MANHATTAN — Following a hard-fought 24-17 win over TCU last week, K-State welcomes No. 5 Oklahoma to Manhattan for an 11 a.m., contest on Saturday inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
The game will air on ABC with Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Dan Orlovsky (analyst) and Allison Williams (sidelines) on the call. The game can also be heard on SiriusXM (S: 136, X: 200, Internet: 954) in addition to the TuneIn app.
A LOOK AT K-STATE
- K-State got back on the winning track last week with a 24-17 win over TCU to move to 4-2 on the season. The Cats have opened the Chris Klieman era with four impressive victories – highlighted by a 31-24 win at No. 23 Mississippi State and last week’s win.
- K-State has rushed for 1,183 yards (197.2 yds/gm) through its first six games, while it eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in the fifth game. It marked just the eighth time since 2000 – but just the second since 2013 – that the Wildcats hit the 1,000-yard rushing mark through the first five games of the season.
- The Wildcats also have 14 rushing touchdowns after tallying only 20 rushing scores a year ago. Of the 14 scores, 11 have come from running backs after the group accounted for only 13 last season.
- Quarterback Skylar Thompson – who now has four game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or later in his career – has thrown for 994 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception, while three receivers – Dalton Schoen, Phillip Brooks and Malik Knowles – each have at least 10 catches and 100 yards on the year.
- The K-State defense enters the week ranked highly in many statistical categories, including third down defense (2nd; 23.9%), passing yards allowed (5th; 152.5 yds/gm), first downs allowed (6th; 98), pass efficiency defense (10th; 105.88) and scoring defense (19th; 18.7).
- The Wildcats have surrendered only 2.7 third-down conversions this year to rank second in the nation behind Wisconsin (2.1).
- Freshman safety Wayne Jones (31 tackles) is one of six Wildcats with at least 20 stops on the season.
- Eighteen different Wildcats have at least a half tackle for loss for a team total of 30, led by Wyatt Hubert’s 5.0. The sophomore also leads the team with 3.0 sacks, just ahead of redshirt freshman linebacker Daniel Green (2.0).
- Cornerback AJ Parker has a team-high two interceptions.
- The Wildcats possess a great kicker/punter duo as Blake Lynch ranks 19th nationally in field goal percentage (87.5%) and fifth among active players for a career, while Devin Anctil ranks 13th in the nation with a 45.5-yard punting average.
A LOOK AT OKLAHOMA
- Oklahoma enters the game ranked fifth in the country and is led by Heisman Trophy candidate Jalen Hurts at quarterback.
- The Sooners defeated West Virginia, 52-14, last week to improve to 7-0, and they enter the game with the No. 1 offense in the nation in both yards and points.
- Hurts lead the team in rushing and passing and has combined for 30 touchdowns (20 passing and 10 rushing) through seven games.
- CeeDee Lamb is a Biletnikoff Award candidate and currently has 31 catches for 681 yards and 10 touchdowns.
- Defensively, Kenneth Murray leads the team with 51 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
- Oklahoma leads the all-time series, 76-19-4, including a 38-10-1 mark in Manhattan.
- Kansas State will be looking to snap a seven-game winning streak by the Sooners in Manhattan as the Wildcats’ last home win over OU was a 42-35 triumph in 1996.
- That streak was nearly snapped two years ago in a 42-35 contest in 2017. The Wildcats scored a game-tying touchdown with 2:25 left in the game, but Oklahoma went 76 yards in 11 plays and scored the game-winning touchdown with seven seconds remaining.
HOSTING TOP FIVES
- K-State will host an AP top-five team in Manhattan for the 27th time in school history and the eighth time since 2000 on Saturday.
- The Cats are 2-24 overall and 2-5 since 2000. The two victories were against No. 4 Nebraska, 29-28, in 2000 and No. 4 Texas, 45-42, in 2006.
TWO OF THE BIG 12’S BEST
- Saturday’s matchup between K-State and Oklahoma features two teams that rank in the top three in Big 12 wins since the league’s inception in 1996. The Sooners lead with 149 wins, while the Wildcats are third with 114 victories.
- The Wildcats also rank third in the conference in winning percentage since round-robin play began in 2011. They sit at .600 (45-30), trailing only Oklahoma (.829; 63-13) and Oklahoma State (.632; 48-28).
A NEW ERA
- The new era of K-State Football under Chris Klieman has opened with a 4-2 record through six games.
- Klieman, who was named the 35th head coach in school history on December 10, 2018, was just the fourth head coach in K-State history to start 3-0.
- He also became just the fourth head coach to begin a tenure with at least four wins in the first six games.