MANHATTAN — Ranked No. 13 in the country and needing a win against Kansas State to stay alive in a Big 12 championship race, Oklahoma State forgot to cover Byron Pringle.
In one of Kansas State’s greatest single-game performances, Pringle was left alone for four catches, 166 yards and three touchdowns in a mid-November game in Stillwater. If that wasn’t good enough, Pringle also returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown.
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Despite letting the Cowboys score 28 of the game’s final 31 points, the Wildcats still came out on top at Boone Pickens Stadium for the first time since 1999.
A lot has changed since then, but the Wildcats’ struggles in Stillwater have remained the same.
Pringle now has a Super Bowl ring after spending time with the Kansas City Chiefs, and neither Bill Snyder nor Mike Gundy roam the sidelines. It’s now Jayce Brown catching passes for the Wildcats, with interim coach Doug Meacham leading the way for the Cowboys amid a disastrous season and Chris Klieman in his seventh season at K-State.
However, the fact remains: The Wildcats have only one win over the Cowboys in Stillwater over the last 26 years.
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“There’s not very many K-State teams that play very well in Stillwater,” Klieman said Monday, Nov. 10. “We need to make amends on that and we need to flip that a little bit if we can.”
Kansas State (4-5, 3-3 Big 12) will travel to play the Cowboys (1-8, 0-6 Big 12) in an 11 a.m. game on Saturday, Nov. 15. Both teams have had their struggles, but very few, if any, have been down as much has Oklahoma State has been over the last two seasons.
Since the Cowboys won their regular-season finale in 2023, before losing in the Big 12 title game the next week, they haven’t beaten a conference opponent, with their losing streak now sitting at 15 games.
Oklahoma State is winless against FBS programs in 2025, and parted ways with Gundy, early in his 21st season leading the program, in the days after its 19-12 loss to Tulsa on Sept. 19.
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The Cowboys remain non-competitive in Big 12 action, with their closest loss being within 17 points when they lost at Kansas on Nov. 1, the same struggling Jayhawks team that the Wildcats beat by 25 the week before.
“They’ve been able to put up some points on people,” Klieman said. “Winning at the line of scrimmage is going to be the most important thing.”
Oct 25, 2025; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Kansas State Wildcats safety Gunner Maldonado (3) celebrates with cornerback Donovan McIntosh (9) after he intercepted a pass against the Kansas Jayhawks during the second half of the game at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images
Of the 68 Power 4 programs, Oklahoma State ranks the worst offense, according to Pro Football Focus grades, to go along with the fifth-worst defense. Only three Power 4 teams allow more passing yards, and very few teams in all of college football are worse in getting off the field on third- and fourth-downs and in the redzone.
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Most of the focus in Stillwater is on who the next coach will be, with Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator and former Oklahoma State quarterback Zac Robinson, as well as Texas A&M offensive coordinator and K-State legend Collin Klein, both expected to be in the mix.
But maybe the few kids from the student section, who twirl their T-shirts in circles in one of the empty sections at Boone Pickens Stadium these days, can help keep the Wildcats’ struggles in Stilly going.
“It’s about us, really,” Klieman said. “We need to make sure we have really good preparation and have great energy and play with great physicality. They’ve got some good football players, so we’ve gotta focus on us and have a really good week of practice.”
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State football often struggles at Oklahoma State
