Oklahoma State Can't Hang With Kansas in Hard-Fought Outing
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Oklahoma State saw some more encouraging signs, but it didn’t translate to the scoreboard.
OSU lost 38-21 to Kansas on Saturday afternoon at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence. After some encouraging play in the first quarter and change, the Pokes simply couldn’t keep up with Kansas throughout.
After a first half that featured OSU in the lead for a sizeable chunk of time, the Jayhawks received the second-half kickoff and looked to build on their three-point lead. While OSU fought strongly throughout the first 30 minutes, Kansas clearly was ready to attack in the second half.
Kansas marched down the field on its first possession of the third, eventually ending with Jalon Daniels finding Boden Groen for a short touchdown. Daniels would finish off another Kansas drive later in the quarter with a throw to Bryson Canty to make it 24-7.
Like OSU had done all day, it wasn’t done fighting yet. While Kansas looked ready to run away with the matchup, OSU still looked to respond. After the Jayhawks expanded their lead to 17, Zane Flores found Sam Jackson V for a 26-yard gain to get into the red zone before hitting Gavin Freeman, who worked his way into the end zone a couple of plays later.
Despite the Cowboys’ fight, Kansas simply ended up being too much for the Pokes. Over the next few possessions, the Jayhawks would steadily build their lead back up, and a couple of rushing touchdowns helped Kansas increase its lead to 24 in the final frame to put the game away.
The Cowboys had arguably their best half of the season in the first 30 minutes against Kansas. In the first quarter, OSU struck first. With a nice dose of Rodney Fields Jr. and Flores on the first drive, the OSU quarterback finally threw his first collegiate touchdown, a 12-yard connection with Shamar Rigby. Flores’ day was one of his best of the season, throwing for 235 yards and two touchdowns while completing 22 of his 28 throws.
Toward the end of the half, Daniel Hishaw Jr. helped Kansas take the lead for the first time with a 3-yard touchdown run. Still, OSU had a chance to respond and got all the way down to the Kansas 2-yard line but was forced to try a field goal on fourth-and-goal. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, Logan Ward continued to be an unreliable option for the Pokes in the kicking game, missing the 19-yard attempt to pair with his miss from 44 yards out earlier in the second quarter.
Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.