By John Shinn

Transcript Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An ugly win has never looked prettier than it did Saturday night for Oklahoma.

The Sooners picked up a late touchdown pass from Rhett Bomar to Malcolm Kelly to seal a 19-3 victory over Kansas at Arrowhead Stadium.

The two teams combined for 18 penalties and three missed field goals. There were a lot of flaws but none could be found in the Sooner defense.

It held Kansas to 97 total yards and six first downs. Only 11 of those yards came in the second half.

“It felt good to hang in there in a hard fought game, especially in the second half,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “I was pleased because we did what was necessary to put ourselves in a position to win.”

Bomar threw for 206 yards, completing 16-of-31 during another game in which Adrian Peterson was not a factor.

The sophomore running back carried the ball five times for minus-4 yards.

Instead, Donta Hickson and Kejuan Jones took care of the ground work. They combined for 110 yards with nearly all of it coming in the second half.

OU improved to 3-3 and 2-1 in the Big 12 Conference.

Another loss could have dealt a significant blow to OU’s hopes of a midseason turnaround, not to mention a bowl berth, after last week’s loss to No. 2 Texas.

“It was a must win,” Bomar said. “We can’t have any more losses on our schedule. We want to win out. This was a big game to kind of get our attitude back.

“It was a lot of fun in the locker room to get a win after last week. We just want to continue that.”

OU didn’t really need any need any points from its offense.

The Sooners’ other touchdown came against Kansas’ (3-3, 0-3) struggling offense. On the third play of the game, cornerback D.J. Wolfe intercepted Brian Luke’s pass and returned it 65 yards to the end zone.

It was the first of three Sooner interceptions and set the tone for the night. Whatever Kansas tried offensively ended in ruin.

“This is probably the most disappointing offensive performance I’ve been around in long time, in many ways,” Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. “The responsibility is mine. The blame is on my doorstep, and rightfully so.”

The Jayhawks have shuffled quarterbacks throughout the season, but they stayed with Luke even though it was like watching a train wreck.

He finished 11-for-30 for 86 yards. He was also sacked three times and hurried five more.

“We had a combination of blitzes to keep them on their toes,” OU defensive end C.J. Ah You said after registering a sack and five tackles. “We just came through.”

Kansas’ only points came on Scott Webb’s 32-yard field goal late in the first quarter. The Jayhawks’ only other scoring opportunity ended with a botched snap.

“We came together,” OU linebacker Rufus Alexander said. “We’ve been pretty solid all year on defense, but this was the first time we’ve really put a whole game together.”

The Sooners certainly didn’t look like an offensive juggernaut in the first half.

Garrett Hartley connected on a 40-yard kick with 9:58 left in the first quarter, but missed a 37-yard attempt on the final play of the first half.

At that time, OU led 10-3 but had only acquired 82 yards. The totals didn’t change much in the third quarter, but the light came on in the final period. Nearly 200 yards of OU’s total offense came in the last 15 minutes, starting with an 11-play, 92-yard drive that ended with Kelly’s 25-yard touchdown catch.

The Sooners converted three third downs and put the game out of reach.

“The defense was playing way too good for the offense not to be producing,” Kelly said. “We knew we had to hold up our end of the bargain. We did, because we had to.”

Hartley missed the PAT, but added a 40-yard field goal with 4 minutes left. After that, OU could finally relax and enjoy its first win away from home, as well as some offensive success for the first time since beating Kansas State on Oct. 1.

“We’ve had an offensive rhythm this year, but it hasn’t been consistent and we’ll grow,” Stoops said. “It says a lot to me that as poor as we played in the first half we were able to hang in there and play well in the second half away from home.”

The Sooners have a chance to turn it into two straight wins when Baylor comes to Owen Field at 6 p.m. next Saturday.

John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com