Kansas State University Athletics
‘We Handled it on the Field’
Oct 27, 2025 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Afterward, after Kansas State left the doubters all soaked and after the Wildcats plowed past Kansas, 42-17, at the rainy, fast-emptying newly-refurbished Memorial Stadium in Lawrence on Saturday, senior offensive lineman Taylor Poitier – believed to be the only player in K-State history to beat Kansas seven times in a playing career – hoisted the coveted Governor's Cup above his head and took a long deep drink of water, rinsing his palate of the Jayhawks for a final time, still standing in his white uniform following a Sunflower Showdown postgame locker room scene that might best be described as epic.
For the past week, and perhaps even longer, K-State players heard the talk about their great demise, and how the Wildcats had slipped, and how Kansas was primed to bring its horribly long losing streak to K-State to an end. K-State head coach Chris Klieman, in his opening remarks of his postgame news conference, said that such talk "kind of pissed off a lot of our older Kansas kids."
That for sure included Poitier, the 6-foot-3, 302-pound native of Kansas City, Kansas, who years ago decorated his childhood bedroom with blue and red, and who now for more than half a decade has helped the Wildcats paint Lawrence purple.
"This," he says, "means everything."
Poitier stood near the outside entrance to the visitor's locker room. It was 3:23 p.m., a couple hours past lunchtime, and he posed with his fellow K-State offensive linemen shirtless on the football field to celebrate how the Wildcats ate the Jayhawks' lunch all over the field. After K-State beat Kansas, 31-27, in Lawrence two years ago and then escaped the Jayhawks, 29-27, last season in Manhattan, this game on Saturday wasn't a single-possession battle.
It was an old-school beatdown.
And it was a beatdown of historic significance. Not only is K-State's 17-game winning streak against Kansas the longest in Sunflower Showdown history, but Saturday's win gave K-State the longest active winning streak in an uninterrupted series in the FBS. Georgia is second on the list with a 16-game winning streak over Kentucky.
K-State has now outscored Kansas 680-279 during its 17-straight wins over the Jayhawks.
"My final year at K-State, being able to know it's seven years in a row for me beating KU, I'm really grateful," Poitier said. "Every time I come to this place, I get a little jittery because I love playing here, and I love to beat them here. I'm glad we got this W."
For the first time since the winning streak began in 2009, K-State entered as the underdog in the rivalry game. That stayed with the Wildcats throughout the week. They practiced hard, oh, how they practiced hard, because no matter what, it all comes down to this: Beat KU.
"I saw all week KU was favored to win," Poitier said. "I was like, 'What makes you guys think that we're going to let them roll over us?' We talked about it all week that we had to be elite. That's what we showed out there.
"We didn't talk much smack. We handled it on the field."
K-State improved to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the Big 12 Conference, and Kansas dropped to 4-4 and 2-3.
"I'm telling you," Klieman said, "there was a different vibe in our building this week about the importance and magnitude of us coming out and playing great football in Lawrence."
Saturday's victory continued a trend for the ascending Wildcats in the powerhouse Big 12, as they have won three of their last four games with wins over UCF (34-20), TCU (41-28) and Kansas (42-17). Their lone loss in the month of October was a 35-34 defeat at Baylor on October 4.
Heading into November and the final month of the regular season, K-State hosts No. 13 Texas Tech (7-1 and 4-1) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, then travels to Oklahoma State (1-7 and 0-5) and then No. 24 Utah (6-2 and 3-2) before hosting Colorado (3-5 and 1-4) in Senior Day in Manhattan.
On Sunday, one ESPN bowl prognosticator projected K-State to face Wake Forest in the Gasparilla Bowl in on December 19 in Tampa, Florida, while another had the Wildcats facing East Carolina in the Armed Forces Bowl on January 2 in Fort Worth, Texas.
"We're not going to stop fighting," K-State quarterback Avery Johnson said. "It just shows the amount of grit this team has. The season didn't start how we wanted it to start, and even losing to Baylor in the fashion we did, maybe if we win that game, we're 5-3 with one Big 12 loss, and we might be sitting even better right now.
"The whole message throughout the locker room is take it one week at the time. We have one-week seasons, and next up is Texas Tech. It's going to be a tough one. If we come out and play like we did today, we have a really good chance. We have to focus on Tech now, and after that, we'll focus on who comes after that. One-week season. Who knows how it's going to shape up five weeks from now."
A native of Wichita, Kansas, Johnson is one of 10 K-State starters that hail from the Sunflower State. But this was the first time Johnson was starting quarterback against Kansas in Lawrence. Johnson came up big in completing 11-of-17 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns, and rushing six times for 17 yards and two scores.
"We've heard it the last three years — at least I've been hearing it since I've been in college — that whenever we play KU, it's always going to be their year," Johnson said. "We never get too caught up in that. Maybe our record might reflect it was going to be their year because our record hasn't been what it's been in the past leading up to this game, but as far as the team we are, we're still the more talented team.
"We went out and played like it today."
It's a day that Klieman, Johnson, the rest of the K-State coaches and players, retiring marching band director Dr. Frank Tracz, the K-State marching band, and fans might not soon forget.
Poitier certainly will remember it well.
"We can't be average when we play these guys, we have to be elite, and that's what we showed today," Poitier said. "I'm really grateful."
