In a game that went back and forth all afternoon, the Kansas State Wildcats weren’t without their chances to win the contest. Unfortunately for the Wildcats mistakes would prove to be their downfall, especially turnovers. Daniel Sams had his best all-around day as a Wildcat Quarterback completing 15 of 21 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns, however he also threw three interceptions including two in the game’s final four minutes as Oklahoma State pulled out a 33-29 win before 58,841 Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater.
Jake Waters started the game for the Wildcats at Quarterback but Sams came in on the next series and put K-State on the board with a 68-yard touchdown pass down the middle to fullback Rob Gronkowski to give the Cats a 7-0 lead. Oklahoma State quickly tied the game on Jeremy Smith’s two-yard run and went ahead 10-7 on Ben Grogan’s 30-yard Field Goal. Then the KSU Special Teams stepped up as Zac Brits blocked a Grogan Field Goal attempt and Kip Daily caught the ball out of the air and returned the blocked kick 65 yards for a score and a 14-10 Kansas State lead. OSU Quarterback J.W. Walsh’s three-yard run allowed the Pokes to go into halftime with a 17-14 lead.
On their first possession of the second half, K-State jumped right back into the lead as Sams connected with Tight End Torell Miller from 17 yards out and the Wildcats held a 21-17 advantage. After a Grogan Field Goal, K-State had a golden opportunity when the Wildcat Defense recovered a Cowboy fumble but the ball was turned back over as officials ruled Sams fumbled himself even though television replays showed he was actually down on the ground before the ball came out. Sams then threw an interception deep in KSU territory and that set up a Grogan Field Goal to give the Cowboys a 23-21 lead after three quarters.
Sams then scored on a three-yard run with 6:09 remaining in the game and threw a pass to Miller for the two-point conversion to make the score 29-23 in favor of the Wildcats. However, Oklahoma State whose offense was stagnant much of the second half moved quickly to retake the lead traveling 75 yards in six plays in less than two minutes culminating the drive on a Walsh touchdown pass of four yards to Charlie Moore and a 30-29 advantage. Sams was then intercepted on the next drive and the Cowboys padded their lead on Grogan’s fourth Field Goal of the day from 28 yards out.
Still K-State had one more chance as they drove into Cowboy territory in the final minute, but Sams was intercepted once more and OSU escaped with their fourth straight win over the Wildcats in Stillwater. K-State managed to hang around in the game despite missing their top two receivers. Tramaine Thompson did not play in Saturday’s game though he was on the sidelines and Tyler Lockett appeared to pull a hamstring in the second quarter and never returned to the field. In addition to the four turnovers, the Wildcats were penalized 12 times for 92 yards.
Kansas State (2-3, 0-2) returns to Bill Snyder Family Stadium next Saturday to face Baylor. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m.
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