MANHATTAN Ks – No. 9 Oklahoma State struggled mightily on both sides of the ball, dropping its second game of the season, 48-0 to No. 22 Kansas State.
With the loss, the Cowboys move to 6-2 on the season, 3-2 in Big 12 play. It marks the worse loss under Mike Gundy since the 62-23 loss to Texas A&M on October 15, 2005.
“They played really good,” Gundy said. “They’re a good team, we know they’re a good team, but they didn’t make a lot of mistakes today. The snowball got rolling downhill and we couldn’t stop it. We weren’t able to balance ourselves out offensively, then you get down three scores and you become one-dimensional.”
The Cowboys struggled in nearly every facet from the opening snap, especially in the run game. They averaged just 2.6 yards per carry in the first half on just 14 carries for 37 yards. It didn’t get much better in the start of the second half as the Pokes carried the ball seven times in the third quarter and averaged just 0.1 yards per carry.
The fourth quarter wasn’t any better as the Cowboys combined for just 16 yards on the ground, an average of 1.8 per carry.
On the game, the Cowboys averaged just 1.8 yards per carry.
While the offensive line struggled to open up running lanes, it also struggled to protect in the passing game as Spencer Sanders was sacked twice for a loss of 23 yards. It was one of his worst games as a Cowboy quarterback as he finished the game going 13-of-26 passing for 147 yards and one interception. He carried the ball seven times for a loss of nine yards.
Gunnar Gundy was put into the game with just under 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. His 22-yard rush late in the fourth quarter marked the longest of the day for the Pokes. On the next play, he’d pitch it to Krew Jackson for a turnover, the third OSU turnover on the day.
“We had a drive going and I just made an ignorant play,” Gundy said of his turnover play in the fourth quarter. “It’s something that just can’t happen, you just can’t do stupid stuff... we’re gonna go home and try to correct things the best we can and move on.”
He finished the day going 2-of-7 passing for 16 yards and one interception. He was the Pokes’ leading rusher with five carries for 27 yards.
The Cowboys combined to finish the game with 217 yards of total offense, 163 yards through the air and 54 yards on the ground.
“The good news is, I’ve had my butt kicked before.” Gundy said. “It’s not the first time I’ve had my butt kicked. I altered practice this week, I told the press I was just concerned and I shouldn’t have done it. I didn’t do a good job of preparing our guys and obviously, if I would’ve known that, I wouldn’t have done it. I thought it was what was best, I altered our preparation and it didn’t work. We weren’t ready for the physicality side of it.”
The Cowboys will be back on the road next week as they travel to Lawrence for a Big 12 showdown against the Jayhawks.
