 |
| Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden would throw for 502 yards and four touchdowns in the Cowboys' win over Kansas State. |
While most college football fans were tuned into the "Game of the Century" between #1 LSU and #2 Alabama on the night of November 5, 2011, the #3 Oklahoma State Cowboys were hosting the #17 Kansas State Wildcats in a game with Big 12 and national championship implications.
Oklahoma State came into the game undefeated at 8-0 with a chance at moving into the top two of the Bowl Championship Standings with a win over Kansas State.
The Cowboys were led by head coach Mike Gundy, who in his sixth season as head coach at his alma mater, had put together one of the most explosive offenses in the country with quarterback Brandon Weeden, who had spend five years playing minor league baseball before enrolling at Oklahoma State in 2007, running back Joseph Randle, and All-American wide receiver Justin Blackmon.
This trio lead the Cowboys to four games with they had score at least 59 points and an average of nearly 50 points per game as Oklahoma State had jumped into the national championship conversation with its 8-0 start.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats came into game with the Cowboys having just lost their first game of the season, a 58-17 drubbing at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners, following a surprising 7-0 start.
The Wildcats were led by head coach Bill Snyder, who had returned to the sidelines in 2009 after a three-year retirement following his first tenure at K-State which lasted 17 years and included seven seasons of at least 10 wins.
Leading the Wildcats on the field was dual-threat quarterback Collin Klein and wide receiver Tyler Lockett, son of former K-State wide receiver Kevin Lockett who had played for Snyder from 1993-1996.
While LSU and Alabama were locked in a defensive struggle for the ages, the Cowboys and the Wildcats would engage in a high-octane shootout that would produce a combined 97 points and nearly 1,100 yards of total offense.
Though they went three-and-out to start the game, the Cowboys were able to pin the Wildcats at their one-yard-line thanks to a 58-yard punt by Quinn Sharp to give the Oklahoma State defense a chance to flip the field position.
The Cowboy defense did more than that as they were able to force a turnover when defensive end Richetti Jones knocked the ball loose from Klein, leading to a fumble that was recovered by safety Daytawion Lowe at the Kansas State four-yard-line.
It would only take one play for the Cowboys to get into the end zone as Randle punched it in for a four-yard touchdown to give Oklahoma State a 7-0 lead just 2:10 into the game.
Following a Kansas State punt, the Cowboys got the ball back at their 15-yard-line as the right arm of Weeden guided Oklahoma State on a five-play, 85-yard drive where the senior quarterback completed three passes in a row to Tracy Moore which totaled 70 yards before firing a 11-yard touchdown pass to Blackmon which increased the Cowboys' lead to 14-0.
 |
| Justin Blackmon caught 13 passes for 205 yards and scored two touchdowns. |
The game seemed like it was on its way to a blowout as the Cowboys would force the Wildcats to punt again on their ensuing possession, only to have Blackmon muff the punt, leading to a recovery by Kansas State linebacker Brian Hertzog at the Oklahoma State 23-yard-line.
The turnover would lead to a 37-yard field goal by Anthony Cantele which put the Wildcats on the scoreboard trailing 14-3 with 3:39 left in the first quarter.
The Cowboys would be given great field position to start their next drive as Josh Stewart returned the ensuing kickoff 29 yards to the Oklahoma State 46-yard-line, only to give it right back to the Wildcats as Weeden was intercepted by defensive back Tyson Hartman to give K-State the ball back at its 23-yard-line.
Three plays would pick up 15 yards until Lockett was able to run for 57 yards on a reverse to give the Wildcats a 1st & goal at the Oklahoma State five-yard-line when Angelo Pease ran for a five-yard touchdown to cut the Cowboys' lead to 14-10 with 85 seconds left in the opening period.
After an Oklahoma State punt, the Wildcats would drive 76 yards in nine plays with Klein accounting for 78 yards of offense(K-State lost two yards on a run on the first play of the drive)with the last four yards being a four-yard touchdown run to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 17-14 with 11:36 left in the second quarter.
Fifty seconds later, the lead was 24-14 after Allan Chapman intercepted a Weeden pass and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown.
The Cowboys would begin its ensuing possession at their 20-yard-line needing to put together a drive to turn the momentum back in Oklahoma State's favor after giving up 24 unanswered points.
The Cowboys would get that drive as Weeden completed five straight passes for 73 yards to give Oklahoma State a 1st & goal at the K-State seven-yard-line where the drive would stall as two runs by Randle for five yards and an incomplete pass would Oklahoma State to settle for a 19-yard field goal by Sharp to cut the Wildcats' lead to 24-17 midway through the second quarter.
Then it was the Wildcats' turn to turn the ball over as Klein would be picked off by linebacker James Thomas, whose 47-yard return would lead to Weeden's five-yard touchdown pass to Moore that with the extra point tied the game at 24 with 6:38 left before halftime.
After forcing a K-State punt, the Cowboys would drive 57 yards in 11 plays, with the bulk of the yardage coming courtesy of the Weeden-to-Blackmon connection as the 28-year-old quarterback found the Biletnikoff award winner five times for 45 yards on the drive to set up a 29-yard field goal by Sharp which gave Oklahoma State a 27-24 lead with 38 seconds left in the first half.
