Flashback - Oklahoma 38, Kansas State 37 - September 29, 2001
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Published on 9/21/2012 11:10 AM
Travel and work have kept me from properly reviewing this week's opponent to do a cogent game preview, so I didn't. But here's a flashback from a close one between the Sooners and Wildcats in Norman.
SEPTEMBER 30, 2001
NORMAN - Say what you want about Kansas State; they are tough and don't quit. But say what you want about the Sooners, they find a way to get it done. Oklahoma ran its national-best winning streak to 17 games and their home winning streak to sixteen games by holding off a furious Kansas State rally to win 38-37 Saturday at Owen Field. The Sooners maintained their third-place ranking in both polls after the victory. If the BCS rankings were available, the Sooners would be ranked No. 1 by the computer.
Sooner QB Nate Hybl was solid, and showed a lot of the moxie of his predecessor under center for the Sooners. Kansas State blitzed, blitzed, and blitzed some more, just like they did in the first game last season. And just like Josh Heupel did last season, Hybl stood in, took the punishment, and burned the Wildcats with big plays. Hybl completed 17 of 38 passes (including several drops by Josh Norman) for 283 yards, two TDs, and three interceptions. He also had big touchdown passes of 63 and 75 yards to Antwone Savage. Savage had a TD pass of his own on a fake punt in the second quarter.
Hybl had to come through, as the Wildcats' pressure defense stuffed Quentin Griffin and the Sooner running game for nine yards on the game. That was the lowest rushing total in a victory in school history. The Sooner defense had its problems as well, giving up multiple big plays, four 80-yard TD drives, and almost 450 yards to KSU.
KSU won the toss and deferred to the second half. Antwone Savage returned the opening kickoff to the Sooner 24, where OU took over on offense. They could do nothing in three plays and punted it away. KSU returned the favor, then the Sooners, on third and 10 from their own 43, committed the first of several turnovers on the game when Hybl lofted a fade for Andre Woolfolk that was picked off by the Wildcats at the KSU 31.
It would take only one play for KSU to pick up their first turnover, and theirs would be much more costly. After a flag nullified an eight-yard gain by Josh Scobey, KSU QB Ell Roberson tried to audible over the din of the roaring Sooner crowd. The message apparently didn't get through to everyone, including Roberson. He optioned left when his blocking and his running back went right. Jimmy Wilkerson came free off the end and popped Roberson. The ball came free and was scooped up by Roy Williams, who scooted into the end zone from 18 yards out for the TD and a 7-0 Sooner lead with 9:53 to play in the first quarter.
After KSU went three and out again, the resulting punt gave the Sooners the ball at their own 12. Renaldo Works carried for a yard, then a defensive holding call gave the Sooners a first down at the 23. On the next play, Hybl beat a blitz and found Curtis Fagan down the right hash for 17 yards and a first down at the 40. Three plays later, after an incomplete pass, a one-yard run by Griffin, and a penalty, OU faced third and 14 from the 36. Hybl dropped back, had plenty of time, and lofted a perfect pass down the left side for Savage, who had broken behind his man. Savage caught the ball in stride and took it 64 yards for the TD. The Sooners led 14-0 with 5:35 to play in the first quarter.
KSU picked up their initial first down of the game on the ensuing possession, but a big offensive pass interference penalty negated a 19-yard gain, and KSU was forced to punt. OU took over in great field position at their own 46. A 15-yard strike from Hybl to Fagan on first down set the Sooners up with a first down at the KSU 39, but the drive stalled there, and Jeff Ferguson punted just barely into the end zone.
KSU started on their 20 and embarked on their first scoring drive of the day. The big play was a 33-yard completion down the right has to a wide-open Brandon Clark that gave KSU a first down at the Sooner 29. Scobey scored on an option right on the next play, but a pair of holds on KSU negated the TD. On first and 20 from the 39, Bary Holleyman sacked Roberson, then on the next play deflected a pass that was almost picked off by Tommie Harris. On third and 24, Roberson hit Clark on a curl route for 23 yards to the Sooner 21. On fourth and one, Scobey took an option pitch right and ran 13 yards to the Sooner 7. He took it the rest of the way on the next play, and KSU had pulled to within 14-7 with 12:46 to play in the first half.
OU would answer quickly. Savage had a nice 32-yard kickoff return to the OU 35 to get things started. An ill-fated reverse play on first down lost six yards, but on the next play, Griffin came out of the backfield uncovered and Hybl hit him right down the middle of the field for a 48-yard gain to the KSU 23. Three plays later, after a penalty, the Sooners faced third and 14 at the KSU 27. Hybl found Josh Norman wide open down the left sideline for 21 yards and a first and goal at the Wildcat six. Griffin made a tough run to score from there, and the Sooners were back up by two scores at 21-7 with 10:37 to play in the first half.
The Wildcats would come right back with a very impressive 80-yard drive in only four plays. After a loss of a yard and an incomplete pass, Roberson found Clark wide open again for a 58-yard gain to the Sooner 22. Roberson scored on a QB draw on the next play, and KSU was back within a TD at 21-14 with 9:22 to play in the first half.
The teams traded punts, with the Sooners getting the better of the exchange, getting the ball at their own 42. A pass interference call gave them a first down at the 50, but they picked up only three yards on the next three plays. Ferguson made a perfect punt, helped by the fact that Aaron Lockett backed off when he could have fielded the punt at about the 10. The ball rolled down and was killed at the KSU one-yard line.
The Sooner crowd was in full throat, wanting a safety, and they got one, or so it looked. On first down, Roberson optioned left and was hogtied and brought down in the end zone. However, the officials ruled that he got the ball across the goal line. A one-yard carry, a penalty, and an incomplete pass left the Wildcats with a fourth and 10 at the one. A short punt gave the Sooners excellent field position at the KSU 40 with 3:07 to play in the half.
