Oklahoma State Suffers Blowout 42-20 Loss to Kansas State

It was a close game in the first half, but Kansas State pulled away quickly in the second half and never looked back as Oklahoma State gave up 35 unanswered points to lose 42-20.

With the loss, the Cowboys move to 3-2 on the season and 0-2 in Big 12 play.

“We had chances in the first half, we didn’t capitalize,” said head coach Mike Gundy. “We left some points on the board, we missed probably a really makable field goal and we’re down there again in a point where we can take the lead and we don’t have a good snap, we don’t cover it up. When you play a good football team in a good college football environment on the road, you have to capitalize on those situations, and we really didn’t. It just kind of snowballed early on us in the second half and we had to become one-dimensional offensively, which makes it more difficult. There’s a lot of us to work on coaching-wise, players and the organization.”

Quarterback Alan Bowman had a decent start to the game throwing for 186 yards and a touchdown in the first half but completed just under 60% of his passes and had a costly turnover in which he failed to pick up a bad snap, leading to a touchdown just four plays later to put the Wildcats on top, 21-13 before the half.

He put up some good yardage in the second half, but it was without any points and two interceptions. He finished the game going 26-of-50 passing for 364 yards with one touchdown and two picks.

On the flip side, Wildcat quarterback Avery Johnson went 19-of-31 passing for 259 yards and three touchdowns with on pick. He rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns on five carries. It was DJ Giddens who led the way for both teams with 187 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries.

Receiver De’Zhaun Stribling had a great game has he posted seven receptions for 157 yards and one touchdown on nine targets.

Running back Ollie Gordon II had a great start to the game as he recorded 11 carries for 69 yards and three receptions for 20 yards but had just two carries in the second quarter. He finished the game with 15 carries for 76 yards.

It was a slow start to the game for the Pokes’ defense as Kansas State went 75 yards in 14 plays for a touchdown in the first five and a half minutes of the game. The Pokes responded by going eight plays, 65 yards, but had to settle for a 35-yard field goal from Logan Ward. 

That’s when the Pokes turned up the pressure on both sides of the ball as they forced two-straight KSU punts, leading to an impressive 77-yard touchdown from Bowman to Stribling on a flea flicker to go up 10-7. On the very next play, corner Korie Black picked off KSU quarterback, Avery Johnson, leading to another field goal from Ward, putting the Pokes up 13-7.

However, the Wildcats took back all the momentum in the first half as Johnson hit Oakley for a 19-yard touchdown. On the ensuing drive, center Joe Michalski rolled a snap back to Bowman, who failed to pick up the ball, leading to a 55-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Brown to put KSU up 21-13 before the half.

That’s the closest the game would be as Kansas State came out in the second half and force a quick OSU three-and-out, followed by a quick touchdown from Johnson to Giddens. Just a few plays later on the next drive, Bowman threw an interception at the Wildcat 30-yard line. There were four punts in a row, with Johnson throwing a two-yard touchdown, putting KSU up 35-13 before the end of the third quarter.

Just a few minutes into the fourth quarter, Johnson got back into the end zone from 13 yards out, putting OSU down 42-13. 

Trent Howland scored the Pokes’ first touchdown since the first half as he got into the end zone in the final two minutes of the game to make it a 24-point game, 42-20.