STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Mike Gundy was just as baffled as everyone else watching Oklahoma State’s offensive struggles for much of the second half against Kansas State.

The Cowboys’ coach, however, wasn’t about to complain about the late burst that led to a 33-29 win over the Wildcats on Saturday.

Led by J.W. Walsh’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Moore with 4:13 remaining in the fourth quarter, No. 21 Oklahoma State (4-1, 1-1 Big 12 Conference) narrowly avoided its second straight loss and remained in the thick of the conference race.

The Cowboys fell behind 29-23 late in the fourth quarter. A six-play, 75-yard scoring drive – engineered by Walsh – came only after the Cowboys had fallen behind and watched as several scoring opportunities resulted in only field goals.

Afterward, Gundy had one wish looking back on the go-ahead drive.

”Whoever flipped the switch, I wish they’d flip it earlier,” Gundy said. ”I don’t know what to say. It was very well executed; guys made plays.”

While Oklahoma State breathed a sigh of relief, Kansas State was left to once again ponder what might have been – despite the emergence of Daniel Sams at quarterback.

Sams, who had attempted only four passes entering the game this season, accounted for 299 yards of total offense and three touchdowns for the Wildcats (2-3, 0-2). However, he also threw three interceptions – two of which came on Kansas State’s last two drives – and lost a fumble as the Wildcats lost their second straight game.

Sams entered the game having shared time with Jake Waters at quarterback this season. The sophomore played the majority of the game on Saturday, finishing 15-of-21 passing for 181 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and he had 118 yards rushing on 27 carries.

The effort was nearly enough to help the Wildcats overcome 12 penalties for 92 yards.

”We started him because we were trying to do some things that we knew he could do, and get him invested collectively in the ballgame,” Kansas State coach Billy Snyder said. ”As you can see, he came in and threw the ball just fine. I certainly don’t like the interceptions.”

Oklahoma State led 17-14 at halftime thanks to a 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter by Walsh, who bounced back from a two-interception performance last week in a loss to West Virginia.

The sophomore’s best moment came following Sams’ 3-yard touchdown that put Kansas State up 29-23 in the fourth quarter.

Following the score, Walsh opened the Cowboys’ drive with completions of 12 and 26 yards to Josh Stewart and Tracy Moore, respectively. After a 16-yard run by Jeremy Smith, Walsh added a 15-yard strike to Brandon Sheperd before capping the go-ahead drive with his touchdown pass to Charlie Moore.

”It was one of those situations where the guys on the field knew we had to go down and score, and if we didn’t, we may not win,” Walsh said. ”We knew we had to take care of the ball and go score.

”We just put the ball in our playmakers’ hands. When we do that, good things happen.”

Oklahoma State’s Shaun Lewis and Daytawion Lowe followed with interceptions to end the Wildcats’ final two drives and secure the win.

Sams put Kansas State up 7-0 in the first quarter with a 67-yard touchdown pass to Glenn Gronkowski, a play on which he faked the run before pulling up and slinging the ball over the middle to the streaking fullback.

The sophomore also found Torell Miller for a 17-yard touchdown pass to put the Wildcats up 21-17 to open the third quarter.

After falling behind, the Cowboys forced turnovers on each of Kansas State’s next three possessions. They were only able to come away with a pair of field goals by Ben Grogan, however.

The freshman kicker, who missed a pair of field goals in the loss to the Mountaineers, connected from 30, 34, 23 and 28 yards out on Saturday.

Despite the turnaround in the kicking game, Gundy had no answers for an Oklahoma State offense that had no first downs in the third quarter.

”I don’t have a clue,” Gundy said. ”I really wish I could give you an explanation so it sounds good on the news tonight.

”We need to become a better football team from the 7-yard line in. That’s a fact.”

Luckily for the Cowboys, Walsh had the answer when they needed it the most.

— Associated Press —

Kansas State wide receiver Tyler Lockett is one of six players nationally to be added to the 2013 Biletnikoff Award watch list, the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation announced today.

Lockett, who currently ranks fifth nationally in total receiving yards with 469, has had a tremendous start to the 2013 season. The junior is coming off a record performance when he set a new K-State single-game record for receiving yards with 237 at Texas. So far this season, Lockett has 29 catches for 469 yards and has averaged 117.2 yards per game.

The junior also ranks as the top all-purpose player in the Big 12 this week, averaging 157.2 yards a game.

Lockett becomes the first Wildcat since 2007 to be up for the award as Jordy Nelson was one of the three finalists for the award that season.

The Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the nation’s outstanding college football receiver (the award defines receiver as any player who catches a pass) by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQC). The TQC Foundation, Inc. is an independent, charitable organization that was founded in 1994.

— KSU Sports Information —

There’s life in Texas yet. And maybe the pressure will ease off of coach Mack Brown, even if just for a few hours or days.

