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MANHATTAN, Kansas (Ticker) -- Coach Bill Snyder made the right decision regarding Frank Murphy, who overcame an injury to run for two scores in the second quarter and propel 18th-ranked Kansas State to a 40-0 season-opening victory over Temple. Called a game-time decision by Snyder due to a broken foot suffered in the offseason, Murphy came off the bench to rush for a career-high 149 yards on just 13 carries. He rumbled 31 yards to the end zone with 9:32 left in the second and added a seven-yard score less than four minutes later. "I am impressed with how hard he has come back," Snyder said. "He deserved something good to happen to him." "The line did a good job and my foot held up pretty good," Murphy said. "I didn't expect to come in that early. I have a ways to go." Murphy, a junior college transfer last season, and a dominant defense keyed the Wildcats' 16th consecutive regular-season victory. They went unbeaten last year before enduring a double-overtime loss to Texas A&M in the Big 12 Conference title game and losing to Purdue in the Alamo Bowl. David Allen, who started at running back, had a two-yard touchdown run to spark Kansas State's 23-point second period. He finished with 76 yards on 17 carries as the Wildcats amassed 60 yards on the ground. Kansas State (1-0) took a 26-0 lead on a safety with just 31 seconds left before halftime as wideout Brice Libel blocked a punt out of the end zone. The defense padded the lead in the third quarter as defensive end Darren Howard returned an interception 22 yards for a touchdown. Temple coach Bobby Wallace obviously was impressed, saying, "I have been in this business 22 years and they are one of the finest defenses I have ever seen." The Owls (0-2) managed just six first downs and 82 yards of offense as they were shut out for the second time in as many games. Temple, which endured a 6-0 loss to Maryland last week, has been outscored by a 109-21 margin in three trips to Wagner Field. Jonathan Beasley did not look impressive in his first game succeeding Michael Bishop, the runner-up to Ricky Williams for last year's Heisman Trophy. Beasley completed just 9-of-22 passes for 132 yards with one touchdown. "He has a ways to go, but he had some help with his problems," Snyder said. "He had little pass protection, and we were slow getting plays out to him. He made some bad choices both before and after the snap, but I am pleased that he understands what he did wrong." "I think I was rusty, but I got the first game under my belt and now I know what I need to do," said Beasley, a junior who redshirted last year after lettering in 1996 and 1997. Kansas State was held in check early on, managing just a 48-yard field goal by Jamie Rheem in the first quarter. The onslaught began 78 seconds into the second period with the touchdown run by Allen, who ended up splitting time with Murphy. The only real highlight for Beasley came with 4:31 remaining in the third, when he found Quincy Morgan on a 63-yard scoring strike to build a 33-0 lead. Morgan finished with three catches for 81 yards, while Aaron Lockett contributed six receptions for 51. Kansas State joined Florida, Florida State and Nebraska as the only Division 1-A schools to win each of its season openers in the 1990s. The Wildcats extended their home winning streak to 16 games and recorded a shutout for the sixth straight season. Howard collected his first career interception and also had one of his team's three sacks, moving into sole possession of second place on the school's all-time list with 25. He was one of many Wildcats terrorizing Temple signal-caller Devin Scott, who completed 13-of-35 passes for just 54 yards. "This is good for our offense to play this defense," Scott said. "We are not going to play a better team than Kansas State this year."
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