103 yards on the evening. Baylor's starting running back Richard Reese had only 54 rushing yards on the night. Baylor's secondary running back Sqwirl Williams ended the night with 17 rushing yards.

Rush linebacker Khalid Duke contributed to the efforts of the K-State linebackers by bringing Qualan Jones down for a loss of one yard on the Bears' second drive of the game. Duke finished the game with only two total tackles, but the senior was the only Wildcat defender to register a tackle for loss.

A week ago, the K-State linebackers contributed to Texas' All-American running back Bijan Robinson rushing for 209 yards and a touchdown in the Wildcats' 34-27 loss to the Longhorns. But a week later, the linebackers turned in one of their better games of the regular season and helped the Wildcat defense not allow a single run of more than 15 yards.

Next week, Kansas State goes to West Virginia which beat Oklahoma on Saturday 23-20 on a late second field goal. The Mountaineers improved to 4-6 overall with the win on Saturday, and have been tough to beat at home this season where they hold a 3-2 record with wins over Townson, Baylor and Oklahoma.

The all-time series between Kansas State and West Virginia are tied at six wins each. Kansas State won last season's game 34-17 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.