Connect with us

Football

Previewing: Kansas-Oklahoma State

Published

on

Oklahoma State enters Saturday’s contest against Kansas without a loss and barring a minor miracle that will stay the same after the game.

Led by first year head coach David Beaty, the Jayhawks have an 0-6 record. The closest game the Jayhawks have played was a 41-38 week one loss to South Dakota State, an FCS opponent.

Much to everyone’s surprise, Kansas made things interesting last weekend against Texas Tech. The Jayhawks played their closest game since week one, only losing 30-20.

Making only his second career start, freshman quarterback Ryan Willis continued to improve. Willis completed 35 of his 50 passes for 330 yards and 2 touchdowns. Kansas trailed 20-0 at halftime, but Willis found his groove in the second half, cutting the Red Raiders lead to only three points late in the fourth quarter.

To this point in the season this is the best effort the Jayhawks have put forth. I’m not sure if a 10-point loss to Texas Tech is something to hang your hat on, but it was progress for Beaty’s team. With speedy Montell Cozart no longer at quarterback, the Jayhawks have shifted their offense to throw the ball substantially more.

Willis has shown a lot of promise in the offense already, but his success will be limited against Big 12 defenses with the lack of talent surrounding him.

After hosting Baylor and Tech, Willis will have to make his first road start at Boone Pickens. Facing a Glenn Spencer defense is a challenge for any quarterback, let alone a freshman. The Jayhawks also have a running game that rivals the Cowboys in mediocrity. The Cowboys only average 137.5 rushing yards per game compared to 132.5 for the Jayhawks.

Ke’aun Kinner had 270 yards in the first two games of the season, but has only had 100 yards in the four games since. While De’Andre Mann put more than half of his 207 yards on the season last week against Tech (107).

The Jayhawks are averaging 19.1 points per game and even with their offense functioning at a high level they only managed 20 points against Tech.

The Cowboys are 12-0 in the last three years when holding opponents to 20 points or under. I expect the OSU defense will have no trouble holding Kansas under 20 points. Defensively the Jayhawks are allowing opponents to score 42.8 points per game. That right there should tell you why this team is 0-6.

OSU has accepted that it doesn’t have a running game, but Kansas is averaging 250+ allowed per game. If there is any game where Chris Carson channels his inner-Barry Sanders (ex. Desmond Roland vs. ISU in ’13) it will be this weekend.

I don’t expect Mike & Mike call for 30+ running plays, but the lanes should be there against the Jayhawks porous front seven.

The Kansas secondary has only forced five interceptions all season, which sets up Mason Rudolph perfectly to rebound from the three INT’s he had in Morgantown.

Depending on how long he stays in the game, 300 yards and a couple of touchdown tosses should be easy for Rudolph. QB1 has two 400-yard games this season and Saturday has a chance to be his fourth.

J.W. Walsh should see snaps in the second half and maybe even Taylor Cornelius will throw a touchdown pass in front of a half-empty student section.

Prediction: OSU 52, Kansas 13

Most Read

Copyright © 2011- 2023 White Maple Media