No. 15 K-State upends No. 6 Sooners 24-19

NORMAN, Okla.-- John Hubert ran for 130 yards and a touchdown, Jarell Childs scooped up a fumble and returned it for a score and No. 15 Kansas State beat No. 6 Oklahoma 24-19 on Saturday night to avenge a wrenching loss from last season.

Collin Klein picked up 228 yards of total offense and ran for the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter in a solid performance that outshined and error-filled night by Sooners quarterback Landry Jones.

Jones threw for 298 yards and a late touchdown to get Oklahoma (2-1, 0-1 Big 12) within five but also fumbled and threw an interception that put Kansas State (4-0, 1-0) in position to go ahead.

The Wildcats waited for Oklahoma's players to leave the field and then celebrated with their fans after earning redemption for a 58-17 blowout loss last season that ended their undefeated run.

Jones, who threw for a school-record 505 yards in last year's game on the Wildcats' home field, had returned to Oklahoma instead of entering the NFL draft in part for one last shot at a national championship.

That could be in jeopardy already, after another loss on a home field where the Sooners seemed invincible not so long ago.

Midway through last season, the Sooners had gone 20 straight games without even trailing at home, but now five of the last seven opponents have led _ with two coming out victorious. Unranked Texas Tech snapped Oklahoma's 39-game winning streak on Owen Field last October.

K-State coach Bill Snyder, the mentor to Sooners counterpart Bob Stoops, scored another marquee win against his former pupil. His only other win head-to-head had come in the 2003 Big 12 championship game, with the Wildcats losing in the other eight meetings.

A handful of critical mistakes by the Sooners' quarterbacks did them in.

Jones' first big gaffe came as he rolled to his right near his own goal line and was hit by Justin Tuggle, with the ball squirting free. Childs picked it up and scored to give K-State an early 7-3 lead and a big shot of momentum.

Oklahoma was within a yard of pulling even when Blake Bell, Jones' backup who runs a power set called the "Belldozer," fumbled away a snap to snuff out a promising drive.

Jones averted disaster with another bad decision in the third quarter, when he flipped the ball toward Roy Finch on a shuffle pass even though Finch was already a couple steps past him. Jones scurried toward the loose ball and tried in vain to recover it, but the Sooners got it back after a review showed it was in fact an ill-advised pass instead of a botched handoff.

Given a second chance, Jones completed his next six passes on the drive and put Oklahoma in position for Bell's 3-yard touchdown run to make it 13-10 with 5 minutes left in the third quarter.

Another Jones mistake gave the Wildcats a chance to reclaim the lead, though.

After faking a handoff, Jones overshot Kenny Stills and K-State's Ty Zimmerman zoomed in to intercept the errant throw and give the Wildcats the ball at the Oklahoma 38. Klein cashed it in seven plays later, going 5 yards on a quarterback keeper to put Kansas State up to stay at 17-13.

Jones, who had claimed his main offseason improvement was his footwork under pressure, badly underthrew Brennan Clay with the pass rush closing in to close Oklahoma's next drive and Hubert provided some breathing room with a 9-yard TD run through traffic up the middle.

The Sooners' defense couldn't get a stop after Sterling Shepard caught a 10-yard TD pass from Jones with 4:09 left, allowing Kansas State to run out the clock.
Story by Jeff Latzke, Associated Press

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Team Stats

Collin Klein

Players Mentioned

Jarell Childs

John Hubert

Justin Tuggle

Ty Zimmerman

Players Mentioned

Jarell Childs

John Hubert

Justin Tuggle

Ty Zimmerman

Kansas State University Athletics