Oklahoma football: Could Kansas State be Early Trap Game for Sooners?

For those teams in the Big 12, non-conference slate games have officially wrapped and this weekend we are heading into conference play. Oklahoma football had a strong showing in their non-conference games.

They took care of business to the tune of 45-13 at home against UTEP, stumbled coming out of the gate but had a strong dominant second half against Kent State, and rolled into Lincoln and gave their old rivals the Nebraska Cornhuskers an absolute Molly whopping in front of their fans.

Oklahoma is coming off a very strong win against an old rival, heading into conference play, which will begin this weekend, under the lights of Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium, against the Kansas State Wildcats.

The betting line already has Oklahoma football is favored by 12 points, but despite the fact that K-state lost to Tulane last week and are already being written off, I’m here to tell you that the Sooner fan base is entering into this game with no small amount of trepidation, and if they aren’t, they should be.

Assuming that OU will go out and roll K-state, like they did their three non-con opponents, would be a capital mistake.

The Sooners need to be on their guard and ready for any and all kinds of calamities to possibly take place, for K-state could very well be a trap game to open up conference play, and Oklahoma’s history (especially recent history with K-state) will serve to prove my point.

So, without further due, let’s go to the numbers and you will see what I mean.

For the last several years, OU has entered into every game with K-state as the high betting favorite, and the fact that OU would handily defeat the Wildcats was a forgone conclusion, and yet every game has been highly competitive, contested and OU has dropped games to K-state that everyone was certain they would win.

For some reason that is not known to me, K-state seems to have OU’s number, and has been a thorn in the Sooner’s side for the last several years.

During the 2019 season, #5 ranked Oklahoma traveled to Manhattan Kansas (with Alabama transfer and Heisman favorite Jaylen Hurts at QB) and were expecting an easy road win against a far inferior K-state team, but instead of an easy thumping of a lackluster conference opponent, the Sooners sustained what at the time seemed to be a critical loss in their hunt for a national title, not only that, but Oklahoma’s loss ended what was at the time the nations longest road winning streak.

The Sooners fought and clawed their way back into the game, scoring 41 points, but the game concluded after a successful onside kick by the Wildcats and a 48-41 victory for K-state over the No. 5-ranked team in the country.

You could call this game a fluke in the long history of these two teams, but it is not the first time a K-state team that had already been written off has given the Sooners fits.

As far as the all-time series itself is concerned, it seems rather lopsided in the favor of Oklahoma. The Sooners lead the series 77-21-4, but out of those 21 K-state victories, 11 of them have come in the last 30 years in a series that dates all the way back to 1908.

During the recent history of the series, 12 of the last 19 meetings have been decided by 10 points or less, proving that regardless of rankings, these are always hotly contested games.

K-State has won 2 of the last 3 games against Oklahoma (both under current K-state head coach Chris Klieman)

The last time K-state beat Oklahoma was in 2020. Prior to that game, K-state was coming off an absolutely dreadful loss to Arkansas State.

This is not unlike this season, sense last Saturday K-state went out and flopped to Tulane, who is almost certainly a superior team to Arkansas State was in 2020.

The Wildcats do not seem to be intimidated by playing in Norman in Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium, in front of the Sooner faithful, for they have won 3 of their last 5 games in Norman, dating back to 2012.

While K-state has yet to play any juggernauts this year, their numbers are still fairly impressive.

The K-state defense is ranked 20th in the nation in total yards per game, 12th in points allowed, 3rd in defensive pass efficiency, and 9th in turnover margin.

The Wildcats had six players on the preseason all big 12 team (which is more than any other school)

I have sung the praises of former Nebraska QB Adrian Martinez several times, and he is now taking the snaps for K-state. While at Nebraska, Martinez held the distinction of being Nebraska’s all-time leader in total offense, completions, and passing games for 250 yards or more, not to mention several other offensive records (including 7 games with 300 yards or more of offense in 2018)

Last but most certainly not least, K-state RB Deuce Vaughn is an absolute beast.

He is the returning rushing leader among all power-five players after racking up a massive 1,872 all-purpose yards in 2021.

I rest my case.

Now, do I think that OU will certainly lose to K-state on Saturday? Absolutely not, in fact, I have picked them in my college football pick-em challenge, but consider this piece as a cautionary tale to those of you who think an easy Oklahoma victory is a predetermined outcome.

Regardless of rankings, K-state always comes ready to play, and they will play OU hard and play them for 4 quarters, and if Oklahoma goes out, plays clean football, and takes care of business, I will be thrilled right down to the ground if they emerge victorious by any margin.

Boomer Sooner.