Oklahoma vs. Kansas State: Pay Attention to Scoring Early, Late

If you are looking for an early indicator of how the Oklahoma vs. Kansas State game will go on Saturday, pay attention to the first and the fourth quarters.

Oct 18, 2014; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Cody Thomas (14) runs with the ball during the first quarter against the Kansas State Wildcats at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /

Historical trends show that K-State does exceedingly well when the Wildcats draw first blood.

In 2016, the Wildcats have outscored opponents 56-17 in the opening quarter, and that advantage grows to 124-45 in the opening half.

Going back to 1990. Bill Snyder’s second season as head coach at Kansas State, the Cats are 157-30 when the score first.

This is a scary notion if you are a Sooner fan, because the Sooners have been a little slow getting out of the gate this season. Part of that is the result of the quality of competition the Sooners have gone up against in the first five games this season. In the first five games of the 2016 schedule, Oklahoma has played four three ranked teams at the time the game was played.

The Sooners have outscored their opponents in the opening quarter this season, but only by 11 points, 52-41. Oklahoma’s best quarter has been the second, when they have outscored their opponents 73-50.

The second half has not been as favorable to OU in the first five games, and it nearly cost the Sooners in narrow wins over TCU and Texas the past two weekends.

Oklahoma has been outscored 90-78 in the second half.

The fourth quarter has not been kind to either the Sooners or Wildcats, which should make the final 15 minutes in Saturday’s game very interesting if the score is close when the game enters the final quarter.

Oklahoma has been outscored 38-33 in the fourth quarter this season. Kansas State hasn’t been much better in the final stanza, being outscored 37-34.

If you’re looking for a deciding factor in the OU-K-State game on Saturday, it would pay to watch what happens in the first and fourth quarters. Given recent trends, the team that wins those two quarters has the odds in its favor to come out with the “W” in the 97th meeting between these two longtime conference foes.

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