Oklahoma Again Feels Pain of Loss

Rashaun Woods and Josh Fields did it to Oklahoma again.

One year after ruining the Sooners’ postseason plans with a late touchdown at Norman, Fields and Woods connected for three touchdowns as Oklahoma State upset No. 3 Oklahoma, 38-28, on Saturday.

Woods had 12 catches for a school-record 226 yards, and Fields completed 18 of 27 passes for 357 yards and four touchdowns against the nation’s ninth-ranked defense.

“We played our best opponent; we played our best football,” Cowboy Coach Les Miles said. “Considering all of our big wins this year, this was undoubtedly our best one.”

The Cowboys, 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the Big 12 Conference, beat Nebraska and Oklahoma in the same season for the first time. As the last seconds ticked off the clock, orange-clad Oklahoma State students and fans ran onto the field and tore down the goal posts.

In beating the Sooners for the fifth time in eight years, Oklahoma State enhanced its chances of going to its first bowl game since 1997. The Cowboys also never let Oklahoma take the lead, something no team had done against Bob Stoops in his first 49 games as Oklahoma’s coach.

“We just wanted to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke,” said tight end Billy Bajema, who had a 58-yard catch on a second-quarter scoring drive. “It will improve our bowl destination, but that’s not what we were thinking coming in. Playing Oklahoma was enough motivation.”

Last year’s 16-13 stunner by Oklahoma State cost Oklahoma a trip to the Big 12 title game, where a victory would have sent the Sooners to the national title game. Oklahoma (10-2, 6-2) came into this game with the South Division title sewn up, but the Sooners have no shot of playing for a national title.

“There are no excuses,” Stoops said. “They did an excellent job all around -- their coaches and players -- and just beat us.”

Oklahoma, which will play No. 13 Colorado for the Big 12 title next week in Houston, had no answer for Woods.

He caught touchdown passes of 41, 60 and 13 yards in the first half and had three catches on the Cowboys’ first drive of the third quarter, when they took a 35-6 lead. Woods then had two more receptions on a clinching fourth-quarter drive that led to a field goal and a 38-21 lead.

“We are on the rise,” Woods said. “It’s obvious now that we are a program on the rise.”