The pesky Kansas State Wildcats welcomed the fifth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners to Manhattan back on Oct. 26, 2019 and knocked them off in a high-scoring affair.
11 months since then, a whole lot has happened, but when the two programs squared off again on Saturday.
We got the same result: Kansas State, this time in front of a socially distant crowd in Norman, took it to the No. 3 Sooners and pulled off a stunning 38-35 upset.
This year’s game featured some fireworks, but for most of the first three quarters, it seemed like Oklahoma would move to 2-0 on the year. Following a touchdown run by Seth McGowan with less than three minutes left in the third quarter that was set up by quite the catch-and-run by Drake Stoops, the Sooners found themselves up, 35-14.
Kansas State, however, is a tough, well-coached team, and managed to rip off 24 consecutive points following that score. The Wildcats relied on the legs of veteran signal caller Skyler Thompson on back-to-back possessions to ram the ball into the end zone, getting them within striking distance early in the fourth.
On the ensuing Sooner drive, Reeves Mundschau’s punt got blocked by A.J. Parker, and two plays later, Deuce Vaughn was in the end zone.
Again, the Wildcat defense put the clamps on the high-flying Oklahoma offense, and following a short drive, Kansas State’s Blake Lynch banged one in from 50 yards out to put his team ahead.
Whatever mojo Oklahoma’s offense had prior to this torrid run by Kansas State completely evaporated. The team’s response to the field goal was a three-and-out, and after forcing one on the next Wildcat possession, the Sooners were only on the field for two plays before their fate was sealed. With the ball on their own 24 and 49 seconds on the clock, true freshman signal caller Spencer Rattler followed up an incomplete pass with his third pick of the day to make the result inevitable.
Not only did this loss give Oklahoma the unfortunate distinction of losing to the same team twice in two consecutive seasons, it also gave them a pretty unfortunate distinction after losing as a 28-point favorite.
This is Oklahoma's 6th loss as a 20-point favorite since the start of the 2009 season. No other team has lost more than three in that span.
— Chris Fallica (@chrisfallica) September 26, 2020
The Sooners have a weird way of bouncing back from early losses and earning a spot in the College Football Playoff, so we’ll have to wait and see what the next few months have in store, even in this pandemic-shortened season. Still, this is one heck of a win for Kansas State, which picked up a major distinction of their own by going on the road and knocking off an AP top-3 team for the first time in program history.
