Why Kansas State has played its best football against Oklahoma under Chris Klieman
There was a moment during Kansas State’s 48-41 victory over Oklahoma two years ago when Landry Weber paused to take a mental picture of his surroundings.
The K-State receiver was supposed to be focused on the upcoming kickoff, but with the Wildcats surprisingly leading the No. 5 Sooners 41-23 early in the fourth quarter he decided to take a few seconds for himself. Something told him he was going to want to remember that moment for a long time.
“It was a beautiful day, a full crowd,” Weber said. “I just went out there on kickoff and stood in the middle of the field and took a look around at everybody, took that moment in. And then the crowd being on the field afterwards, it was definitely a time where you were soaking it in, because you just knew that was a special moment.”
Turns out, it wasn’t all that special.
K-State followed up its upset over the No. 3 Sooners in 2019 with a 38-35 road victory against Oklahoma in 2020. The Wildcats rallied from 21 points down to win that game, and then had a party for the ages in the visiting locker room.
“My favorite memory was celebrating in the locker room in such a compact space,” K-State defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah said. “The OU visiting locker room was not that big. I remember jumping. I got my foot stepped on. It was very crowded, but it was a fun experience.”
Few college football teams have positive game memories of Oklahoma, let alone two in a row. Before K-State, the Sooners hadn’t lost to the same Big 12 opponent in back-to-back years since Baylor knocked them off in 2013 and 2014. Before that, it was Texas in 2008 and 2009.
Oklahoma hasn’t lost to any team in three straight seasons since it fell to Texas from 1997-99.
In other words, beating the Big 12’s traditional football king isn’t easy. But the Wildcats seem to have cracked the code. K-State football coach Chris Klieman (2-0) has never lost to the Sooners. Senior quarterback Skylar Thompson has thrown for 547 yards and scored eight touchdowns against them as an upperclassman. K-State’s defense intercepted Spencer Rattlers three times last year and came up with two turnovers against Jalen Hurts.
Not bad for a pair of K-State teams that went 8-5 and 4-6.
There is something about this matchup that seems to bring out the best in the Wildcats.
“We prepare very hard every single week, but when you’re playing a team like Oklahoma, who every year has national recognition like they do, it just means a little bit more,” K-State defensive end Eli Huggins said. “You want to go out there and surprise people and just show that you can play with anybody. During a week like Oklahoma, everyone just prepares a little bit harder.”
That extra effort has helped K-State battle back from early deficits against Oklahoma. It trailed 35-14 late in the third quarter last year and then erupted to score the game’s final 24 points. It also fell behind behind early 10-0 before surging ahead 41-23 two years ago.
Other teams may have packed it in. Not the Wildcats.
Anudike-Uzomah wonders if that is because K-State is one of the few teams in the Big 12 that doesn’t treat the Sooners “like they’re superior or they’re the best in the nation.”
“We didn’t have any fear playing them,” he said. “We didn’t think about, ‘Oh, they’re OU so we are going to be scared because of what their numbers are.’ We just focused on what we have been taught in practice and what all of our technique and rules and principles were. Then we just attacked them and defeated them the past two years.”
Not even Oklahoma out-gaining Kansas State in both games (497-426 in 2019 and 517-400 in 2020) made a difference.
Thompson rushed for seven touchdowns, the defense came up with big plays at important times and K-State found a way to win both games.
Maybe Klieman just has a knack for motivating his team when it is the clear underdog. On top of his two wins over Oklahoma, he also guided North Dakota State to upsets over Iowa and Iowa State when he worked in Fargo.
Klieman downplayed that angle this week, saying it will be harder than usual to beat Oklahoma this season, given the recent history in this series.
The No. 6 Sooners are once again undefeated and ranked in the top 10. The Wildcats may need to bring their best effort yet to create another memorable moment against Oklahoma.
“We’ve got to worry about us, because we’re going to play a team that knows that we’ve beaten them the last two years,” Klieman said. “They’re going to be ready to play. They’re going to be prepared, and I think we’ll get Oklahoma’s best.”
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 12:29 PM with the headline "Why Kansas State has played its best football against Oklahoma under Chris Klieman."