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One point. In the end, that was the difference between beating Oklahoma and Kansas State yesterday. Anyone who saw the Sooners' surefire scoring opportunity turn into an interception in the end zone, anyone who saw the Big 12's best kicker miss two field goals, had to have a sense of deja vu. Oklahoma lost this game in essentially the same way that Kansas State lost to Auburn. We must have earned some good karma from that loss, because everything else came up purple yesterday. For once, we were lucky. But credit where it's due. Good teams make their own luck. That goal line stand that led to the second missed field goal, Travis Britz blocking that extra point, Jake Waters getting knocked down, but refusing to stay down and repeatedly moving the sticks, and the punt unit downing two punts deep inside the ten, all of these things contributed to a winning effort on a day when the team did not execute perfectly and left points on the field. Kansas State is now the only team in the Big 12 that is undefeated in conference play. It feels good, and it should.
Your obligatory Oklahoma game recaps are right here: from the K-State SID, from Boxscore, from the Associated Press, some instant a, from the Wichita Eagle, from the Collegian, and from our own Jon Morse: Reversal of Fortune. Jake Trotter of ESPN had some instant analysis of the game, with the game ball going to Jake Waters and his 225 passing yards and 51 rushing yards. Trotter also used the word 'grit' several times to describe K-State's huge win. As always, the money quote is from Bill Snyder: K-State is now the Big 12 team to beat, according to Chip Patterson of CBSSports. Some think the Wildcats have now made a case for the playoffs. But maybe this isn't a good thing? Jimmy Burch of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram certainly thinks that losses by Baylor and OU are bad news. This sentiment was echoed by others, including in this article by Greg Wallace, though I'm mostly just linking this for the "hilarious" error of confusing Kansas and Kansas State. Mostly though, the media narrative around the Big 12 has unraveled. Maybe next time they'll ask K-State first? Basically, the Big 12 will need to check with Bill Snyder. See what he wants to do.
The Tulsa World's Guerin Emig now has more faith in Snyder magic than Sooner magic. The Collegian's Austin Earl notes that K-State is flawed, but can still compete. Also, I would like to know what a "center back" is, and why a college-level sportswriter doesn't know the difference between "parody" and "parity." (I'm not trying to bag on this writer, but that is a bad mistake and one of my pet peeves. What the heck are his editors up to?) The Collegian also graded the team on its performance in Norman, giving the special teams a well-deserved A- for the day. The Collegian also features an excellent collection of photographs from the game. The Big 12 may be in a state of flux, but relative calm reigned over the rest of college football yesterday. Florida State managed to just survive a strong challenge from Notre Dame. Alabama sent Texas A&M a rude reminder that the Johnny Manziel era is over. Ohio State is still quietly winning, or rather, beating the crap out of their opponents. Minnesota is now in sole possession of the lead in the B1G West. Stanford is terrible, and Oregon is really good (as is Marcus Mariota). Unfortunately, the volleyball team could not match the football team this weekend. Playing at home, the Wildcats were swept by No. 2 Texas. The Longhorns hit 0.406 and outkilled Kansas State 50-30. The loss ended K-State's four-game winning streak. The cross-country team wrapped up regular season competition at the Pre-National Invitational. The women's team finished 26th out of a 42-team field and the men's team finished 24th out of 28 teams in the 8K white race. New coach Ryun Godfrey praised the effort but was underwhelmed by the result. Up next, the K-State team travels to Lawrence on November 1 for the Big 12 championships.[Playoff selection] is a hundred years from now, which is about my age.