Afterward, after Kansas State left the doubters all soaked and after the Wildcats plowed past Kansas, 42-17, at the rainy, fast-emptying newly-refurbished Memorial Stadium in Lawrence on Saturday, senior offensive lineman Taylor Poitier – believed to be the only player in K-State history to beat Kansas seven times in a playing career – hoisted the coveted Governor's Cup above his head and took a long deep drink of water, rinsing his palate of the Jayhawks for a final time, still standing in his white uniform following a Sunflower Showdown postgame locker room scene that might best be described as epic.
For the past week, and perhaps even longer, K-State players heard the talk about their great demise, and how the Wildcats had slipped, and how Kansas was primed to bring its horribly long losing streak to K-State to an end. K-State head coach Chris Klieman, in his opening remarks of his postgame news conference, said that such talk "kind of pissed off a lot of our older Kansas kids."
That for sure included Poitier, the 6-foot-3, 302-pound native of Kansas City, Kansas, who years ago decorated his childhood bedroom with blue and red, and who now for more than half a decade has helped the Wildcats paint Lawrence purple.
"This," he says, "means everything."
Poitier stood near the outside entrance to the visitor's locker room. It was 3:23 p.m., a couple hours past lunchtime, and he posed with his fellow K-State offensive linemen shirtless on the football field to celebrate how the Wildcats ate the Jayhawks' lunch all over the field. After K-State beat Kansas, 31-27, in Lawrence two years ago and then escaped the Jayhawks, 29-27, last season in Manhattan, this game on Saturday wasn't a single-possession battle.
It was an old-school beatdown.
And it was a beatdown of historic significance. Not only is K-State's 17-game winning streak against Kansas the longest in Sunflower Showdown history, but Saturday's win gave K-State the longest active winning streak in an uninterrupted series in the FBS. Georgia is second on the list with a 16-game winning streak over Kentucky.
K-State has now outscored Kansas 680-279 during its 17-straight wins over the Jayhawks.
"My final year at K-State, being able to know it's seven years in a row for me beating KU, I'm really grateful," Poitier said. "Every time I come to this place, I get a little jittery because I love playing here, and I love to beat them here. I'm glad we got this W."
For the first time since the winning streak began in 2009, K-State entered as the underdog in the rivalry game. That stayed with the Wildcats throughout the week. They practiced hard, oh, how they practiced hard, because no matter what, it all comes down to this: Beat KU.
"I saw all week KU was favored to win," Poitier said. "I was like, 'What makes you guys think that we're going to let them roll over us?' We talked about it all week that we had to be elite. That's what we showed out there.
"We didn't talk much smack. We handled it on the field."
K-State improved to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the Big 12 Conference, and Kansas dropped to 4-4 and 2-3.
"I'm telling you," Klieman said, "there was a different vibe in our building this week about the importance and magnitude of us coming out and playing great football in Lawrence."
Saturday's victory continued a trend for the ascending Wildcats in the powerhouse Big 12, as they have won three of their last four games with wins over UCF (34-20), TCU (41-28) and Kansas (42-17). Their lone loss in the month of October was a 35-34 defeat at Baylor on October 4.
Heading into November and the final month of the regular season, K-State hosts No. 13 Texas Tech (7-1 and 4-1) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, then travels to Oklahoma State (1-7 and 0-5) and then No. 24 Utah (6-2 and 3-2) before hosting Colorado (3-5 and 1-4) in Senior Day in Manhattan.
On Sunday, one ESPN bowl prognosticator projected K-State to face Wake Forest in the Gasparilla Bowl in on December 19 in Tampa, Florida, while another had the Wildcats facing East Carolina in the Armed Forces Bowl on January 2 in Fort Worth, Texas.
"We're not going to stop fighting," K-State quarterback Avery Johnson said. "It just shows the amount of grit this team has. The season didn't start how we wanted it to start, and even losing to Baylor in the fashion we did, maybe if we win that game, we're 5-3 with one Big 12 loss, and we might be sitting even better right now.
"The whole message throughout the locker room is take it one week at the time. We have one-week seasons, and next up is Texas Tech. It's going to be a tough one. If we come out and play like we did today, we have a really good chance. We have to focus on Tech now, and after that, we'll focus on who comes after that. One-week season. Who knows how it's going to shape up five weeks from now."
A native of Wichita, Kansas, Johnson is one of 10 K-State starters that hail from the Sunflower State. But this was the first time Johnson was starting quarterback against Kansas in Lawrence. Johnson came up big in completing 11-of-17 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns, and rushing six times for 17 yards and two scores.
"We've heard it the last three years — at least I've been hearing it since I've been in college — that whenever we play KU, it's always going to be their year," Johnson said. "We never get too caught up in that. Maybe our record might reflect it was going to be their year because our record hasn't been what it's been in the past leading up to this game, but as far as the team we are, we're still the more talented team.
"We went out and played like it today."
It's a day that Klieman, Johnson, the rest of the K-State coaches and players, retiring marching band director Dr. Frank Tracz, the K-State marching band, and fans might not soon forget.
Poitier certainly will remember it well.
"We can't be average when we play these guys, we have to be elite, and that's what we showed today," Poitier said. "I'm really grateful."
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