Oklahoma vs. Kansas State: Five Biggest Games in Stoops-Snyder Era
By Chip Rouse
December 6, 2003 – Kansas State 35, Oklahoma 7
Oklahoma finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record and the No. 1 ranking in the country. Six times during the regular season the Sooners scored 50 or more points.
The Sooners were the Big 12 South Division champions that season. Kansas State was the champion of the North Division with a 6-2 conference record and a 10-3 overall mark.
Oklahoma was a heavy favorite coming into the game, even with K-State ranked 13th in the country. The Sooners did not play the Wildcats in the regular season, so there was not a head-to-head analytical comparison, but some experts were calling this Oklahoma team one of the best in the school’s storied history.
The Sooners wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. A 42-yard run by running back Kejuan Jones put Oklahoma up 7-0 less than three minutes into the game.
That would prove to be the only Oklahoma points in the game. Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Jason White couldn’t get the Sooner offense untracked after the quick beginning.
Behind the spectacular running of now NFL star Darren Sproles and the quarterbacking of Ell Roberson, K-State would score 35 unanswered points after the OU touchdown to open the game, 21 of those coming in the second quarter.
Sproles finished with 235 rushing yards, and K-State recorded 519 yards of total offense, as Bill Snyder’s Kansas State squad shocked the college football world with one of the season’s biggest upsets and a 35-7 victory for the Big 12 championship.
Amid an avalanche of controversy, Oklahoma dropped just one position – from No. 1 to No. 2 – in the final BCS (Bowl Championship Series) rankings. The Sooners played No. 1 LSU for the BCS Championship that season, the second time in three seasons that Bob Stoops had taken Oklahoma to the national championship game.
The Sooners lost to LSU, 21-14, in the Sugar Bowl.