Instant Recap: Oklahoma State Starts Big 12 Play 0-2 After 42-20 Loss to Kansas State

There’s always a chance, especially this early, but it’s not much of one for the Cowboys already.

Oklahoma State lost to Kansas State 42-20 on Saturday in what seemed to be an early playoff game into the Big 12 championship game after both teams lost their conference openers last week. The winner still has a clear road to Arlington, while the losing Cowboys, now 0-2 in Big 12 play, will have to win out and need answered prayers for any chance to play for a conference championship again.

It was early in the second quarter when the Cowboys took a 10-7 lead after Alan Bowman hit De’Zhaun Stribling for a 77-yard touchdown. Then, on K-State’s first play the next possession, Korie Black picked off Avery Johnson to give OSU the ball on the Wildcats’ 33-yard line. But with that field position, OSU ran back-to-back quarterback runs with Bowman for a gain of four yards combined before a two-yard pass to Ollie Gordon in the flats on third down. The Cowboys settled for a 31-yard Logan Ward field goal while also settling on leaving Manhattan with a loss.

After that sequence, K-State scored 35 unanswered points. Johnson responded from his interception as if he was the seventh-year quarterback in the game, not the sophomore early into his first season as a starter. He was responsible for five TDs — three through the air and two on the ground. He had 259 passing yards and 60 rushing yards.

Meanwhile, Bowman threw three interceptions while completing 52% of his passes. OSU’s run game was also nonexistent after the first drive as the Cowboys totaled 126 rushing yards. Gordon had 43 of those in the opening drive, which ended with Ward’s first field goal of the day. He finished with 76 rushing yards and averaged 5.1 yards a carry.

OSU’s scoring freeze didn’t end until running back Trent Howland ran in a 14-yard touchdown with 1:52 left.

In trouble of beginning Big 12 play with a losing streak, the Cowboys host West Virginia next at 3 p.m. Saturday.