Deon Murphy dined on more than a Kentucky Fried Chicken boxed lunch after Kansas State’s 52-21 loss to rival Kansas University on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

He also ate his words.

“No. I don’t wish I didn’t say it. I mean, I’m confident. I’m that dude. That’s just me. If anybody doesn’t like it : oh well,” said the K-State punt returner-receiver, who Monday said, “I’m taking one to the crib this weekend. That’s the bottom line.”

“It’s kind of hard to get a punt return when they don’t punt it but one time,” added Murphy, who had one attempt for 11 yards. “Enough said about that. They were the better team today. They played a good game. I’ve got a lot of respect for them.”

The 5-foot-10 junior gave KU additional bulletin-board material Monday when he said: “They’re probably going to wish they recruited this whole team the way we’re going to play this weekend.”

He was asked if his comments made him a marked man Saturday.

“I knew I was a marked man coming into the stadium. As soon as I stepped off the bus, I was a marked man,” Murphy said.

He had three catches for 45 yards on a day quarterback Josh Freeman hit 22 of 37 passes for 207 yards and three interceptions – as well as a fumble on a first-and-goal call from the one.

“We didn’t execute in the game. You can mark me all day, but I want to win,” added Murphy, who noted, “they (fans) were getting on us pretty good, especially me.”

KSU coach Ron Prince might have to deal with his own team’s fans after falling to 0-3 versus the Jayhawks.

Kansas piled up its second-highest point total in the history of the series, three points shy of the 55 mark attained in 1947.

“This is a thorough and complete beating and defeat,” Prince said. “We were not well coached today. That’s my responsibility. The people of Kansas State deserve better than this. It’s probably as bad a loss as I’ve ever been associated with, particularly the way we played in the first half : this game does mean a tremendous amount to people of this state, and we let them down.”

The Wildcats were down 31-0 at the break and left to do some wacky things like go for it on fourth down twice while deep in KSU territory.

KU running back Jake Sharp burned KSU for 181 yards off 21 carries and four TDs. KSU’s Lamark Brown also had 21 carries, good for just 68 yards and all three ‘Cat TDs.

“Lamark had 21 carries, so did Jake Sharp. The numbers on those carries are completely different,” Prince said.

KSU defensive end Ian Campbell was part of a unit that allowed 459 yards and six rushing TDs, one off KU’s school record.

“Sharp is good. We made him better by not playing well enough. You can’t play poorly against a good team or you are gonna get slaughtered,” Campbell said.

Freeman, a 6-6 junior with NFL aspirations, played poorly against KU for the third time. His ‘Cats have suffered 14 turnovers versus the Jayhawks the last three seasons.

“I personally didn’t play well. That’s all I’m going to talk about,” Freeman said. “I’m not talking about the coaches or kids on my team. I didn’t play well.

“It’s a rivalry game. It means a lot. It’s one you circle on the calendar. I wanted this one bad. I worked very hard the entire week and felt everything was in place for us to have a good game. It didn’t happen.”

KU has won three straight in the series for the first time since 1988-90 and four of five overall.