Way Too Early to Tell: Oklahoma vs. Kansas State Wildcats

Picking up where we left off, the Oklahoma Sooners get the Kansas State Wildcats following the Red River Showdown in Dallas. The last time the Wildcats came to Norman, they stunned the Sooners in a late September Big 12 contest.

This one may be just as close. The Wildcats return Jake Waters, who is one of the best quarterbacks in the conference. They will rely heavily on him to be a playmaker replacing multiple starters on the offensive line, and some big question marks in the running game.

Kansas State could be a surprise team in the Big 12, especially with Bill Snyder back for another season as the head coach. This should be a more interesting home game for the Sooners.

Best Case Scenario: Fresh off a victory over Texas (hopefully), Oklahoma’s defensive backs show Jake Waters why they are “un-matched” and the Sooners earn a quality win over Kansas State. There is a lot of respect between both coaches, and Bob Stoops will need a good game plan to knock off the Wildcats. The Oklahoma defense cannot allow two fourth quarter touchdowns like they did in 2012. This year’s defense appears to be an exceptionally better unit than 2012 was, and they’ll need to get a good test with Waters in the backfield. Oklahoma most always wins following their game with Texas, and even if the Horns down the Sooners, Kansas State may get a very angry group of Sooners.

Worst Case Scenario: 2012 all over again. Either way, this one should be a close contest, and if Oklahoma has a lead heading in to the fourth quarter, hopefully the offense won’t go dry at the most inconvenient of times. But if they do, Kansas State surely will pounce. Snyder is a great coach, and his team is hoping to sneak in to the Big 12 Title race. Beating Oklahoma would be a good start to their tough four game stretch of OU, Texas, Oklahoma State, and Baylor. The Wildcats will be rested with a bye week before they travel to Norman, and with a bit of uncertainty with Oklahoma’s offense, it’s hard to tell how they’ll look following such a huge game like OU-Texas.

Prediction: Oklahoma 35, Kansas State 24. Something tells me the Sooners will be up four heading in to the fourth quarter, and they’ll need a long drive to milk enough clock and give themselves enough cushion to beat the Wildcats at home. This should be a fun game, and hopefully the crowd will be in to it.