The Kansas State Wildcats had No. 9 Oklahoma right where they wanted them, and we don’t mean the fact that K-State led 21-7 in the second quarter, after a trio of touchdown drives that were all at least 69 yards long. We mean in general, as a 15-point home underdog.
Oklahoma survives a Bill Snyder UPSET ALERT, and the Sooners Playoff hopes are still intact
Kansas State came to play, but the Sooners pulled the game out.
Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports
The Sooners would end up winning the game, 42-35, but SB Nation’s Oklahoma blog has the definitive Facing Kansas State take:
That just about sums it up, yeah. This really was a Bill Snyder special. An under-manned K-State team that isn’t as good roster wise as OU is absolutely making it hell on earth for the Sooners to leave Manhattan with a win.
Kansas State came out with this gorgeous formation for Godsakes.
Then they ran that formation again midway through the fourth quarter to tie the game at 28 after a botched punt by Oklahoma set them up in prime field position.
College football has moved hard toward spread offense principles. Shotgun snaps are now more common than not, and most teams have at least three receivers on the field most of the time. But Kansas State knows it’s not a recruiting power that’s going to out-athlete you, so the Wildcats have decided to just force the football into and through your stomach.
Oklahoma lost two weeks ago to Iowa State. The Sooners remain in the College Football Playoff picture, but another loss would have surely extinguished their hopes of finishing in the top four. K-State had them in danger, especially after responding to a subsequent OU TD with this pass.
K-State would score on the drive and tie the game at 35. But OU would win on this go-ahead score with seconds remaining.
OU entered with a 5-1 record. K-State entered at 3-3. This is a matchup of the oldest head coach in the FBS, Snyder, against the youngest, Lincoln Riley. Here’s a long list of things that aren’t as old as the 44-year age gap between the two men:
The Simpsons (28)
The Thirty Years’ War (30, actually)
The Second Viking Invasion of the British Isles (32)
The Trump administration (what feels like only 14 years so far)
The old Big East Conference (34)
Enron (22)
The reign of any British monarch except for George II, George III, Victoria, or Elizabeth II
The American Basketball Association (9)
The XFL (1)
John Isner’s match against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010 (three days)
AOL Instant Messenger (20)
The ongoing production of A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, a series of books that still isn’t completed even though there’s already seven seasons of Game of Thrones around its storylines (20)
Mozambique’s ongoing time as a sovereign nation independent of Portugal (42)
The Big 12 (23)
On this day, the student would surpass the teacher. But the old man didn’t go down without a fight.
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