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Friday, December 13, 2002
No. 1 Oklahoma 27, No. 7 Kansas State 24
Associated Press
BOX SCORE
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Oklahoma is more than OK -- the Sooners
are perfect and on their way to the Orange Bowl to play for the
national championship.
Josh Heupel threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score
as No. 1 Oklahoma completed a perfect regular season with a 27-24
victory over No. 7 Kansas State in the Big 12 title game on a
chilly Saturday night at Arrowhead Stadium.
|  | | Tim Duncan's career-long 46-yarder proved to be the winning margin. |
The Sooners (12-0), the nation's only major unbeaten team, will
get a chance for their first national title since 1985 when they
play in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3, most likely against defending
champion Florida State (11-1).
Oklahoma and Florida State were first and second in last week's
Bowl Championship Series standings and, based on computer
projections, seemed certain to remain that way Sunday when the
final rankings are released and the BCS officially announces its
bowl matchups.
"For us to talk about a national championship, we had to win
this game," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. "So this was more like
a regular-season game and that's the way we embraced it. I'm proud
of our guys. This win defines our season."
Heupel, in his final Heisman Trophy push, overcame a season-high
three interceptions, completing 24 of 44 passes for 220 yards. The
Sooners' defense held the Wildcats to just 239 yards -- 185 yards
below their average.
"I think our defense may have been the story of the game,"
Stoops said. "It was pretty special. You hold them to 239 yards
for the day? That's pretty strong."
Heupel threw a 1-yard TD pass to Trent Smith in the first half,
ran 7 yards for a score in the third quarter and hit Andre Woolfolk
with a 17-yard scoring pass 36 seconds into the final period to put
the Sooners ahead 24-17.
Tim Duncan kicked his second field goal of the game, a 46-yarder
with 1:25 left that proved to be the winning points.
K-State's Jonathan Beasley threw a 16-yard TD pass to Quincy
Morgan with six seconds left, but the Sooners recovered the onside
kick and ran out the clock as fans in the crowd of 79,655 tossed
oranges onto the field.
"We'll enjoy this one for a day or two," Heupel said. "It's
been a long season and a great ride so far. I think everyone will
get to enjoy this one and then we'll go get another one."
A Sooners-Seminoles Orange Bowl creates the possibility for
split national champions.
Florida State is ranked No. 3, behind No. 2 Miami (10-1), in
both the AP media poll and the coaches poll. It is conceivable that
if the Seminoles beat the Sooners and the Hurricanes win their
bowl, the AP media poll could vote Miami No. 1 while the USA
Today/ESPN coaches poll would be obligated to crown the Seminoles
champions. Miami beat Florida State 27-24 on Oct. 7.
Also, No. 4 Washington (10-1) could be considered if the
Huskies, who beat the Hurricanes 34-29 this season, beat Purdue in
the Rose Bowl.
The BCS standings use the two polls, eight computer rankings,
schedule strength and number of losses to determine the teams for
its title game.
With the Orange Bowl set, the three other BCS games were busy
finalizing their matchups. The Fiesta Bowl, which has the next two
selections after the Orange Bowl, was expected to go with No. 5
Oregon State (10-1) against either No. 11 Notre Dame (9-2) or
Miami.
The Sugar, with SEC champion Florida (10-2) as its host team,
would be left with either the Irish or the Hurricanes, or it could
go for No. 6 Virginia Tech (10-1). The Gators beat Auburn 28-6
Saturday in the SEC title game.
The Rose Bowl matches No. 4 Washington (10-1) against No. 14
Purdue (8-3).
Kansas State (10-3), which fell to 2-19 against Top 10 teams
under coach Bill Snyder, appear headed to either the Cotton or
Insight.com bowl.
"I hope Oklahoma wins the national championship for the Big
12," Snyder said. "We just weren't good enough to make a
difference in the game tonight."
With the score tied at 17, Heupel led the drive that saved the
Sooners' season. He hit Smith for 28 yards and, after a 12-yard
pass interference call against safety Jarrod Cooper, Quentin
Griffin took a pitch and ran 22 yards on fourth-and-1 to the
Wildcats' 17. On the next play, Heupel found Woolfolk open across
the middle and hit him in stride in the end zone.
"That was just some Oklahoma football of old," Stoops said of
Heupel's pitch to Griffin. "We haven't forgotten totally about the
option."
Before the Sooners start thinking about the Seminoles, they're
just happy to have made it through the Big 12 title game with their
second win this season over Kansas State.
Twice in the first four years of this game, the league's
national-title contending team lost and fell out of the
championship chase. Texas stunned Nebraska in 1996, and Texas A&M
beat Kansas State in double overtime in 1998.
Beasley finished 12-of-28 for 106 yards, while the Sooners held
K-State to 133 yards rushing.
With the stakes never higher for the Sooners, the top-ranked
team looked jittery in the first half but came away tied at 10.
Safety Roy Williams recovered a fumble by Beasley on the fourth
play of the game at the K-State 27, but Griffin was stopped for no
gain on fourth-and-goal from the 1.
Heupel threw interceptions on consecutive first-quarter
possessions, the second of which set up Beasley's 10-yard TD run
that put the Wildcats ahead 7-3 six seconds into the second
quarter.
K-State moved to a 10-3 lead on a 22-yard field goal by Jamie
Rheem with 7:58 left in the half before the Sooners cashed in on a
blocked punt.
OU's Josh Norman raced up the middle past long snapper Neil
Gosch and blocked Travis Brown's punt, giving Oklahoma the ball at
the K-State 17. Heupel then found the range, hitting Damian Mackey
for 7 yards, Griffin for 9 yards and finally Smith on a 1-yard
scoring pass with 2:56 left in the half.
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Josh Heupel does it on his own with this 7-yard touchdown run.
Josh Heupel talks with ABC Sports' Lynn Swann after the Sooners' championship victory.