NORMAN, Okla. – Michael Hunnicutt missed a 19-yard field goal late as No. 14 Kansas State held off No. 11 Oklahoma 31-30 on Saturday afternoon.
Oklahoma, trailing by a point in the fourth quarter, drove to the Kansas State 1-yard line, but couldn’t punch the ball in. Hunnicutt then missed the short field goal that would have put the Sooners ahead with 3:53 remaining. Kansas State (5-1, 3-0 Big 12) took possession and ran out the clock.
Hunnicutt, touted as an All-America candidate before the season, missed a total of two short field goals and had an extra point blocked.
Jake Waters passed for 225 yards and two touchdowns for the Wildcats. Oklahoma’s Sterling Shepard tied a school record with 15 catches for 197 yards and Trevor Knight passed for 318 yards and three touchdowns for Oklahoma (5-2, 2-2).
Knight headed to the locker room with 8:44 left in the first quarter after taking a hit to the back. Backup quarterback Cody Thomas stepped in for the rest of the drive and led the Sooners to a touchdown. Samaje Perine’s 2-yard scoring run gave the Sooners a 7-0 lead.
Kansas State answered quickly when Glenn Gronkowski caught a 62-yard touchdown pass from Waters.
Knight returned to the game. He threw out of his end zone, and Kansas State’s Danzel McDaniel stepped in front of Durron Neal and returned the interception 5 yards for a touchdown to put Kansas State ahead a minute into the second quarter.
Knight came right back and found Blake Bell over the middle for 22 yards, then found Shepard deep for a 47-yard touchdown that tied the score at 14.
Waters connected with Tyler Lockett in the back of the end zone for a 9-yard score that gave Kansas State a 21-14 lead.
Hunnicutt made a 38-yard field goal to cut Kansas State’s lead to 21-17. He could have cut the Wildcats’ lead again, a 32-yard field goal attempt went wide left as time expired in the first half.
A 28-yard catch by Shepard helped set up Bell’s 4-yard touchdown catch that tied the score at 24.
Waters’ 3-yard touchdown run gave Kansas State a 31-24 lead.
Oklahoma reached the Kansas State 17, but Neal, a receiver, threw an interception to Morgan Burns late in the third quarter to end the threat.
Neal made up for it with his first career touchdown catch, a 9-yarder that cut Kansas State’s lead to 31-30, but Kansas State’s Travis Britz blocked the extra point, and that turned out to be the difference.
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Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP.
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