KSU was flagged for having too many men on the field, leaving the Sooners with first and five at the KSU 35. However, three plays netted only two yards, leaving fourth and three at the 33. The Sooners lined up as if to punt, but from a strange formation, with three men stacked wide to the right. Third-string QB Hunter Wall had slipped in at upback in place of Teddy Lehman, and he took a short snap and immediately lateralled all the way across the field to Savage, the last man in the three-man stack. Savage, who played QB in high school, held the ball to draw the defense, even as a man broke wide open down the field. After the defense flowed over toward Savage, he tossed the ball back across the field to Wall, who had a picket fence of blockers set up along the left sideline. Wall rolled untouched 33 yards for the TD, and the Sooners led 28-14 with 1:58 to play in the half.
Three plays later, Matt McCoy picked off Roberson at the KSU 41, and the Sooners had exactly one minute to try to get more points. But they could only pick up six yards, and Tim Duncan's 52-yard field goal attempt was wide left. The half ended with the Sooners leading 28-14.
In the second half, neither team could get anything going until the Sooners took over on their own 21 after a KSU punt with 8:48 to play in the third quarter. Griffin carried for a yard, then Hybl ran for three on a QB draw. On third and six from the 25, a KSU end came free on the blitz around the left side. Hybl hung tough and threw a strike to Savage on an out route to the left side. As Hybl was knocked loopy by a hit right under his chin, Savage caught the pass, shook the defender he had beaten on the play, and cruised down the sideline for 75 yards and a touchdown. OU led big, 35-14, with 7:15 to play in the third quarter. But KSU wouldn't quit.
Starting at their 20, they embarked on yet another rapid-fire TD drive. Roberson carried for 16 yards on an option keeper, then giant fullback Roc Cartwright rumbled for 27 more to the Sooner 38. After a tipped pass that was almost intercepted, Roberson optioned right and ran through five missed Sooner tackles for the TD. KSU had closed to within 35-21 with 6:06 to play in the third quarter.
On the Sooners' second play of the ensuing drive, Hybl launched a pass way over his intended receiver that was picked off by KSU's Jon McGraw, who returned the pick all the way to the Sooner 17. Five plays later, Roberson sneaked in from the one, and KSU had closed to within 35-27 with 3:18 to play in the third quarter. Rocky Calmus blocked the KSU extra point. That would prove to be a huge play in the game.
The teams traded punts, then Hybl was picked off again on a fade pattern. The OU defense forced a punt, and the Sooners took over at their own 14 with 10:26 to play in the game and a desperate need for a Heupelesque, time consuming cross-country scoring drive to clinch the game. And that's just what they got.
Hybl used the dink and dunk short passing game to perfection, helped along by a couple of critical pass interference calls on KSU, including one on third and 10 from the Sooner 40. Hybl sneaked for a first down on third and one from the KSU 35, then hit Trent Smith for three yards and a first down on third and one from the KSU 25. The drive stalled at the KSU 16, but Duncan came on and drilled a 33-yard field goal right through the heart of the uprights for a 38-27 Sooner lead with 4:16 to play in the game.
It looked like that would clinch things, much as similar late game drives for field goals had clinched the two games last season against KSU. The drive covered 70 yards and took 15 plays and a huge 6:10 off the fourth quarter clock. It should have finally broken KSU's will. But the Wildcats weren't done yet.
On the ensuing drive, KSU converted a fourth and 10 from the Sooner 32 with an 11-yard pass to Ricky Lloyd. On the next play, Lloyd got behind Brandon Everage, and Roberson hit him for a 57-yard scoring pass with 2:02 to play. A two-point conversion pass to Lockett was good, and OU led only 38-35.
KSU appeared certain to try an onside kick, but inexplicably kicked it deep. OU kept it on the ground to run clock, as KSU used their only remaining time out to stop the clock after the Sooners' second down play. With 13 seconds to play, the Sooners faced fourth and 16 from their own nine-yard line. They lined up to punt, but Ferguson took the snap and ran around in the end zone to kill time before stepping out of the end zone for a safety with seven seconds to play.
Duncan's squib free kick from the 20 was intended to hit at least one KSU player to get the clock running, but instead went out of bounds at the KSU 40. KSU took the ball at the 50 with time for one play. Roberson's Hail Mary was short of the end zone and was batted down as time expired. Owen Field let out a collective sigh of relief as the Sooners escaped with a hard-fought 38-37 win.
This was expected to be a classic defensive battle. Instead, it was a shootout. The Sooners weren't ready for Roberson's arm, as he hadn't shown what he could really do in KSU's first two games. Some work needs to be done before next Saturday's battle with Texas.
Of course, some work needed to be done last season after the Sooners struggled to beat Kansas the week before the Texas game. That resulted in a 63-14 rout. The Horns are licking their chops, figuring that the Sooner defense has been exposed. But Chrissy Simms isn't Ell Roberson. He's no threat to run for 100 yards. And the puke orange faithful can delude themselves all they want, but the fact of the matter is that the Horns are soft. All the talk and bluster in the world won't change that.
The Sooners will be better prepared, better coached, and will be the better team on the field in the Cotton Bowl on Saturday. They may or may not win, because that's the nature of this game.
In any case, this shapes up to be the biggest OU-Texas game since 1984, which was the last time these teams both came to Dallas unbeaten. That one was a classic, marked by the gift of a tie to Texas by the incompetent officials. It won't come down to that this time.
More on the Texas game in the next Road Warrior Report, transmitting on Wednesday, October 3, 2001. Until then, vaya con Dios.
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