Ou No-Show Three In Row Loss To K-State For Third Straight Year Is Sooners’ Worst Defeat In 50 Years
Kansas State didn’t just beat Oklahoma for the third time in a row. The ninth-ranked Wildcats handed the Sooners their worst loss in half a century.
First-year Oklahoma coach Howard Schnellenberger called Saturday’s 49-10 defeat “one of the most embarrassing things I’ve ever been associated with. And I’m sure the entire football team feels the same way.”
It was the most one-sided loss for any Oklahoma team since 1945 when Oklahoma State won 47-0.
Kansas State (4-1 Big Eight, 8-1), which hadn’t beaten Oklahoma (2-3, 5-3-1) three straight times in nearly 70 years, set the tone by blocking Oklahoma’s first punt and running it in for a touchdown.
The Wildcats bettered by one the 38-point margin in their 59-21 victory of 1969 which had stood as K-State’s biggest win ever over Oklahoma.
“This is the first I ever heard of (the 1969 game),” said K-State’s Matt Miller, who ran for two touchdowns and passed for three while breaking the school record for touchdown passes.
“But to beat Oklahoma three straight years now shows a lot about where our program is.”
Schnellenberger, who talked about winning the national championship after he replaced Gary Gibbs this year, was far from happy with what the game showed him about his team.
“It’s obvious that this game today was a low point in our struggle to revive this program,” he said. “This was the worst physical beating any team I’ve ever been associated with has taken. And one of the worst, I expect, that Oklahoma has been involved with - I don’t know - ever.”
It could have been worse. A clipping penalty that did not affect the play nullified a Kansas State punt return that would have made it 56-10.
“We know the score could have been worse,” Schnellenberger said.
Miller, a senior who transferred from Texas A&M and will play only this one year, broke Chad May’s school record with his 19th scoring pass, a 16-yarder to tight end Brian Lojka. Miller hit 20 of 25 for 273 yards.