Hubbard gets 296 vs. KSU

Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard is chewing up defenses for the No. 21 Cowboys this fall.

Hubbard leads the nation with 938 yards on 128 attempts (7.3 yard average per carry.

J.K. Dobbins of Oregon State is No. 2 – with 654 yards – 288 yards fewer than Hubbard.

Hubbard and Xavier Jones of SMU are tied for the national lead with 10 rushing touchdowns each.

In Saturday’s 26-13 win over former-No. 24 Kansas State, Hubbard had 296 yards on the ground – the sixth-best single-game total in school history and most since David Thompson ran for 321 in 1996.

“He was tremendous,” said OSU offensive coordinator Sean Gleeson. “It was one of those deals where you really didn’t know how it was going to go because we had some guys up front who were out of place. Coach Dickey did a great job, it was a special week for him this week. Those guys performed great and Chuba is just a great player. We balanced out his carries a little bit and felt like he had a good workload.

“Spencer Sanders ran the ball a little bit too, so we’re happy. We got some things to clean up as always in these type of games, but we haven’t beaten these guys in a while. In the end, we played their brand of football to finish out the game so that made us feel good.”

Hubbard has rushed for at least 100 yards in seven of the last nine games.

“It’s a great feeling,” Hubbard said of the win. “I’m not too happy with the way that it wasn’t too clean. We got the job done in the end. We were running the ball tough and the offensive line was doing their job. We were a physical team and I was happy about that. It feels good to win, I won’t lie about that, but we need to fix our mistakes. We need to improve next week.”

For the second week in a row, OSU failed to capitalize on some opportunities to score touchdowns.

“We just need to be in the red zone and actually score,” Hubbard said. “The score should have been a lot different than what it was; that’s how I feel. Kansas State played great, they’re a tough team and a great opponent. I’m glad that we got to go against them and I wish them all the best, but we just need to finish drives. We were moving the ball a lot, but we just weren’t finishing. We need to work on that and then who knows what we can do.”

OSU wide receiver Tylan Wallace has 145 receiving yards at halftime against the Wildcats.

There was a lighting delay at the 8:31 mark of the second quarter that lasted an hour and 12 minutes. The teams cleared the field at 7:07 p.m. and play began again at 8:19 p.m.

The OSU defense did not allow a first down in the first quarter, stopping KSU on all four of their drives in three plays or less. KSU did not pick up a first down until there were fewer than 8 and a half minutes remaining in the second quarter, during its sixth possession of the game.

“They get a little better each week,” Gundy said of his defense. “I think everybody knows that in most cases you have to stop the run first. It’s not always easy, but you have to stop the run and rally to the pass. We’ve continued to improve each week and we’ve gotten a little bit better. Challenge next week will be a little bit different than it was this week. I like where we’re at. I like our coaching, our schemes and I like that our players feel what we’re trying to accomplish.

“I’ll be honest with you. I was a little surprised we could be that strong versus the run against them. After I watched them play Mississippi State I was a little concerned. Mississippi State has got some big, strong guys and Kansas State handled them on both sides of the ball. Our guys played really well. We had a good scheme and our guys played low. They played under the pads. We tackled pretty well. I don’t know that we missed maybe one or two tackles.”

OSU has forced at least one turnover in 40 of its past 45 games and in 49 of its past 55 games, dating to 2015.

Kansas State finished with eight first downs in the game and finished 1-for-13 on third down conversions.

“The players really bought into the plan,” said OSU defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. “The plan had to be a little different. I don’t think our guys had ever seen an I-formation before. The coaches did a great job and we were 100 percent bought in.

“We knew we had to be physically tough to stop the run. We knew what happened last year. We held them to three points in the first half and then they drove the ball in the second half and we couldn’t stop the run. It was a challenge to the players and they responded.”

OSU improved to 4-1, 1-1 in the Big 12. The Cowboys must travel to Lubbock to face Texas Tech (2-2, 0-1 in the Big 12). Tech got clobbered by Oklahoma in Norman 55-16 on Saturday. The kickoff Saturday  is at 11 a.m. on Fox Sports1.

Texas Tech ended a nine-game losing streak to Oklahoma State a year ago while improving to 22-21-3 all-time against the Cowboys.

The Cowboys are entering a tough stretch with road trips to Texas Tech and Iowa State and home battles with undefeated Baylor and TCU in the next four games.