Manhattan, Kan. – Parrish Fisher was quite a sub for Kansas State, running for 169 yards in place of Thomas Clayton and helping the Wildcats roll up a school-record 658 yards in a 54-7 rout of North Texas on Saturday.
Clayton, the nation’s leading rusher, was benched for the game by coach Bill Snyder. There was speculation all week whether Clayton would play; he had been charged with aggravated battery after driving away from and allegedly grazing a campus parking services employee.
Before the game, Snyder said only that Clayton would suffer “consequences” for his action.
Fisher more than made up for Clayton’s absence, adding another 59 yards on receptions. With 169 yards on 21 carries, Fisher became the first Kansas State freshman to run for 100-plus yards in a game.
In the second quarter, Fisher had 109 yards and 46 yards receiving as the Wildcats (3-0) scored four TDs in taking a 31-0 halftime lead.
Allen Webb was 10-of-12 for 256 yards and two touchdowns.
The Mean Green (1-2), 54-2 losers to Tulsa last week, totaled 161 yards and scored their first offensive points in eight quarters with 2:03 remaining.
The four-time defending Sun Belt champions had only 76 yards of offense in the decisive first half to 382 for Kansas State.
Clayton never got off the bench after running for 329 yards, the most in school history for the first two games of a season.
Webb had a 40-yard TD pass to Jordy Nelson and a 47-yard scoring toss to Davin Dennis. He also teamed with Fisher on a 46-yard gain on a screen pass that led to Carlos Alsup’s 6-yard TD run. He hit Yamon Figurs for 50 yards to set up a 3-yard TD run by Ayo Saba that made it 24-0 in the second quarter.
A few minutes later, Jermaine Moreira broke free on a 62-yard touchdown punt return.
Jeff Snodgrass had field goals of 21 and 57 yards for the Wildcats.
