KSU Recap: The Cowboys Corral the Cats

On the other side of the field, Oklahoma State entered Manhattan coming off of a tough loss to Iowa State, where their defense gave up 51 points to an all new team in Ames. Now against Kansas State, with two first year head coaches going head to head, it looked to be a contest of whose offense could score the most.

OSU’s offense has been regarded as one of the strongest in the nation. Pair that with a heavily flawed KSU defense and it became clear that this game could get ugly for the Cats. But I don’t think anyone was expecting what Coach Morris and his Heisman hopeful quarterback would do to this Cats team on the road. 

1st Quarter

With both teams having low-ranking defenses, the challenge between the Cats and the Cowboys would be to see whose offense would blink first and punt. With that in mind, Coach Klein decided he’d like the chance to blink first as KSU won the toss and elected to receive.

This decision was almost immediately followed with a blink as K-State’s Blake Barnett-led offense would have a three and out within the first four plays of the game. The Cowboys’ offense responded with a three play drive down the field with Drew Mestemaker finding Justin Bowick in the corner of the endzone on a 32 yard touchdown.

Right as it felt like K-State was falling behind, OSU’s defense left Derrick Salley Jr. wide open for Blake Barnett to fire a 73 yard touchdown pass, tying the game almost immediately. Unfortunately, K-State would go on to do a lot of blinking as Oklahoma State’s offense would score a touchdown on every possession. Drew Mestemaker went 8-8 for 118 yards and two touchdowns while running back Caleb Hawkins had 96 yards and two more touchdowns. It was all Cowboy after 15 minutes of football.

2nd Quarter

K-State began the second quarter much like they did the first as the offense had a three and out that lasted a minute and a half. But as some parts of the second felt just like the first, the defense put together a couple of huge plays to keep the Cats in contention.

It started with a fumble from wide receiver Wyatt Young that was recovered by linebacker Rex Van Wyhe. The following offensive drive was more of the same as the offense struggled to get moving, but the very next play of the quarter gave the K-State defense their second interception of the season as Logan Bartley took an 18 yard pick to the end zone for six.

From that point on, OSU would respond with another efficient touchdown drive, rebuilding a 21 point lead. K-State’s offense continued to struggle as the Cats would fail to convert a fourth down and throw an interception in two straight offensive plays. The shaky KSU defense held strong to force a punt for the Cats, but the offense simply couldn’t move the ball.

To add insult to injury, the Pokes ran a two minute drill to add an extra touchdown to the board, giving OSU a 49-14 lead heading into halftime. For the Cats, both sides of the ball seemed dejected and the stadium capacity followed suit.

3rd Quarter

The third quarter opened with the Cowboys back on the attack, choosing to keep their starters in despite holding a 28 point lead. The Cats’ defense took care of business, forcing a punt and giving a morale boost to the remaining Wildcat faithful. The offense would see a change of management as sophomore QB Dillon Duff took the field for the first time since the first quarter of the Colorado game. Duff went three and out three straight times in Boulder, but his first drive at home saw an easy TD pass to Derrick Salley, giving the fans something to celebrate as the score sat at 49-21.

From there the Cowboys revived the offense with a seven play drive that ended in an extra seven points on the board. RB Caleb Hawkins was the primary target in five of the seven plays including the touchdown pass, showing off his connection with Mestemaker.

The game continued to go the way of the Pokes as Duff threw his first interception and left OSU in KSU territory. A Philly special from Mestemaker would leave the NFL prospect with a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown. The third quarter ends with the Cats driving as they trail 63-21.

4th Quarter

As the game entered its final 15, Dillon Duff led the Cats on a 15 yard scoring drive capped off with a touchdown run from Rodney Fields, putting the score at 63-21. For OSU, it was finally time for Mestemaker to relax and as his backup quarterback, Broderick Vehrs, took over the offense and led them to the two yard line. K-State’s defense tightened up, holding the Cowboys to a field goal.

To end the game, K-State would let Duff and company run the clock with a long, drawn out drive to end the game with a final score of 66-28.