Maybe the SEC is overrated, but Bob Stoops has other problems that might stand in his way of winning the Big 12 or making the College Football playoff. A 31-30 home loss to Kansas State can be blamed on a number of things, but it’ll come down to Michael Hunnicutt missing an easy field goal and having an extra point attempt blocked as the reason the Sooners lost for the second time this season.

It’s also the second straight win for Kansas State in Norman. Their defense made big stops, forced two turnovers off of the Sooners including another Trevor Knight interception and took control of the Big 12 as the only undefeated team in the conference, probably overcoming their biggest hurdle en route to winning the conference. Oklahoma are only 2-2 in the Big 12, which means they don’t just need to win out, they’ll need some outside assistance.

Hunnicutt entered the season as the best kicker in the Big 12. He is the school’s all-time leading scorer. And yet he missed two easy field goals and an extra point. No one tried blaming him at the end of the game, at least with an official response. Bill Snyder didn’t try to make too much of it as well. He simply said his team got lucky, because Hunnicutt won’t be missing a lot in the near future, in College or in the NFL.

The misses came late in the game. Oklahoma scored what should have been a game tying touchdown with 10:35 remaining in the game, but Hunnicutt was blocked on the extra point, leaving Kansas State with a one point lead. On the next drive, Kansas State did a terrible job of eating the clock and managed to gain just four yards before being forced to punt, leaving Oklahoma with 70 yards to work with and 9:32 on the clock.

The Sooners went to Samaje Perine who carried the ball eight times on that drive, while Trevor Knight mixed it up once in a while with a throw to Sterling Shepard, who finished the game with 15 receptions for 197 yards and a touchdown. Knight was accurate with 26-of-32 with three touchdowns as well. This loss wasn’t on him. He and Perine got Hunnicutt to the Kansas State goalline on that drive. Hunnicutt simply missed an easy 19-yarder.

Oklahoma were number 11 in the nation before that game, but will take a big tumble following their second loss of the season. Kansas State did well on their bye week to prepare for the Sooners’ offense, managing to slow it down at the right spots. There are still TCU, West Virginia and Baylor to worry about with road games, but after such a dominant performance in an extremely difficult stadium to play in, confidence should be quite high for the team that always seems to sneak up on everyone en route to success.

Image via Tulsa World