Johnathan Gray rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns, David Ash threw a 63-yard touchdown pass and Texas beat Kansas State 31-21 Saturday night in the Big 12 opener for both teams.

Gray became Texas’ first 100-yard rusher on the season and Texas’ defense, pushed around in consecutive losses, put up a solid and energetic performance, forcing three critical second-half turnovers.

Brown has been under intense pressure after three sub-par seasons and a bad start this year. The victory allowed Texas (2-2, 1-0) to avoid its first 1-3 start since 1956 and snapped a five-game losing streak to the Wildcats.

”You always want to start the conference off right,” Gray said. ”We wanted to prove a point and hit them in the mouth.”

John Hubert scored two touchdowns and Tyler Lockett had 13 catches for 237 yards for Kansas State (2-2, 0-1).

Gray’s first touchdown in the second quarter came after he made two dazzling cuts on a 21-yard run. His second put Texas up 24-7 in the third. Malcolm Brown ran for Texas’ last touchdown after the Wildcats had pulled within 10 points early in the fourth quarter.

Ash, who missed the previous game with concussion-like symptoms, passed for 166 yards in the first half but missed the second with a new head injury. Senior Case McCoy took over, leading two touchdown drives.

Texas came in as a team desperate to turn around it season. After consecutive losses, Brown urged his team to focus on the Big 12 and trying to win the league crown. The Longhorns, most notably the defense, responded with their most complete game of the season against the defending Big 12 champs.

The defense, which played so poorly in the two losses, gave up a huge night receiving to Lockett, but forced the three turnovers that swung momentum early in the second half and preserved the win late.

”We came out fired up,” Texas defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat said. ”This was a team we hadn’t beaten in a while.”

Brown has been harshly criticized by Texas fans after the bad start to the season and his job future beyond this season rapidly escalated into a matter of open speculation.

On Thursday, a member of the Texas board of regents acknowledged that he and a former regent spoke in January with Alabama coach Nick Saban’s agent about Saban coaching the Longhorns if Brown retired. Two days later, Brown was asked if he would consider retiring, but the matter was dropped when Brown said he wanted to keep coaching.

Saban dismissed speculation he’d be interested in the Texas job, but that didn’t stop some Texas fans from printing burnt-orange ”Saban 2014” t-shirts and wearing them to the game Saturday night.

Brown did his best to push away the critics and the speculation about his job during the week.

”I said I’m going to be doing everything I can do to beat Kansas State. I haven’t heard one word of it,” Brown said. ”This can be a really good football team before we finish.”

Ash, who had been cleared to play Friday night, showed no effects of the previous head injury early in the game. But he took several big hits, both on runs and when standing in the pocket, before floating a perfectly-thrown pass to Kendall Sanders for Texas’ first touchdown.

Texas went up 17-0 on Gray’s first touchdown. Kansas State responded with its first drive across midfield and Hubert spun through two tacklers on a 15-yard touchdown run with 1 minute left in the half.

Ash was removed from the game at halftime to be evaluated for a head injury and didn’t return, putting the game and the job of managing the lead in McCoy’s hands. Kansas State fumbled on the first possession of the third quarter and McCoy handed the ball to Gray seven times in eight plays on a 56-yard drive to a touchdown and a 24-7 lead.

”It was major, quite obviously,” Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said of the turnover. ”It had a dramatic impact on the outcome of the ball game … We need some leadership to really step up.”

Hubert’s second touchdown pulled Kansas State within 24-14 early in the fourth. Kansas State had pulled within 10 and was driving for a touchdown when Waters, who ran for a touchdown and passed for 275 yards, fumbled on the Texas 6 with 2:03 left to play.

The Wildcats had one last chance when Tramaine Thompson returned a punt 40 yards inside the Texas 15, but Waters was sacked twice and fumbled with 17 seconds left.

”It came down to us as a team, fighting,” McCoy said.

— Associated Press —

Kansas State defensive back Kip Daily was honored for his two-interception performance against Massachusetts as the senior has been named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday. It was Daily’s first career honor, while it marked the Wildcats’ Big 12-leading 20th weekly conference accolade since 2011.

Daily picked off his first-career pass in the first quarter and returned it 38 yards to open the game’s scoring. He also came back with a pick in the third quarter when the Minutemen were attempting to convert on fourth down inside K-State territory.

A product of College Station, Texas, Daily registered K-State’s first multi-interception game since Allen Chapman had three picks against Oklahoma State last season. Daily, who also had three tackles against UMass, tied for sixth in school history in single-game interceptions.

Kansas State hits the road for the first time in 2013 and opens Big 12 play in a nationally-televised contest at Texas Saturday night. The game, which will kick off at 7 p.m., from Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, will be televised by ABC.

