Oklahoma Sooners

The key to Kansas State’s success is a rarely talked about side of the ball for the Wildcats -- their defense.

Timely turnovers, pressure on the quarterback, and offensive efficiency were the keys to an upset win over No. 6 Oklahoma last Saturday.

The win was just the second time in 33 tries that Kansas State beat Oklahoma when the Sooners were ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll.

Kansas State had Landry Jones rattled all night, forcing him to throw 10 passes when under duress (six in the second half).

Jones' one interception in the game was under duress on an off-balance, overthrown pass.

Additionally, the Wildcats sacked Jones twice, with both sacks resulting in fumbles. Jones turned the ball over twice, and both led to Kansas State touchdowns.

Kansas State did this while bringing four or fewer rushers on 43 of Jones’ 45 dropbacks.

Jones was off-target all night. Twelve of his 15 incomplete passes were overthrown, underthrown or wide. He has struggled with off-target passes all season. Twenty-five of his 39 incompletions have not reached his receivers.

Oklahoma was held below 20 points at home for only the third time since Bob Stoops became coach in 1999. It was also the first home loss for Sooners in 15 games against ranked opponents under Stoops.

On the other side of the ball, Kansas State relied on an efficient running game and short throws to move the ball.

Collin Klein attempted 13 of his 21 passes within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, completing 10 of those for 91 yards.

Klein was at his best on third down, completing 7 of 11 passes for six first downs. On third and long (six-or-more yards to go), he completed 6 of 7 passes for five first downs, including two in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats attempted to preserve their lead.

After its win over the Sooners, Kansas State moved up to No. 7 in the AP Poll. That is the highest ranking the Wildcats have attained since September 2003.

NORMAN, Okla. -- With a throng of Kansas State fans celebrating in the stands just yards away, dejection and disappointment filled the Oklahoma Sooners as they slowly walked off the Owen Field turf after the No. 15-ranked WIldcats’ 24-19 win over OU on Saturday night.

And when the No. 6-ranked Sooners look back on their first home loss against a ranked team under head coach Bob Stoops, they can look closely at their inability to get key defensive stops when they needed them.

“We kind of broke down a little bit in the fourth quarter,” defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. “We fought ourselves through the game, but we just got outexecuted in the fourth quarter and that was really the game.”

The Wildcats were 3 of 3 on third down in the fourth quarter, taking advantage of the Sooners defense in various ways to complete critical conversions.

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