(8) Oklahoma 41, (2) Kansas State 31 -- Final

<b>Oklahoma (6-0) at Kansas St. (6-1)</b><br>MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) _ Football's a lot tougher when you pick on somebody your own size. Just ask Kansas State, now an embarrassing 1-18 in the Bill Snyder

Friday, October 13th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Oklahoma (6-0) at Kansas St. (6-1)
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) _ Football's a lot tougher when you pick on somebody your own size. Just ask Kansas State, now an embarrassing 1-18 in the Bill Snyder era against Top 10 teams.

No. 8 Oklahoma, with Josh Heupel hitting 29-of-37 for 374 yards and two touchdowns, bolted to a 17-point halftime lead Saturday and then held on for a 41-31 victory over the second-ranked Wildcats.

Kansas State (6-1, 2-1 Big 12), often criticized for a soft non-conference schedule, had flattened its first six opponents, which included Ball State, North Texas and Louisiana Tech, by a combined 308-61. The Wildcats hoped a victory over Oklahoma (6-0, 3-0) would solidify their ranking and set up a 1-2 showdown with Nebraska on Nov. 11.

Instead, it's Oklahoma which has vaulted into the national championship picture. The Sooners, who crushed No. 25 Texas 63-14 last week, are off next week before playing host to Nebraska on Oct. 28.

Coached by Bob Stoops and three other former Kansas State assistants, the Sooners beat Kansas State with one big play after another, shocking and silencing the KSU Stadium record crowd of 53,011.

The crowd came to life in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter when Jonathan Beasley's 69-yard touchdown pass to Quincy Morgan was followed less than two minutes later by Terence Newman's 16-yard touchdown return of a blocked punt, making it 38-31 with 10:31 to play.

But the Sooners drove down for Tim Duncan's 40-yard field goal with 3:27 to play.

J.T. Thatcher broke a 93-yard kickoff return to set up the go-ahead touchdown in the first quarter for Oklahoma, which had lost five in a row to Kansas State.

Then on third and 26 in the third, Heupel threw a short completion to Antwone Savage, who eluded five tacklers and sailed 74 yards as Oklahoma took a 38-14 lead over a Kansas State team that had won 35 of 36 regular-season games and 25 in a row at home.

Heupel, who owns 21 Oklahoma and Big 12 passing records, set up another TD with a 31-yard completion to Andre Woolfolk and still another with a 34-yard strike to Josh Norman.

Beasley hit 14-of-36 for 211 passes and one touchdown and rushed for two more TDs. But he was intercepted twice and clearly came out second-best in a battle between two of the nation's top quarterbacks.

Beasley's 15-yard touchdown run put Kansas State on top 7-3 in the first quarter but Thatcher's 93-yard return of the ensuing kickoff set up Seth Littrell's 2-yard touchdown run. A few minutes later, Curtis Fagan took a short pass from Heupel and turned it into a 15-yard touchdown play and a 17-7 Oklahoma lead.

Beasley's 2-yard TD run made it 17-14 with 9:31 left in the first half, then Heupel capped an 8-play, 79-yard drive with a 1-yard run on fourth down.

With about three minutes left in the half, Quentin Griffin, who scored a school-record six touchdowns against Texas, broke three tackles on a 17-yard run that put the Sooners on top 31-14.

Savage's 74-yard scoring play made it 38-14 and appeared to give the Sooners a comfortable lead. But Jamie Rheem's 38-yard field goal with about four minutes left in the third period was followed by the two quick Kansas State touchdowns that made it a 7-point game with 10:31 left.

Quarter	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
OU	17	14	7	3	41
Kansas St.	7	7	3	14	31
Final

Game Notes
-- OU's first touchdown followed a 94 yard kick return by J.T. Thatcher
-- Kansas State had previously only given up nine total first quarter points this season. Oklahoma has scored 17 first quarter points.

Team	Score Time	Summary	Running Score
Oklahoma	7:48 1st	Tim Duncan 39 yd FG	OU 3-0
Kansas State	4:15 1st	Johnathon Beasley 15 yd run(kick good)	KSU 7-3
Oklahoma	3:54 1st	Seth Littrell 1 yd run(kick good)	OU 10-7
Oklahoma	:56 1st	Curtis Fagan 15 yd rec from Josh Heupel(kick good)	OU 17-7
Kansas St.	9:32 2nd	Beasley 4 yd run(kick good)	OU 17-14
Oklahoma	5:24 2nd	Heupel 1 yd run(kick good)	OU 24-14
Oklahoma	3:18 2ndQ	Quentin Griffin 17 yd run(kick good)	OU 31-14
Oklahoma	9:30 3rdQ	Antwone Savage 74 yd rec from Heupel(kick good)	OU 38-14
Kansas St.	4:57 3rdQ	Jaime Rheem 38 yd FG	OU 38-17
Kansas St.	12:39 4thQ	Quincy Morgan 69 yd rec from Beasley(kick good)	OU 38-24
Kansas St.	10:06 4thQ	Terrence Newman 17 yd block punt ret(kick good)	OU 38-31
Oklahoma	3:27 4thQ	Duncan 24 yd FG	OU 41-31

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING_Oklahoma, Griffin 19-23, Savage 1-13, Norman 1-11, Littrell 4-6, Fletcher 1-(minus 5), Heupel 9-(minus 35), team 1-(minus 2). Kansas St., Allen 9-60, Beasley 15-39, Scobey 6-33, Morgan 2-9, Cartwright 1-3.

PASSING_Oklahoma, Heupel 29-37-0-374, Works 0-1-1-0. Kansas St., Beasley 14-36-2-211.

RECEIVING_Oklahoma Savage 7-116, Norman 6-93, Griffin 6-46, Fagan 4-53, Woolfolk 3-52, Smith 3-14. Kansas St., Morgan 5-123, Allen 3-25, Lockett 3-25, Lazetich 1-27, Wesley 1-22, Meier 1-(minus 11).