— KSU Sports Information —

Kansas State wide receiver/kick returner Tramaine Thompson was named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week following his performance in the Wildcats’ 48-27 victory over Louisiana, the conference office announced Monday.

Thompson, who totaled 234 all-purpose yards against the Ragin’ Cajuns, was also named to the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll after returning the second-half opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown before taking a punt 79 yards to the Louisiana three-yard line to set up another K-State score. Thompson, who was on the preseason watch list for the Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile player, also caught two passes for 46 yards.

With this kickoff-return touchdown, Thompson joined an exclusive club in K-State history as he became just the third player with touchdowns via a rush, reception, punt return and kickoff return (Mack Herron and Yamon Figurs).

The Big 12 honor was the first of Thompson’s career, while K-State has a conference-leading 19 Big 12 Players of the Week since the beginning of the 2011 season, including 10 on special teams.

Kansas State completes non-conference play against UMass on Saturday with a 6 p.m., kickoff at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

— KSU Sports Information —

Tramaine Thompson returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown, Ty Zimmerman brought back an interception 32 yards for another score and Kansas State bounced back from a season-opening loss to beat Louisiana-Lafayette 48-27 on Saturday night.

Thompson also returned a punt 61 yards to the Ragin’ Cajuns’ 1-yard line in the third quarter to set up a touchdown run by Jake Waters. Zimmerman’s interception return moments later gave Kansas State touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams in a span of minutes.

Waters threw for 278 yards while splitting time with backup Daniel Sams, who ran for 63 yards and a touchdown. Tyler Lockett had eight catches for 111 yards, and John Hubert ran for two touchdowns as the Wildcats avoided their first 0-2 start since 1989.

Terrance Broadway ran for a touchdown and threw for a touchdown for the Ragin’ Cajuns (0-2), and Darryl Surgent returned a kickoff a school-record 100 yards for another score.

Both teams began the season with lofty aspirations, and both trying to rebound from season-opening disappointments – the defending Big 12 champion Wildcats lost at home to North Dakota State last Friday night, and Louisiana-Lafayette fell 34-14 at Arkansas last Saturday.

Both got off to slow starts this week, too.

Kansas State finally got in gear after the teams traded field goals, and Hubert capped a 71-yard drive with a 7-yard scamper. The Ragin’ Cajuns failed to pull off a fake punt on their ensuing possession, and Sams finished another TD drive with a hip-swiveling 13-yard run to make it 17-3.

Jack Cantele’s second field goal of the half gave Kansas State a 20-3 lead at the break.

The real fireworks came early in the third quarter.

Thompson fielded the opening kickoff of the second half, made a couple of nimble moves up the Louisiana-Lafayette sideline and raced the rest of the way to the end zone. The return gave Kansas State at least one kickoff return touchdown in a nation-leading nine straight seasons.

Thompson’s big punt return and Waters’ TD plunge gave Kansas State a 34-3 lead.

The Ragin’ Cajuns answered with Surgent’s kickoff return and an interception by Dominick Jones later in the third quarter set up Broadway’s touchdown run and got them within 34-17.

Louisiana-Lafayette got the ball back quickly, but momentum swung back to Kansas State when Zimmerman caught a tipped pass over the middle and returned the pick for a touchdown. It was the senior’s 11th career interception, moving him into sixth place in the school record books.

Broadway tried to rally the Ragin’ Cajuns once more, hitting Robinson from 18 yards out for a touchdown late in the third quarter. After getting the ball back, their next drive stalled and they had to settle for Stephen Brauchle’s 26-yard field goal to get within 41-27 with 10:55 left.

Kansas State put the game away when Sams, taking over for Waters, hit tight end Zach Trujillo for a 27-yard gain. The speedy Sams then ripped off three long runs to set up Hubert, the 5-foot-7 wrecking ball, who powered into the end zone for his second touchdown.

— Associated Press —

The day began with a dedication ceremony for a massive renovation to Bill Snyder Family Stadium, and it ended with North Dakota State playing spoiler for Kansas State’s longtime head coach.

Led by a senior quarterback unflappable under pressure, and coached by someone who knows Snyder quite well, the plucky Bison rallied from a two-touchdown hole to beat the defending Big 12 champion Wildcats 24-21 on Friday night before the second-largest crowd in school history.

”It was just one of those moments where we had to gut it out,” said Brock Jensen, who backed into the end zone for the go-ahead score with 28 seconds left to cap an 18-play, 80-yard drive that ate up 8 1/2 minutes and left the Wildcats virtually no time to try for a tying field goal.

”That was the most gutty performance I’ve seen in my entire life in any level,” Jensen said.

Turns out that Snyder had a similar opinion of the Bison’s performance.

”They play very, very hard,” he said. ”They’re a tough football team. They played harder than we did, they were tougher than we were, they were better coached than we were.”

