No. 6 Oklahoma is on the road for the first time this season as Spencer Rattler and the Sooners travel to Manhattan, KS for a tough test against the K-State Wildcats on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
It's no big surprise that Oklahoma leads the all-time series, and it's not pretty. OU's record against K-State is 76-21-4, including a 37-9-3 mark playing in Manhattan. But hold your horses, folks; the Wildcats have won each of the last two meetings, their first time winning consecutive games in the series since a five-game streak from 1993 to 1995.
K-State used its largest comeback in school history in last year's affair as Oklahoma held a 35-14 advantage with two minutes left in the fourth quarter but scored the game's final 24 points en route to a 38-35 victory over the third-ranked Sooners.
A big question some fans have is whether Skyler Thompson will be able to suit up for the Wildcats or not. And right now, the outlook is not so good.
"It's going to be Will (Howard) and Jaren (Lewis)," said Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman on Tuesday. "Our hope all along was the open week getting him a chance to be back for Iowa State. That's kind of the timetable."
With just a couple days until kickoff, the over/under on Oklahoma at Kansas State is sitting at 52.5 and ESPN has OU as a -10.5 favorite.
Let's go ahead and take a look at the teams...
Scouting Sooners Football in Week 5
Oklahoma (4-0, 1-0) | Big 12 | Head Coach: Lincoln Riley 5th Season | Record: 49-8
Oklahoma heads into the contest with a 4-0 record on the season following wins over Tulane (AAC), Western Carolina (FCS), Nebraska (FCS Big Ten) and West Virginia (Big 12). Currently the highest ranked Big 12 team, OU is sixth in this week's Associated Press Top 25 and fourth in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches' Poll. The Sooners are 20th nationally in scoring offense, 21st nationally in scoring defense and is 11th nationally in rushing defense.
The Oklahoma offense is led by star quarterback Spencer Rattler. The sophomore has completed 100 of his 135 pass attempts on the year for 1,017 yards and eight touchdowns. Rattler has spread the ball out as three different receivers – Mike Woods, Jadon Haselwood and Mario Williams – each have 17 catches, while the latter two have a pair of touchdowns. On the ground, Kennedy Brooks and Eric Gray have combined for 450 yards on 84 carries (5.36 yds/rush) and three scores.
Saturday's game will feature an OU run defense that has held all four opponents this season to 100 or fewer ground yards (74.3 average). Meanwhile, Kansas State running back Deuce Vaughn is averaging 98.3 rushing yards per contest this year and is tied for second in the Big 12 with five rushing touchdowns. Going back to the 2019 campaign, only one running back has rushed for 100 yards in a game against the Sooners (Iowa State's Breece Hall had 139 yards in the third game of last season). OU ranked 19th nationally last year by allowing 3.5 yards per rush and this year is permitting just 2.4 per carry to rank 10th nationally. K-State ranks sixth in the country by allowing just 2.2 yards per rush this season.
The Sooners have committed only three turnovers through four games and rank 10th nationally with their +5 turnover margin on the season. The next best margin in the Big 12 is +2 by three teams (K-State ranks seventh in the conference with its -1 margin). Oklahoma has yet to fumble this season while its opponents have fumbled 12 times (lost five). OU has also registered three interceptions.
Oklahoma's defense has spent a lot of time in the opponent backfield this season. OU ranks 14th nationally with its 3.5 sacks per game and is 13th in the country with 8.0 tackles for loss per contest. Defensive lineman Perrion Winfrey is tied for second in the Big 12 with his 3.5 sacks (K-State's Felix Anudike-Uzomah has 4.0) while outside linebacker Nik Bonitto and defensive linemen Isaiah Thomas have 2.5 sacks each to rank seventh in the league. The Wildcats are permitting 2.0 sacks per outing.
Scouting Wildcats Football in Week 5
Kansas State (3-1, 0-1) | Big 12 | Head Coach: Chris Klieman 3rd season | Record: 15-12
The Wildcats have rushed for 739 yards through four games – led by Deuce Vaughn's 393 yards – while surrendering just 75.2 yards per game on the ground to rank 11th in the nation. Vaughn saw a five-game streak of 100-yard games come to an end last week, which were the most by a Wildcat since Darren Sproles had five in 2003.
Quarterback Skylar Thompson, who would be "super helpful if healthy," ranks in the top 10 in school history in 15 career categories, but he missed the last two games due to injury. In his absence, Will Howard (starter) and Jaren Lewis were efficient in the win against Nevada as they combined to go 9-for-13 for 129 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers, while Howard added 56 rushing yards with two scores. K-State quarterbacks have the luxury of playing behind an experienced offensive line that brought back 100% of its starts from a year ago in addition to playmakers at every skill position.
Vaughn headlines the skill group after he was named the True Freshman of the Year by 247Sports in 2020, as well as an All-American and Freshman All-American by multiple outlets. In Vaughn's 14 career games played he has at least 100 scrimmage yards nine times – including all four games this year – as he ranks second nationally among active players in career all-purpose yards per game (122.57).
Wide receivers Malik Knowles and Phillip Brooks, the latter a 2020 All-American as a punt returner, are back, while the Wildcats welcomed tight end transfer Daniel Imatorbhebhe, who has spent time at both USC and Illinois. The trio have combined for 23 catches for 427 yards, which includes a 68-yard catch-and-run touchdown by Imatorbhebhe against Nevada.
K-State has rotated nearly 10 players along the defensive front, while its linebacker corps are led by Cody Fletcher with 26 stops along with Daniel Green and his 25 tackles. The Wildcats have four interceptions on the year as safeties Russ Yeast and TJ Smith each recorded a pick against Stanford, defensive tackles Jaylen Pickle had one against Southern Illinois, and cornerback Tee Denson picked off Nevada. The Cats have 14 sacks this year to rank 14th nationally. New kicker Taiten Winkel has made 5-of-6 field goals and all 14 extra points..
How to Watch OU at K-State
Kickoff for this one is set for Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021 at 3:30 p.m. ET, 2:30 p.m. CT at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan. If you're unable to make it to the Little Apple, the game will be televised nationally on FOX.