No. 14 Kansas State gets unexpected help to beat No. 11 Oklahoma, 31-30

With a short field goal the only thing standing between Oklahoma and the lead late in the game, Michael Hunnicutt only had to do what he has done for more than three years: be automatic.

No. 11 Oklahoma, trailing by a point in the fourth quarter, finally had seized momentum after playing catch-up for much of the game. The Sooners (5-2 overall, 2-2 Big 12 Conference) drove to the Kansas State one-yard line but couldn’t punch the ball in.

Neither could Hunnicutt.

Hunnicutt missed a chip-shot field-goal try that would have put the Sooners ahead with 3 minutes 53 seconds to play. No. 14 Kansas State (5-1, 3-0) took possession and ran out the clock, defeating Oklahoma, 31-30, on Saturday.

Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder was just as surprised as Oklahoma fans about the miss by Hunnicutt, Oklahoma’s all-time scoring leader and a preseason All-Big 12 pick.

“The youngster that missed the field goal, he will go another 100 years without missing another field goal,” Snyder said. “So we were just lucky. That happens.”

Hunnicutt missed two short field-goal tries and had an extra-point try blocked. Coach Bob Stoops said he’d trust Hunnicutt again in a pressure situation.

“I feel for Michael,” Stoops said. “He’s been an excellent kicker for us and a great young man. We all love him. I feel that for him, because unfortunately, the kicker, that just kind of sticks out.”

Oklahoma tight end Blake Bell said it wasn’t all Hunnicutt’s fault.

“Hunnicutt’s a great kicker,” Bell said. “I mean, he makes every single kick that I’ve ever seen — it’s ridiculous — so you can’t blame it on him. Hunny, the type of guy he is, he’s going to bounce back and be great and make field goals for us.”

Jake Waters passed for 225 yards and two touchdowns for the Wildcats.

Oklahoma’s Sterling Shepard tied a school record with 15 catches and had 197 yards receiving. 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. Cody Thomas stepped in for the rest of the drive and led the Sooners to a touchdown. Samaje Perine’s two-yard 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 five yards for a touchdown to put Kansas State ahead one minute into the second quarter.

Knight then connected with Blake Bell over the middle for 22 yards and Shepard for a 47-yard touchdown that tied the score, 14-14.

Waters connected with Tyler Lockett in the back of the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown 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 but a 32-yard field-goal try went wide left as time expired in the first half.

A 28-yard catch by Shepard helped set up Bell’s four-yard touchdown catch that tied the score, 24-24.

Waters’ three-yard touchdown run gave Kansas State a 31-24 lead.

Oklahoma reached the Kansas State 17, but Neal, a receiver, had a pass intercepted by Morgan Burns late in the third quarter to end the threat.

Neal made up for it with his first career touchdown catch, a nine-yard reception that cut Kansas State’s lead to 31-30, but Kansas State’s Travis Britz blocked the extra-point try, and that turned out to be the difference.

Oklahoma outgained Kansas State, 533 yards to 385.