Unranked Kansas State trailed No. 3 Oklahoma 28-7 early in the third quarter, but the Wildcats went on a 31-7 second-half run to upset the Sooners 38-35 in Norman despite playing with roster restrictions due to COVID-19.
With the furious come-from-behind win, K-State is this week’s Lindy’s Team of the Week. The Wildcats improved to 1-1 on the young season while Oklahoma fell to 1-1.
Senior quarterback Skylar Thompson completed 18 of 25 passes for 334 yards and a touchdown and ran for three scores to pace the K-State offense. Freshman running back Deuce Vaughn also had a coming out party. The 5-foot-5, 168-pound speedster led the ground attack with eight carries for 45 yards and a score. He also led the Wildcats with four catches for 129 yards.
“We knew when we were down 21 we were just like, we’re going to get our chance, we’re going to get our shot,” Vaughn said. “We’re going to see how good we are at battling adversity. That’s exactly what we did. When things started to turn our way, we were like we can’t get too high. We never got too low. We stayed even-keeled.”
A key play in the fourth quarter came when sophomore linebacker Nick Allen blocked Oklahoma’s Reeves Mundschau’s punt attempt, which gave K-State the ball at the Sooners 38. Two plays later, Vaugh ripped off a 38-yard scoring run. Following a successful PAT, the score was tied at 35 all with 8:17 left to play in the game.
Oklahoma was forced to punt on its next possession, which set the Wildcats up at their own 39-yard line. After a 23-yard pass from Thompson to sophomore wideout Phillip Brooks moved K-State into OU territory, the Wildcats got to the Sooners 32-yard line on a 9-yard completion to Vaughn on 3rd-and-13.
Senior kicker Blake Lynch then nailed the game-winning field goal from 50 yards out with 4:32 to go in the game. The Wildcats sealed the victory when senior nickel back Jahron McPherson intercepted Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler with 49 seconds remaining.
The victory marked K-State’s first ever road win over a No. 3 team in the AP Poll.
