No. 16 Oklahoma State holds off Kansas 27-20

As a group of Oklahoma State assistant coaches returned to the press box for the second half of Saturday’s game at Kansas, they already were looking ahead to next week.

“Who’s winning the TCU game?” one Cowboys assistant asked of next week’s opponent, which was playing Baylor in the Big 12’s marquee game of the day.

Maybe Oklahoma State should have kept their attention on the Jayhawks, who were playing their first home game under interim coach Clint Bowen.

Kansas, with redshirt junior quarterback Michael Cummings making his first start in two years, and a strong defensive effort led by linebacker Ben Heeney, threw a scare into the No. 16 Cowboys before falling 27-20 in front of an announced crowd of 31,985 at Memorial Stadium.

It took a 99-yard kickoff return by the Cowboys’ Tyreek Hill with 6:43 left in regulation to give Oklahoma State, 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big 12, the victory going into their showdown next week at TCU.

Kansas fell to 2-4 and 0-3 in its second game under Bowen, who replaced the fired Charlie Weis prior to last week’s loss at West Virginia.

Kansas had a final shot at sending the game into overtime when it took over at its 20 with 2:04 to play. Cummings completed passes of 11 yards to tight end Jimmay Mundine and 18 yards to wide receiver Nick Harwell. But the drive ended with an interception by Oklahoma State’s Josh Furman with 53 seconds to play.

Cummings led Kansas on two second-half scoring drives that brought the Jayhawks back from a 20-7 halftime deficit to within 20-17 on Corey Avery’s 23-yard run with 14:13 left in regulation.

Kansas had a chance to tie or take the lead when it took over at its 10 with 11:51 to play. Cummings, with passes to Jimmay Mundine, Nigel King, and Avery reached the Oklahoma State 27.

Bowen then had his first big decision to make as Kansas head coach after a Cummings scramble on third down to the 18 came within a half yard of the first down.

Bowen elected to send out kicker Matthew Wyman, who made a 35-yard field goal with 6:55, tying the score at 20.

The tie lasted 12 seconds.

Hill, who returned a kickoff 97 yards last week against Iowa State, returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards without wrinkling his jersey.

Kansas squandered two opportunities earlier in the second half. After Cassius Sendish intercepted a Daxx Garmin pass, Wyman missed a 42-yard field goal. And after Michael Reynolds sacked Garmin and forced a fumble at the OSU 15, the Jayhawks were unable to get the ball in the end zone and settled for a 21-yard field goal by Wyman that drew Kansas to within 20-10.

The Cowboys led 20-7 at halftime.

Cummings, who was starting in place of benched Montell Cozart, completed six of 10 passes for 98 yards in the first half and scored on a 1-yard run.

A shanked punt for 20 yards by Kansas’ Trevor Pardula proved to be a back breaker for Kansas, which gave a dogged effort against the three-touchdown favorite Cowboys.

Pardula’s punt gave Oklahoma State the ball at the Jayhawks 30 with 1:25 left in the first half, and Garmin’s 7-yard back-shoulder pass to Jhajuan Shields gave OSU a 20-7 lead 26 seconds before halftime.

The Jayhawks led briefly in the first quarter when a on a 1-yard run by Cummings with 5:10 left in the first quarter gave Kansas a 7-3 lead. Cummings set up the touchdown by connecting with a 51-yard bomb to Harwell to the Cowboys’ 2.

The Jayhawks, fearing Oklahoma State’s dangerous Hill, pooched the kickoff, allowing the Cowboys to begin their next possession at the Kansas 48. The field position was just too good to give, Oklahoma State, and the Cowboys regained the lead when Desmond Roland caught the Jayhawks in a blitz and bolted up the middle 33 yards for a touchdown.

OSU kicker Ben Grogan made it 13-7 with his second field goal of the game with 10:55 left in the first half.

Kansas freshman cornerback Matthew Boateng gave the small crowd something to cheer for early when he intercepted Garman near midfield on the third offensive play of the game.

But a lengthy replay review ruled the play an incompletion, and instead of Kansas having the ball at its 48, Oklahoma State punted the Jayhawks back to their 26.

Garman targeted Boateng on the Cowboys’ next possession, and the freshman was called for pass interference defending Hill at the goal line. That gave the Cowboys a first down at the KU 32, and OSU settled for a 43-yard field goal by Ben Grogan for a 3-0 lead.

This story was originally published October 11, 2014 at 6:59 PM with the headline "No. 16 Oklahoma State holds off Kansas 27-20."