NORMAN, Okla. — The 15th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats accomplished a rare feat on Saturday night, knocking off the 6th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners 24-19 at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
K-State (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) put themselves in a position to win by coming up with three huge takeaways, capitalizing on each one. Oklahoma’s three turnovers resulted in 17 points for the Wildcats.
It was the Wildcats’ first victory in Norman since 1997. It also ends Sooners head coach Bob Stoops’ undefeated record against ranked opponents at home. Before Saturday night, Stoops was 14-0 at home against ranked teams.
The Sooners (2-1, 0-1 Big 12) led 3-0 after the first quarter, but at beginning of the second quarter, disaster struck at their own 13 yard line.
OU senior quarterback Landry Jones lost a fumble after he was sacked by K-State’s Justin Tuggle. Jarell Childs recovered the fumble for a touchdown, and K-State took a 7-3 lead.
On the ensuing drive, OU sophomore QB Blake Bell lost a fumble on K-State’s one yard line. It was recovered by K-State’s Ty Zimmerman. The Wildcats turned it into 88-yd drive, but settled for a 23-yd field goal by senior kicker Anthony Cantele. The Cats took a 10-6 lead into the half.
Midway through the third quarter, the Sooners went on an 11-play 88-yd TD drive. This time, Bell capped the drive with a 3-yd TD run to give OU a 13-10 lead.
With just under two minutes to play in the third quarter, Jones threw an interception to Zimmerman at OU’s 38-yd line. That turnover resulted in another TD drive by the Wildcats. K-State senior QB Collin Klein gave the Cats a 17-13 lead at the start of the fourth quarter with a 5-yd rushing TD.
K-State’s next drive went for 77 yards, and was capped by a 9-yd rushing TD by junior running back John Hubert. Oklahoma responded with a 65-yard TD drive that resulted in a 10-yd TD pass from Jones to freshman wide receiver Sterling Shepard. After missing the 2-pt conversion, OU trailed 24-19.
K-State didn’t allow OU to get the ball back, converting a pair of third downs to win the game. Hubert finished the game with 23 carries for 130 yards and a TD.
K-State has next week off before they return to Manhattan on Oct. 6th to take on the Kansas Jayhawks at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