The Wildcats would run the ball twice for 17 yards to run out the clock in the first half as they went into the halftime break down by three points but set to get the ball to start the second half.
K-State would do nothing with that initial possession of the second half as they were forced to punt the ball back to the Cowboys, who took over at their 38-yard-line as the right arm of Weeden would once again lead the Cowboys down the field as he completed all four of his passes for 56 yards on a six-play, 62-yard drive that culminated with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Weeden to Randle that increased the Oklahoma State lead to 34-24 with 10:24 left in the third quarter.
Having given up 20 straight points, the Wildcats would respond with a nine-play, 80-yard drive that was capped off with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Klein to Lockett that cut the Cowboys' lead to 34-31 with 5:48 to go in the third quarter.
 |
| Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein threw for 231 yards and a touchdown to go along with his 144 yards and three touchdowns rushing. |
The Cowboys looked to increase their lead as they drove from their 35-yard-line to the Wildcats' 19-yard-line when Weeden connected with Blackmon for 17 yards, only to have Emmanuel Lamar knock the ball loose, leading to a fumble that was recovered by David Garrett in the end zone to give K-State the ball at its 20-yard-line.
The Wildcats could not take advantage of the turnover as they were forced to punt the ball back to the Cowboys who took over at their 24-yard-line as Weeden found Blackmon for 34 yards to start the drive which was followed by a four-yard pass to Isiah Anderson and a 10-yard run by Randle to put Oklahoma State at the K-State 28-yard-line as the third quarter came to an end.
The Wildcats would hold the Cowboys to a field goal as Sharp made a 40-yard field goal to increase the Oklahoma State lead to 37-31 just 76 seconds into the second quarter.
K-State would begin its next possession at its 30-yard-line when the Wildcats decided to lean on the legs of Klein to get them down the field as the quarterback would run the ball nine times for 47 yards on a 14-play drive that took nearly eight and a half minutes off the clock which ended with Klein's four-yard touchdown run to give the Wildcats a 38-37 lead.
It would only take the Cowboys two plays and 29 seconds to retake the lead as Weeden connected with Blackmon for a 54-yard touchdown, then again for the two-point conversion to give a 45-38 lead with 4:47 remaining in regulation.
The fireworks continued on the ensuing kickoff when Lockett took the kick out of his end zone and ran 80 yards before being tackled at the Oklahoma State 20-yard-line.
From there, Klein would carry the ball three straight times with the last carry being a 12-yard touchdown run that with the extra point tied the game at 45 with 3:18 to go.
Back came the Cowboys as they took over at their 35-yard-line when Weeden completed a 33-yard pass to Anderson which was followed by a nine-yard pass to Blackmon to give Oklahoma State a 1st down at the Wildcats' 23-yard-line.
Following an incomplete pass, Weeden handed the ball off to Randle, who took it in for a 23-yard touchdown to give Oklahoma State a 52-45 lead with 2:16 remaining in regulation.
After nearly giving up a touchdown on the previous kickoff, the Cowboys decided to kick it short and out of the hands of Lockett as the Wildcats would get the ball at their 29-yard-line needing a touchdown.
The drive began with an eight-yard pass from Klein to running back John Hubert, followed by an one-yard run by Klein to set up 3rd & 1 when Hubert ran for three yards and a 1st down at the K-State 41-yard-line.
After an incomplete pass, Klein would run for 19 yards to pick up another 1st down at the Oklahoma State 40-yard-line when Klein found Tramaine Thompson for six yards before firing two incomplete passes to force a do-or-die 4th & 4.
That is when Klein kept it himself and ran for seven yards to pick up the 1st down when Klein spiked the ball to stop the clock with 25 seconds to go.
Klein would then complete a 22-yard pass to Chris Harper to give K-State a 1st & goal at the Oklahoma State five-yard-line when Klein tried to connect with Lockett on 1st down, only to have the pass fall incomplete with five seconds to play.
Klein would then throw an incomplete pass intended for Harper to stop the clock with one second left in regulation, giving the Wildcats one last shot at sending the game into overtime.
Instead of running it, Klein put the ball in the air and overthrow Thompson to end the game and allow the Cowboys to escape with the 52-45 victory.
 |
| Oklahoma State players rush the field after their dramatic win over Kansas State. |
The next day, Oklahoma State would move to #2 in the BCS standings moving past Alabama who dropped one spot after their 9-6 overtime loss to LSU.
But thirteen days after their triumph over the Wildcats, the Cowboys would lose to four-touchdown underdog Iowa State 37-31 in double overtime, causing Oklahoma State to drop out of the #2 spot in the BCS standings and down to #4.
The Cowboys would then destroy Oklahoma 44-10 in the regular season finale to finish the regular season with a 11-1 record, but behind LSU and Alabama in the final BCS standings.
The Cowboys would go on to the Fiesta Bowl where they would knock off the Stanford Cardinal in a 41-38 thriller to finish the season allowing Oklahoma State to finish as the #3 team in the country.
As for the Wildcats, they would win the remaining games of the regular season to finish with their first 10-win season since 2003 as they would be invited to play in the Cotton Bowl where they would fall to the Arkansas Razorbacks 29-16 to finish the season with a 10-3 record and #15 ranking in the final AP poll.
No comments:
Post a Comment