Oklahoma Sooners vs Kansas State Wildcats Match Player Stats On Oct 21, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Oct 21, 2017

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Rodney Anderson scored around the left end on a 24-yard touchdown run with seven seconds left in the game as No. 9 Oklahoma overcame a sluggish first half to defeat Kansas State 42-35 on a blustery day at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

The Sooners outscored K-State 32-14 in the second half and kept their faint hopes for the College Football Playoff alive with the win.

Oklahoma scored 18 points on their first three drives of the second half to erase a 21-10 halftime deficit. Kansas State (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) managed just one first down in the third quarter, and saw the Sooners own the ball for 10:24 of the third quarter to seize momentum.

It appeared that Oklahoma was in firm control before an intentional grounding call on Baker Mayfield forced the Sooners into punt formation. The snap sailed over the head of punter Austin Seibert and K-State recovered at the Oklahoma 13-yard line.

Five plays later, Alex Delton pushed it in from the 1-yard line and the game was tied at 28-28.

Oklahoma (6-1, 3-1) wasted no time in retaking the lead. Mayfield connected with Marquise Brown on a 66-yard pass setting up a first-and-goal at the 7-yard line. Two plays later, Mayfield found Anderson in the flat and he scored from 5 yards out.

Heading into the strong wind, Delton led the Wildcats on a six-play, 75-yard drive to tie it with a 5-yard strike to Isaiah Zuber with 2:25 left.

But Mayfield led Oklahoma 76 yards in 2:12 for the game-winning score. He finished 32 of 41 for 410 yards and two touchdowns.

Delton, a redshirt sophomore who started his first career game against TCU and was dreadful, was 12 of 14 for 144 yards and a touchdown. He led Kansas State with 161 yards rushing.

Things looked good for the Wildcats early. A week after scoring only six points against TCU, Kansas State put seven on the board 18 seconds into the game. On second-and-10, Alex Barnes raced through a hole in the right side of the offensive line and sped 75 yards virtually untouched to the end zone.

It didn't take long for Oklahoma to answer. A six-play, 78-yard drive culminated in a 6-yard pass from Mayfield to Dimitri Flowers.

K-State then marched down the field, but Zuber fumbled after a catch deep in Oklahoma territory and the Sooners recovered. After a three-and-out, the Wildcats drove 69 yards to go up 14-7 on Delton's 1-yard run. Delton then put the Wildcats up 21-7 with a nifty 21-yard run down the right sideline, barely staying inbounds before flying over the goal line.

With 10:15 left in the second quarter, the Wildcats already had 282 yards of total offense, including 222 on the ground. They finished the half with 316 yards of total offense (9.6 yards per play) and 256 yards on the ground.

A 46-yard interception return by OKlahoma's Jordan Thomas put the ball at the K-State 10 with 2:27 left in the half, but the Soooners managed just an Austin Seibert 19-yard field goal. The Wildcats led 21-10 at the half when Matthew McCrane's 59-yard field goal attempt hit the cross bar.

NOTES: Kansas State was trying for its first home win over a top-10 team since defeating No. 4 Texas in 2006. The Wildcats lost to then-No. 6 TCU last week. It's the 10th time Kansas State has faced top-10 teams back-to-back, but the first time ever that both games were in Manhattan. ... Oklahoma has won seven straight games in Manhattan, the first six by double digits. The last loss was in 1996. The average score in those six games is 47-23.