Cowboys top Wildcats 26-13; Hubbard and defense shines

In their Big 12 home-opener, Oklahoma State dominated the Kansas State Wildcats from start to finish in a 26-13 win

STILLWATER -- The Oklahoma State defense played just about as good of a game as anyone could've asked for as they helped lead the Pokes to a 26-13 win over No. 24 Kansas State. The Cowboys move to 4-1 on the season.

"We made some mistakes we need to clean up," said head coach Mike Gundy in his opening statement. "Spencer [Sanders] needs to do a little bit better job of when he's scrambling, to just take off and run rather than throwing across his body. He's making adjustments. Overall, very good win for us against a very physical team. Enjoy this one tonight and back to work tomorrow."

It ended up being a much longer first half than anyone could've predicted as a small storm cell rolled through Stillwater with just under nine minutes left in the second quarter resulting in a near hour and a half weather delay. But that certainly didn't stop the roll that the Oklahoma State defense was on.

In the first half, before and after the delay, the Cowboys held Kansas State to just 81 yards of total offense, 63 of which was through the air, and one first down. They also forced the Wildcats to go 0-6 on 3rd down attempts and just 24 plays.

The second half wasn't much better for K-State as Oklahoma State held them to 244 total yards on the night and just eight first downs. To put that into perspective, Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard finished the night with 296 yards.

"I'll be honest with you, I was a little surprised we could be that strong versus the run against them. After I watched them play Mississippi State I was a little concerned. Mississippi State has got some big, strong guys and Kansas State handled them on both sides of the ball. Our guys played really well. We had a good scheme and our guys played low. They played under the pads. We tackled pretty well. I don't know that we missed maybe one or two tackles. We tackled really well and played disciplined football."

On the offensive side of the ball, it was Chuba Hubbard who led the way. The most electric play of the night was on the Pokes' second half opening drive when Hubbard scampered 84-yards for the touchdowns.

Hubbard finished the night with 296 yards and one touchdown. The performance marks his third game of hitting the 200 yard mark and the sixth-best rushing performance in OSU history. What's more impressive is that he did all that being an offensive line that was playing different positions.

The Pokes were without Teven Jenkins and Dylan Galloway, so Bryce Bray and Hunter Anthony took over; Johnny Wilson moved over to guard while Ry Schneider got the start at center. The start marked the first for redshirt freshman Hunter Anthony.

It took quarterback Spencer Sanders a few drives to get things going, but the Pokes finished the first half strong. They combined for 285 yards of total offense, 145 yards through the air and 140 on the ground with 13 first downs on 42 total plays.

On the game, Sanders finished the night going 16 of 25 for 153 yards, one touchdown with two interceptions.

The Cowboys will be back in action this coming Saturday as they face Texas Tech on the road in Lubbock for an 11 a.m. kick.