The first play from scrimmage in Kansas State's 2022 season went 75-yards to the end zone as wide receiver Malik Knowles took a jet sweep down the west sideline. K-State never looked back beating South Dakota 34-0 to open the season 1-0.

In his debut as the Wildcats' starting quarterback, Nebraska transfer Adrian Martinez completed 11-of-15 passes for just 53 yards. Martinez also ran for 39 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, including his first touchdown in a Wildcat uniform on a 6-yard read option to put Kansas State ahead 27-0 in the second quarter.

Some of Martinez's struggles in the passing game on Saturday night can be tied to the struggles that Kansas State's wide receivers had getting open down the field. Martinez averaged just 4.8 yards per completion, despite the Wildcat offensive line effectively managing a South Dakota pass rush that had just three sacks but zero quarterback hurries.

Kansas State's Seth Porter blocked a punt early in the game, which was recovered by Desmond Purnell for a scoop and score that put the Wildcats ahead 14-0 in the first quarter.

South Dakota quarterback Carson Camp struggled in the passing game throughout the contest. Led by defensive backs Kobe Savage and Julius Brents, the Kansas State defense was able to hold the Coyote offense to just 139 passing yards on the night on 34 attempts. Safety Cincere Mason contributed to the stout play in the back half of the Kansas State defense.

Yet, the Kansas State rush defense was nearly as impressive as the pass defense. Defensive lineman Felix Anudike-Uzomah led an impressive pass rush for Kansas State as he had two of the teams' tackles for losses on the night, including a sack.

Kansas State's All-American running back Deuce Vaughn had 126 rushing yards on the night with just 18 attempts. Vaughn had two big carries of 39 and 25 yards, and his carry of 39 yards in the first half went for a touchdown into the North end zone of Wagner Field inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

Vaughn showed why he is the star of the Wildcat offense with a strong season-opening performance. Vaughn entered Saturday's contest after totaling 1,872 yards from scrimmage last season and impressed in his season-opening performance with 126 total yards and a touchdown.

It was Vaughn who really helped the Kansas State offense overcome the struggles with the passing attack.

Kansas State averaged just 4.7 yards per pass completion when Martinez was in the game at quarterback. The struggles of the Kansas State wide receivers to get open downfield forced first-year offensive coordinator Collin Klein was then forced to attack the Coyote offense through the air with short pass attempts toward the boundary.

Last season, Kansas State averaged more than 8 yards per pass attempt, which ranked fourth in the Big 12 a year ago with Skylar Thompson playing a majority of the season as the starting quarterback.

Last season, as Nebraska's starting quarterback, Martinez averaged more than 9 yards per pass attempt. Martinez does have an impressive deep ball, but his one deep pass attempt fell incomplete near the 10-yard line after falling to the turf past his outstretched arms.

Martinez attempted just one pass further down the field than 15 yards on the night.

Kansas State hosts Missouri (1-0) next week at Bill Snyder Family Stadium at 11 a.m. central time.

Missouri defeated Louisiana Tech on Thursday night 52-24. Freshman and former five-star wide receiver Luther Burden had 43 yards from scrimmage in his college debut.

The former Big 12 conference rivals play for the first time since 2011 when Kansas State beat the Tigers 24-17. Mizzou leads the all-time series 60-32 with five ties.