Oklahoma State University Athletics
Football Defeats Kansas in Season Opener
June 21, 1999 | Cowboy Football
Sept. 5, 1998
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - Troy West made two interceptions, running one back for a touchdown, and quarterback Tony Lindsay ran for two scores Saturday as Oklahoma State pulled away in the closing minutes to beat Kansas 38-28 in a Big 12 opener.
Tim Sydnes' 44-yard field goal with 2:01 left broke a 28-all tie. West intercepted Zac Wegner's pass on Kansas' ensuing play, setting up Lindsay's second touchdown on a 6-yard run.
It was the first meeting between the two former Big Eight schools since 1995, the season before the Big 12 Conference was formed.
The Cowboys went up 21-14 when Jamaal Fobbs scored on a 4-yard run on their first drive of the second half. Wegner's 35-yard touchdown pass to Byron Gasaway tied it at 28 with 9:22 left in the game.
Gasaway made the catch at the Oklahoma State 18, tightroped down the left sideline and dragged cornerback J.B. Flowers the last eight yards into the end zone.
Kansas missed its first chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter, when Mitch Bowles fumbled at the Oklahoma State 3 and Taber LeBlanc recovered for the Cowboys.
Oklahoma State led 14-13 after a wild first quarter in which each team quickly followed an offensive touchdown with a defensive score.
Kansas took a 13-0 lead on Wegner's 48-yard pass to Bowles, followed 30 seconds later by Jamie Harris' 23-yard fumble recovery on the first play of Oklahoma State's next possession. The Cowboys struck back on Lindsay's 51-yard touchdown scramble and West's 30-yard interception return.
West fumbled as he entered the end zone, and replays appeared to show him losing possession at about the Kansas 1. But officials ruled he still had possession when he crossed the goal line.
Another favorable ruling on a possible fumble helped Oklahoma State tie the game in the second quarter after Kansas had gone up 21-14 on David Winbush's 4-yard run.
Lindsay lost the ball while being tackled at the Jayhawks 12, and Kansas recovered. But the play went as an incomplete pass, officials ruling that Lindsay's arm was moving forward when he lost the ball, and three plays later fullback Jeremy Halferty scored on a 1-yard run.
