Oklahoma excels as chaser

NO. 9 OKLAHOMA 42, KANSAS ST. 35

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Oklahoma has made a habit of squandering early leads much of this season.

The Sooners went the other way Saturday night.

Rodney Anderson ran 22 yards for the go-ahead score with 7 seconds left, Baker Mayfield threw for 410 yards and accounted for 4 touchdowns, and the nation’s ninth-ranked team overcame a 21-10 halftime deficit to beat Kansas State 42-35 and keep their playoff hopes alive.

Anderson finished with 147 yards rushing and also caught a TD pass for the Sooners (6-1, 3-1 Big 12), who shredded the overmatched defense of the Wildcats (3-4, 1-3) over the final 30 minutes.

“Our guys at halftime had a great look in their eye. They were determined to come out and play a lot better,” Sooners Coach Lincoln Riley said. “But the mentality really went to another level there in the locker room at halftime. They were really ready to play.”

Kansas State sophomore Alex Delton’s first career touchdown pass with 2:25 left tied the game at 35-35, but Mayfield and Anderson calmly went to work. The Heisman Trophy candidate hit a series of throws downfield before Anderson took a carry around the left side for the decisive score.

“As a leadership group, we took care of it and handled it,” Mayfield said. “That’s a huge win for us, considering we haven’t played well in the second half most of the season.”

Making his second career start, Delton finished with 161 yards rushing and 3 TDs while going 12 of 14 for 144 yards through the air. Alex Barnes added 108 yards and 1 touchdown on 6 carries.

It was Kansas State that was rolling early, with Barnes taking a handoff up the middle on the game’s second play for a 75-yard TD run. The Sooners needed a couple of minutes for Mayfield to provide the answer, but his touchdown toss to tight end Mark Andrews was his highlight of the half.

Mayfield threw an interception in the end zone on the Sooners’ ensuing possession, just his second of the season. Then he was inexplicably split wide as Oklahoma went to the Wildcat set in short-yardage spots.

Kansas State stuffed Trey Sermon and Dimitri Flowers for no gain on consecutive plays to force one turnover on downs, then dumped Flowers for a loss at the goal line to force a field goal.

Delton’s two touchdown runs staked Kansas State to a 21-10 lead at the break.

“It was still important for us to play that last 30 minutes,” Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder said.

Whatever momentum the Wildcats took into the locker room stayed there, because Mayfield and the Sooners got going in the second half. They romped 80 yards for a touchdown on their first possession, 69 yards for a field goal on their second and 93 yards for another touchdown on their third.

The two-point conversion gave them a 28-21 lead with 14:19 left, their first of the game.

It took a snap over punter Austin Seibert’s head midway through the fourth quarter for the Wildcats to draw even, which they did on Delton’s third TD run. But Mayfield’s 66-yard pitch-and-catch to Marquise Brown set up a go-ahead TD toss to Anderson with 5:16 to go.

Kansas State drove downfield to tie it at 35-35 on Delton’s first career TD pass, but it came with 2:25 still on the clock. And that was enough time for Oklahoma to score one more time.

“You’re trying to turn the tide and start the season over,” Kansas State defensive tackle Will Geary said. “When they score like that, it just takes away all your spirit.”