Stillwater, Okla. ? Oklahoma State wide receiver Adarius Bowman, who caught 300 yards and four touchdowns last season in Lawrence, was a non-factor Saturday in a 43-28 Kansas victory against the Cowboys before he left the game with an injury in the second quarter.
Kansas cornerback Aqib Talib hit Bowman hard on one of his four receptions for 22 yards, and Bowman didn’t return to the game.
“We’ll find out (today) if he’s possibly out for the year,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said. “He hurt something that has to do with his knee or ankle. It’s his leg, and I don’t even know which leg it is. It was enough that when I turned around, he was in sweats, so I knew he wasn’t coming back tonight. Hopefully, we’ll get him back this week, but we just don’t know yet.”
Kansas linebacker Joe Mortensen said: “I hope Bowman’s OK and everything, but it was nice to not have him in the game.”
Gundy didn’t blame the loss on Bowman’s injury, instead sending credit Kansas’ way.
“They did tonight what we’ve done all year long: made no mistakes, had very few penalties and took care of the football,” Gundy said. “They did a nice job on offense of mixing the run and pass. It’s really simple: We had four turnovers. If you play a team that is as successful as they are and that plays as well as they do, if you give them four more chances to have the ball, it will be extremely difficult to win. That’s really what it comes down to. We gave the ball away too many times in order to overcome an offense that has had as much success as they’ve had.”
OSU senior linebacker Donovan Woods also pointed to the turnover disparity as the difference.
“Kansas did what they were supposed to do,” Woods said. “They moved the ball and did not commit any turnovers. If they continue to do what they are supposed to do, I think they will continue to win ballgames.”
Cowboys senior wide receiver Tommy Devereaux noticed a big improvement in the Jayhawks.
“They have pretty much the same players they had last season, but they play at a whole different level,” Devereaux said. “We turned the ball over, and those mistakes hurt us.”
