Big Eight Roundup : Eighth-Ranked Oklahoma Rallies to Beat 12th-Ranked Oklahoma State

“Mike Gundy and Hart Lee Dykes played a great game,” Oklahoma Coach Barry Switzer said. “Barry Sanders played a great game.”

Gundy, Dykes and Sanders all play for Oklahoma State. And despite their outstanding performances, Oklahoma won--as usual.

Oklahoma was in danger of having its 29-game Big Eight winning streak snapped when quarterback Charles Thompson sprinted 18 yards for a touchdown with 2:33 to play Saturday, lifting the No. 8 Sooners to a 31-28 victory over No. 12 Oklahoma State at Stillwater, Okla.

Thompson’s touchdown capped a 13-play, 80-yard drive and enabled the Sooners to overcome a record-setting 215-yard, 2-touchdown effort by Sanders, the nation’s leading rusher, whose fourth-quarter scores gave the Cowboys a 28-24 lead with 8:45 remaining.

The game may have been decided by a personal foul call in the final minute.

After Thompson’s go-ahead touchdown, Oklahoma State quarterback Gundy and split end Dykes led the Cowboys from their 9 to the Oklahoma 20.

On third-and-2, Sanders picked up a yard--but Oklahoma State fullback Garrett Limbrick was charged with a personal foul after the play. Side judge Michael Borgard called the foul after breaking up a shoving match between Limbrick and Oklahoma linebacker Richard Dillon.

Said Oklahoma State Coach Pat Jones: “I don’t know what it was. I never got an explanation. . . . I am not saying anyone made a mistake and I’m not criticizing the officials one bit. A flag’s a flag. They’re not going to take it up and put it in their pocket.”

The officials were unavailable for comment.

The flag made it fourth-and-16 at the 34 instead of fourth-and-1 at the 19.

On their last chance, wide receiver Brent Parker got behind Oklahoma free safety Kevin Thompson but dropped Gundy’s perfect pass in the back of the end zone with 43 seconds left.

The victory kept Oklahoma in a first-place tie with Nebraska at 5-0. The Sooners are 8-1 overall. Oklahoma State is 6-2, 3-2 in the Big Eight, and lost to their intrastate rivals for the 12th season in a row.

“All comebacks are great, and we’re becoming a pretty good offense,” Switzer said. “We had 8 minutes on the clock when we got the ball back and scored, but this comeback wasn’t unbelievable. We had to go do it, and we did. We were tested, and that’s what football is all about.”

The Sooners also became the first team to hold Oklahoma State, the nation’s top scoring team, to fewer than 41 points this season.

Nebraska 51, Iowa State 16--Steve Taylor rushed for 154 yards and 3 touchdowns and passed for another score as the No. 7 Cornhuskers trounced the Cyclones in a snowstorm at Ames, Iowa.

Ken Clark rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown for Nebraska (9-1, 5-0). The Cornhuskers gained 637 yards, including 566 yards rushing.

Iowa State (4-5, 2-3) gained just 49 yards in the first half.

Taylor completed 5 of 9 passes for 71 yards and increased his career total yardage to 4,767, moving past Turner Gill into fourth place on Nebraska’s all-time list. He also had an 11-yard scoring run.

Colorado 45, Missouri 8--Eric Bieniemy ran for 106 yards and a touchdown as the Buffaloes overwhelmed the Tigers in a Big Eight game at Columbia, Mo.

Colorado (7-2, 3-2) built a 24-0 lead at halftime as representatives from three bowl games watched.

The loss assured Missouri (2-6-1, 1-4), which nearly upset fifth-ranked Nebraska a week ago, of a fifth straight losing season record and left Coach Woody Widenhofer with an 11-30-1 record in 4 seasons.

Missouri (2-6-1, 1-4) scored in the third quarter on a 5-yard run by Smiley Elmore that was set up by a 30-yard reverse by wide receiver Ronnie Cameron to the Colorado 12.

Kansas 30, Kansas State 12--Arnold Snell ran for first-half touchdowns of 1 and 13 yards as the Jayhawks won at Lawrence, Kan.

Tony Sands rushed for 122 yards to help Kansas (1-8) snap a 15-game winless streak and record its first Big Eight victory since the final game of 1985.

Kansas State (0-9) is winless in 25 games dating to a 29-12 victory over Kansas in October, 1986.