COLLEGE FOOTBALL : BIG EIGHT ROUNDUP : Another Road Win for Kansas

Kansas is starting to make beating ranked teams on the road look easy.

The seventh-ranked Jayhawks, who defeated then-No. 4 Colorado by 16 points two weeks ago, overcame an early two-touchdown deficit Saturday night to beat No. 15 Oklahoma, 38-17, at Norman, Okla.

The Jayhawks scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull away from the Sooners and win in Norman for the first time since 1975. They used a grind-it-out running game and a patient passing game, plus some big plays, to make Oklahoma fullback Jerald Moore’s career-high 219-yard rushing effort incidental.

Mark Williams threw three touchdown passes and Dorian Brew made two huge interceptions, including one he returned for a touchdown.

“God knows we’re not that talented, but football is the greatest team game in the world,” said Kansas Coach Glen Mason, whose team is 7-0 overall, 3-0 in the Big Eight and off to its best start since 1968.

Moore scored on runs of 60 and 72 yards in the first quarter to give Oklahoma (4-2-1, 1-2) its early two-touchdown lead. He had 158 yards in the first quarter but was held to 61 after that while Kansas rallied.

“I think they’ve got a lot of heart,” Oklahoma Coach Howard Schnellenberger said of the Jayhawks. “They were right at the breaking point, but they didn’t.”

Instead, it was Oklahoma that broke. The Sooners gave up a 45-yard run on a fake punt, which Kansas used to set up a field goal and take a 17-14 lead. The Sooners also allowed a 48-yard completion on a third-and-24 play--Ashaundai Smith made a beautiful, diving catch--to keep alive the drive that led to the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“I looked back, I saw the ball . . . I had to catch it. I had to,” Smith said.

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Oklahoma State 30, Missouri 26--Andre Richardson ran for 171 yards and two touchdowns in 17 carries as the Cowboys beat the Tigers at Columbia, Mo., in a battle to escape the Big Eight basement.

Oklahoma State (2-5, 1-2) ended a 20-game conference winless streak, winning for the first time since a 27-21 victory over Iowa State on Oct. 24, 1992. It was the Cowboys’ first conference victory on the road since a 25-17 victory over Iowa State in their 1990 finale.

Missouri (2-5, 0-3) appears headed for its 12th consecutive losing season, with three ranked opponents remaining on the schedule.