Oklahoma State football: Cowboys special teams fall short vs. Kansas State

It's not like the 'Cats caught OSU by surprise. They've torched other teams. Now they've burned the Cowboys, too.

“We knew how good they were coming into the game,” Sharp said. “We knew that last year, too. With Lockett and Thompson back there, they're both very powerful and very explosive guys.

“You get guys like that in space, they're going to make some plays.”

On Lockett's touchdown return, Sharp found himself in that space, only to have Lockett race right past him. Later he forced Lockett out of bounds, earning a spot on the tackle chart, which is always a bad thing.

“Normally, I'll put my head in there and make a play,” Sharp said. “The last one, I did, even though Lockett was still on me, I tried to push him to the sideline as hard as I could.

“The other ones, they had three or four guys coming through the hole at the same time. There was nowhere I could go. I don't know if I could have even gotten there with the angle I had.”

The Cowboys left Manhattan with plenty of mistakes and regrets, losing five turnovers and claiming none.

But they like to count on special teams, and usually do.

Not Saturday night, not even with Desmond Roland's 80-yard kickoff return for a score.

“We challenged ourselves,” Sharp said. “I challenged the guys. We just didn't step up to the plate tonight.”