Much of the credit for that goes to Craig Bohl, the longtime assistant coach at Nebraska who has led the Bison to back-to-back FCS national champions. The defensive guru matched wits with Snyder on an annual basis during the early years of the Big 12, often coming out on top.

”Many teams have come in and Kansas State’s jumped up and had folded. Our guys did not do that,” Bohl said. ”For me personally, I have a great deal of respect for Kansas State and Coach Snyder from all those years in Nebraska. They are a tremendous program, so for us it’s a great win.”

Jensen threw for 165 yards and two touchdowns for the Bison, who have made a habit of knocking off bigger and more glamorous schools. Three years ago it was the Wildcats’ in-state rival Kansas, two years ago it was Minnesota from the Big Ten, and last year Colorado State was bitten.

”Obviously they’re a good team. They’re back-to-back national champions,” said Kansas State quarterback Jake Waters, who threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns.

Waters helped the Wildcats build a 21-7 lead by the third quarter before everything fell apart. He wound up throwing a pair of interceptions, including one on a desperation heave after the Bison had taken the lead to seal the biggest win in North Dakota State history.

When the final gun sounded, the Bison raced to midfield to celebrate, and then headed to the corner of the end zone that was painted yellow by their fans – a strong contingent in the crowd of 53,351, the second-largest ever to see a game at Kansas State.

”We’ve had a lot of these types of wins,” Bohl said, ”but never over a program like this.”

Sam Ojuri had 10 carries for 127 yards, and John Crockett also ran for 50 yards for the Bison. Ryan Smith caught eight passes for 72 yards and a touchdown.

It was a glum way for the Wildcats to wrap up a festive day on campus.

The school dedicated a $90 million renovation to the west side of its stadium in a ceremony attended by Gov. Sam Brownback and Sens. Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran. Along with a ribbon-cutting, the school also unveiled an 8-foot bronze statue of its beloved coach.

Snyder even made the rare decision to leave his team on game day for a few hours to attend the ceremony, but joked that if the Wildcats stumbled ”it’s all going to be on my shoulders.”

Then again, perhaps the 73-year-old Snyder wasn’t joking at all.

Kansas State struggled early on with Waters taking over for departed Heisman Trophy finalist Collin Klein under center. The Bison took advantage of the lull – and a 49-yard punt return by Christian Dudzik – to take a 7-0 lead on Jensen’s 5-yard pass to Smith late in the first quarter.

The Wildcats finally got on the board when Waters completed four straight passes, capped by a 45-yard touchdown toss to Thompson early in the second quarter. But both teams squandered chances to seize a halftime lead – Waters was picked off deep in his own territory, only for the Kevin Vaadeland to drop a TD catch and Adam Keller to clang a field-goal attempt off the left upright.

Kansas State threatened to break the game open in the third quarter.

Waters followed a couple short completions with a 56-yard touchdown pass to Lockett, who had run right past Williams to get open. On the ensuing series, backup QB Daniel Sams made his season debut on third-and-3 at the Bison 17 and ran almost untouched for a touchdown that made it 21-7.

North Dakota State was on the ropes when Jensen engineered a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that he capped with a 9-yard pass to Vaadeland. The Bison twice converted short third downs.

Keller atoned for his miss by hitting from 41 yards to make it 21-17 after three quarters.

The Wildcats were still clinging to that lead when North Dakota State got the ball back in the fourth quarter. Jensen methodically led the Bison downfield, picking up a first down at every key juncture, and then used his legs to carry them into the end zone for the go-ahead score.

”Any time you have the lead and you let it go to a good team, it’s upsetting,” Kansas State linebacker Tre Walker said. ”You have to give them credit. They played well. Even when they were down they kept playing, and tonight we came up short.”

— Associated Press —

Kansas State senior running back John Hubert is one of 35 players to be named a candidate for the inaugural Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award as announced Wednesday at the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce East Texas Kickoff Luncheon.

The award, named after the characteristics that define Earl Campbell – integrity, performance, teamwork, sportsmanship, drive, community and tenacity – is given to the top offensive player in Division I football who was born in Texas and/or graduated from a Texas High School, and/or plays at a Texas-based junior college or four year college.

A product of Waco, Texas, Hubert led the Wildcats in rushing during their 2012 Big 12 Championship run as he accumulated 947 yards and 15 touchdowns en route to All-Big 12 First Team honors. Hubert, who is 55 yards shy of becoming the school’s 11th 2,000-yard rusher, is also a preseason candidate for the Maxwell, Doak Walker and Walter Camp awards and was a Preseason All-Big 12 honoree.

Hubert and the Wildcats kick off the 2013 campaign and open the new West Stadium Center by taking on back-to-back FCS National Champion North Dakota State next Friday. The contest is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m., and will be televised by nationally by FOX Sports 1.

— KSU Sports Information —