STILLWATER, Okla. — The biggest surprise coming out of Kansas State’s 29-21 loss to Oklahoma State on Friday night at Boone Pickens Stadium was the fact the Wildcats were still in the game until the end.
A plethora of mistakes and an uninspired effort on offense left the Wildcats in an early hole, and still they nearly climbed out, only to lose for the third straight time in Stillwater.
After giving up a touchdown on an interception to trail 20-7 at halftime, the Wildcats forced Oklahoma State to settle for field goals after the break and pulled within one score on Will Howard’s 6-yard touchdown run with 8:56 remaining.
The Wildcats elected to go for two points, and wide receiver Keagan Johnson’s pass fell incomplete, leaving them with an eight-point deficit.
K-State then got the ball back and moved into Oklahoma State territory, but linebacker Nickolas Martin intercepted Will Howard, ending the threat. It was Howard’s third interception of the game.
The Wildcats had one more chance, but turned the ball over on downs.
For Oklahoma State, quarterback Alan Bowman completed 19 of 35 passes for 235 yards and Ollie Gordon rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown. The Cowboys had 412 yards of total offense.
For K-State, Howard was 15 of 34 passing for 152 yards and three interceptions, but did rush 10 times for 104 yards and a score.
Here are three takeaways from a disappointing night for the Wildcats.
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First-drive failure a bad omen for K-State
Kansas State scored on its first possession in each of the first four games, so when the Wildcats won the coin toss, it made sense that they took the ball.
Only this time the Wildcats went three-and-out, and Oklahoma State answered with a 15-play, 72-yard scoring drive that took 5 minutes, 24 seconds off the clock.
The tone was set, and K-State never led in the game.
Another game, another pick — and worse
As good as Will Howard has been this season, he also has tended to be overly aggressive. That’s why he had an interception in each of the first four games.
But he doubled that up in the first half alone against Oklahoma State, victimized both times by Cowboys safety Cameron Epps.
The first one, on a deep ball to Phillip Brooks in the first quarter, didn’t cost the Wildcats, but the second certainly did.
With the Wildcats trailing 13-7 in the final minute of the half, Howard threw an out route to Brooks, who cut to the sideline but then made a move downfield. Epps jumped the out route and ran untouched to the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown to give OSU a 20-7 halftime advantage.
A third interception, but Nickolas Martin, ended a fourth-quarter drive that could have gotten the Wildcats even.
Howard completed 15 of 34 passes for 152 yards in the game.
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Explosive plays continue to plague Wildcats
For the fourth straight game, an opponent had at least one run and one pass play go for 30-plus yards. Oklahoma State needed one half to make that happen.
The Cowboys got a run of 33 yards in the half from Ollie Gordon and 45-yard pass completions from Alan Bowman to both Jaden Bray and Rashod Owens. Gordon added a 36-yard run in the third quarter.
It didn’t help that starting cornerback Jacob Parrish did not play, nor did he make the trip to Stillwater. And then the other cornerback, Will Lee went down with a minute left in the first half.
Lee was having one of his better games with eight tackles in the half. He was replaced by Justice James, while Keenan Garber started in Parrish’s place.