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| Kansas State’s Keithen Valentine runs the ball against Oklahoma on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla. Valentine scored two touchdowns. Associated Press. |
That's when the Wildcats' offense woke up, and considering its competition, might have turned in its best offensive effort of the season — through three quarters. The Wildcats, who had just 19 total yards in the first quarter, finished with 364 yards — 149 rushing and 215 passing — against a defensive unit that entered the game ranked No. 6 nationally. In fact, until Saturday night, the Sooners had only allowed seven points at home all season.
"I thought our offense threw the ball a little bit better (in the second half) than they had earlier," Snyder said. "And you have to measure that against what's standing on the other side of the line of scrimmage and that's an awfully good defensive football team."
Brandon Banks, who had a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and nine receptions for 156 yards, said it was, without a doubt, the best offensive performance of the season for K-State, despite actually losing the game.
"We showed that we're capable of moving the ball anytime we want to," Banks said. "We have more confidence on the offensive side of the ball too now and know that we can put points on the board."
K-State got some key defensive stops and scored nine points on a 2-yard touchdown from Keithen Valentine and a 31-yard field goal by Josh Cherry in the second quarter.
The Wildcats then went to work in the third quarter, scoring on their opening possession of the half when Valentine scampered in from 14 yards out on fourth down with 8:31 to go in the quarter. The touchdown capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive that chewed up more than six minutes off the clock. Running back Daniel Thomas carried the ball five times on the possession for 26 yards and then converted a two-point conversion with a jump pass from the wildcat formation.
Grant Gregory was just as good as he delivered in clutch situations. The senior completed a pass to Attrail Snipes for 19 yards on third-and-eleven and then stood in the pocket to deliver a pass to Jeron Mastrud, while getting drilled, which led to a roughing the passer call against OU and set up another first down.
The Wildcats weren't finished as K-State forced the Sooners into a three-and-out on the ensuing possession and then found the end zone again just six plays later.
Thomas and Gregory again came through. This time Thomas started the drive with a 41-yard pass to Brandon Banks from the wildcat. On the next play Gregory scrambled out of the pocket for an 18-yard gain down to the OU 16. Three plays later Thomas was in the end zone for the score as K-State made it 28-23 with 4:35 to play in the third quarter. Thomas finished with 16 carries for 88 yards.
Gregory was 6-for-7 on the Wildcats' first two drives of the second half and finished the game 19-of-30 passing for 174 yards, while rushing nine times for an additional 46 yards.
"They're good. Their defense is really good," Gregory said. "They have players all over the field. When I'm coaching or doing whatever I'm doing, they're going to be playing for money. It's an honor to play against a team like that and they're a good defense. But we knew we had a good plan coming in.
"It took us a little while to get going and execute our plan, but we knew we had some good plays for them."
OU managed to answer the K-State surge with a 15-play, 67-yard drive that covered more than eight minutes, before ultimately scoring on a 6-yard pass from Landry Jones to DeMarco Murray to go up 35-23 with 11:32 to go in the game.
However, it was the score that was so unsettling for K-State. It was that OU was even in a position to score that upset the Wildcats. The Sooners drove the ball to the K-State 28-yard line and then got called for holding. Then on first-and-20, OU burned the Wildcats to the end zone for a 38-yard score. However, another holding call cancelled that out, followed by an unsportsmanlike penalty after the TD that didn't count.
The Sooners, who were once just 28 yards away from scoring had worked themselves so far backwards that they were facing a first-and-45 from their own 37. Murray rushed for a 3-yard gain to set up a second-and-42. Then Jones found Ryan Broyles for an 18-yard gain to the KSU 42, which made it third-and-24.
There's no way OU is getting that first down. Right?
Wrong.
The Sooners (5-3, 3-1) completed a short pass to Broyles, who then broke three tackles, skirted the sideline and then was pushed out of bounds at the KSU 17 — setting up the TD that made gave OU a 35-23 lead.
"That would have been a major stop for us, but we didn't come up and play to the best of our abilities," KSU cornerback Darious Thomas said. "We had the momentum and just let them get the first down."
It would have proven to be the backbreaker for the Wildcats had it not been for Banks, who returned the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for the score to make it 35-30 — his fourth kickoff return TD this season and fifth of his career.
OU had an answer though as it methodically moved the ball down the field 68 yards on an 11-play possession capped by a 3-yard TD to essentially seal the win — the Sooners' 28th straight home victory.
Snyder wasn't about to call it a moral victory, but he was pleased that the team didn't give up after going down so quickly to start the game.
"I think we made some headway in the terms of not giving in," he said. "When we were down at Texas Tech, the score was bad in the first half and it was just as bad in the second half. Here, there was a chance for it to be exactly the same way and it wasn't, so the intrinsic things became more set in place."
Gregory, who bounced back from a poor showing last week against Colorado, said K-State had the Sooners right where it wanted them.
"We were very close," he said. "It was a one-possession game in the fourth quarter. We were real close, just made a couple major mistakes and had to settle for a field goal once. We need to get just a little bit better in every area."
The Wildcats will get that chance on Saturday as they host rival Kansas at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
