MANHATTAN (AP) — Jake Waters threw for 294 yards and four touchdowns, two of them to record-setting wide receiver Tyler Lockett, and No. 11 Kansas State routed Kansas 51-13 on Saturday to move into a tie atop the Big 12 standings.
Lockett caught nine passes for 119 yards, passing his father Kevin Lockett for the school record in career catches and matching his mark for touchdown receptions. Lockett has 222 catches and 26 TD grabs heading into next week's showdown at fifth-ranked Baylor.
Kansas State (9-2, No. 12 CFP) moved into a tie with TCU at 7-1 in the conference. The Bears could match them by beating Texas Tech on Saturday.
Curry Sexton added nine catches for 141 yards and a score, and Waters and Charles Jones each had touchdown runs as the Wildcats beat the Jayhawks (3-9, 1-8) for the sixth straight time.
Michael Cummings threw for 139 yards and two scores for the Jayhawks, but he was also picked off twice — once on a tipped pass, once on a ball kicked into the air by his intended target.
Kansas now heads into an uncertain offseason.
After Charlie Weis was fired four games into the season, defensive coordinator Clint Bowen did an admirable job steadying the program. The Jayhawks knocked off Iowa State and nearly upset the Horned Frogs, making him a popular candidate in the locker room.
Still, Kansas athletic director Sheahon Zenger has given no timetable for hiring a full-time coach, and he is expected to cast a wide net.
Bowen could have certainly helped his cause with a competitive performance against Kansas State. Instead, the Wildcats had raced to a 14-0 lead before the Jayhawks could even blink.
After forcing a three-and-out on the game's opening possession, Waters led his team 71 yards in a little over 2 minutes for a touchdown. Then, after Kansas tight end Jimmay Mundine deflected a pass that was picked off by Dante Barnett, Waters hit Lockett with a 44-yard TD strike.
Kansas State had pushed the lead to 24-6 and taken over again late in the first half when Lockett made it a Senior Night to remember. He caught a 17-yard pass on third-and-10 to break his father's school record for receptions, and four plays later caught a short touchdown pass to tie that mark, which Kevin Lockett set while starring for the Wildcats from 1993-96.
Watching from the sidelines, pop smiled broadly as his son crossed the goal line.
Jones and Sexton added touchdown catches early in the second half for Kansas State, and freshman kicker Matt McCrane connected on a career-best 52-yard field goal to extend the lead.
By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Wildcats were playing their backups.
Meanwhile, just about every bounce was going against the Jayhawks.
Along with that early batted pass that was picked off, wide receiver Rod Coleman managed to bicycle kick another pass at the goal line into the air and get it intercepted. The Jayhawks also had an extra point blocked in a sour ending to another tumultuous season.