K-State Wildcats vs Oklahoma Sooners: Five things to know about important Big 12 game
The Kansas State football team is coming off its first loss of the season, but the Wildcats don’t have time to dwell on their 31-20 defeat at Oklahoma State with perhaps the most anticipated home game of the year next up on the schedule.
K-State (3-1, 0-1 Big 12) will host No. 6 Oklahoma (4-0, 1-0) at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Many are looking forward to the game, because the Wildcats have upset the Sooners in each of the past two seasons. It is also Oklahoma’s first road game since the school announced plans to leave the Big 12 for the SEC. It will be interesting to see if Manhattan is louder than usual for the Sooners.
Here is everything you need to know to start preparing for Oklahoma at K-State.
The details
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan
TV: Fox
Radio: KCSP 610 AM in Kansas City; KKGQ 92.3 FM in Wichita
Line: Oklahoma by 11.
Five things to know
1. Oklahoma isn’t living up to preseason expectations, even though the Sooners are undefeated. Good luck finding an OU fan who feels confident about this team’s national championship hopes at the moment. The Sooners have fallen from No. 2 in the preseason polls to No. 6 despite starting 4-0. Why? None of their victories have been impressive, aside from an expected blowout win over Western Carolina. Oklahoma has defeated Tulane 40-35, Nebraska 23-16 and West Virginia 16-13. Lincoln Riley’s offense usually puts up much better numbers.
2. Chris Klieman has been good at getting K-State to respond after its first loss. The Wildcats started 3-0 in Klieman’s first year as coach and then lost at Oklahoma State. It was a disappointing defeat at the time, and K-State followed it with another loss to Baylor. But then the Wildcats bounced back to win their next three games. Last year, the Wildcats dropped their opener to Arkansas State and then responded with four straight victories. K-State beat Oklahoma during both winning streaks. Klieman will try to work his coaching magic once again in Year 3, as the Wildcats recently suffered their first loss of the season 31-20 at Oklahoma State.
3. Will Skylar Thompson play this week? That is the question K-State football fans might be asking all the way up until kickoff on Saturday. There is certainly a chance the senior quarterback will be ready to play against Oklahoma after injuring his right knee three weeks ago against Southern Illinois. He looked good throwing the ball in warmups at Oklahoma State and appeared close to a return. But he did not dress or play in that game. Klieman has not offered a firm timetable on Thompson’s return from injury. For now, his status remains up in the air.
4. K-State is looking to make it three in a row over Oklahoma. Klieman and Thompson sure know how to pull off upsets against the Sooners. The Wildcats beat Oklahoma 48-41 when it was undefeated and ranked fifth in 2019. They also beat Oklahoma 38-35 when it was ranked third on the road last season. Can the Wildcats extend the streak and make it three in a row?
5. These stats have defined Oklahoma’s sluggish start. OU quarterback Spencer Rattler has completed 74.1 percent of his passes for 1,017 yards this season, but he hasn’t looked to throw deep as much as did in previous seasons. He is only averaging 7.5 yards per attempt and 10.2 yards per completion. The latter number is down from 14.1 last year. That helps explain why the Sooners haven’t lived up to expectations on offense. But they haven’t needed to excel in that area, thanks to strong play on defense. Oklahoma is allowing 16 points and 296 yards per game. It is been particularly strong against the run, allowing 2.4 yards per rush.
This story was originally published September 27, 2021 at 10:58 AM with the headline "K-State Wildcats vs Oklahoma Sooners: Five things to know about important Big 12 game."