Landry Jones helped start the post-Sam Bradford
era on a good note, throwing for 294 yards and four touchdowns to lead No.22
Oklahoma past Kansas State, 42-30, in a Big 12 affair.
Bradford, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, elected to have season-ending
surgery on his shoulder this past week, and there is a good chance that he
will enter the NFL Draft come April.
Jones, making his fifth start in place of Bradford and first since Bradford
announced his decision to have surgery, finished 26-of-37 for the Sooners
(5-3, 3-1 Big 12), who won their second in a row. DeMarco Murray had 62
yards and a pair of scores on 15 carries and added a receiving TD. Chris
Brown totaled 83 yards on 15 carries, while Ryan Broyles scored twice and
DeJuan Miller once in the win.
"The young guy (Jones) has done an awesome job," said Oklahoma head coach Bob
Stoops. "He is just really poised and trusts the young guys around him. He
will get better too. He throws a good ball and stayed in there and did a nice
job with it."
Oklahoma has won 28 straight home games, the longest active streak in the Bowl
Subdivision.
Grant Gregory finished 19-of-30 for 174 yards with an interception for the
Wildcats (5-4, 3-2), who saw their two-game winning streak halted. Daniel
Thomas had a rushing TD and Keithen Valentine had a pair of scores on the
ground. Brandon Banks tallied 156 yards on nine grabs in defeat.
"I think we have a little more confidence on the offensive side of the ball
and just knowing that we can put points on the board," said Banks. "Thirty
points tonight, we're pretty excited about that."
After the Wildcats closed it to five points on a kickoff return, Oklahoma
answered back with a scoring drive of its own. Starting at his own 32, Jones
completed passes of 26 and nine yards on the first two plays. Then on the 11th
play of the drive, Murray punched it in from three yards out to give the
Sooners a 42-30 cushion with 6 1/2 minutes to play.
Kansas State was then stopped on 4th-and-10 from the KSU 46 with about four
minutes left, which all but sealed the deal.
The Sooners wasted no time in getting on the board. Starting at its own 40, it
took Oklahoma four plays before Jones hit Broyles for a 15-yard score to
give the home team a 7-0 lead.
Following a three-and-out from Kansas State, the Sooners tacked on. Miller
hauled in a 23-yard TD pass to increase the differential to 14-0 with 11:41
still left in the first.
Broyles added a two-yard TD catch later in the first for a 21-0 advantage.
Valentine's two-yard touchdown run got Kansas State on the board. However,
the extra point was no good, making it 21-6 with about 8 1/2 minutes left in
the half.
Brown's 44-yard run set up Murray's one-yard TD run that gave the Sooners a
28-6 lead about three minutes later.
Josh Cherry's 31-yard field goal late in the second closed it to 28-9 at the
half.
Valentine's 14-yard TD run capped the 11-play, 80-yard drive that lasted
about 6 1/2 minutes. The drive, which opened the second half, closed it to
28-17 after the two-point conversion.
The Sooners were held to a three-and-out on their ensuing touch, and the
Wildcats took over at their own 25. Banks hauled in a 41-yard pass on the
first play and, five plays later, Thomas punched in a two-yard TD. The extra
point was blocked and it was 28-23 with 4:35 left in the third.
Oklahoma responded with a drive that bridged the final two quarters. Starting
at their own 33, the Sooners drove all the way down to the one-yard-line.
However, a false start moved the team back five yards before Murray hauled in
a TD pass on the next play to give the home team a 35-23 lead.
However, Banks ran the following kickoff back 98 yards to close it to 35-30
with 11:18 left to play.
Game Notes
Kansas State hasn't won at Oklahoma since 1997...The Sooners own a commanding
70-17-4 series advantage over Kansas State...Oklahoma outgained KSU 458-364.
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