Game Primer: OU vs. Kansas State

¹⁹ Oklahoma

Kansas State

October 15 / 11 a.m. CT / Memorial Stadium / Norman

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Game Notes

OPENING KICK

• No. 19/20 Oklahoma (3-2, 2-0) goes for its ninth straight league win when it hosts Kansas State (3-2, 2-1) on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in its Big 12 home opener. The game, OU's first at home in nearly a month, will be televised by ESPN with Mark Jones, Rod Gilmore and Quint Kessenich announcing.

• OU (nine) and K-State (two) have combined for 11 Big 12 championships in the league's first 20 years (they shared the 2012 crown).

OU (nine) and K-State (two) have combined for 11 Big 12 championships in the league's first 20 years (they shared the 2012 crown).

• Oklahoma's 73 all-time wins against Kansas State are tied for its second most among all opponents (85 vs. Oklahoma State; also 73 vs. Iowa State and Kansas). OU has won seven of the last nine matchups vs. K-State and 10 of the last 13.

• Saturday's game will mark just the third this season for OU against an unranked opponent. Under Bob Stoops, the Sooners are 126-18 (.875) against unranked teams (75-14 [.843] in Big 12 play vs. unranked competition).

• Oklahoma is 15-2 (.882) under Stoops in Big 12 home openers.

• The Sooners are coming off a 45-40 win over Texas in Dallas last Saturday, a game that saw them pile up a season-high 672 yards (fifth most ever surrendered by the Longhorns). It marked just the fifth time in FBS history that a team produced a 300-yard passer (Baker Mayfield; 390), a 200-yard rusher (Samaje Perine; 214) and a 200-yard receiver (Dede Westbrook; school-record 232). OU outgained UT 7.8 yards per play to 5.2.

• Even though it was outgained by 257 yards (592-335), Kansas State posted a 44-38 home win over Texas Tech last weekend. The Wildcats rushed for 231 yards (5.9 per carry) and were aided on defense by a D.J. Reed interception return for a touchdown. K-State's two losses have come at Stanford (26-13) and at West Virginia (17-16).

• Under Stoops, the Sooners are 16-1 in the game after they play Texas (only loss was two years ago to Kansas State in Norman).

FOR THE FANS

• Two hours before each home game, head coach Bob Stoops and the Sooners will disembark from the team buses at the intersection of Lindsey St. and Jenkins Ave for the "Walk of Champions." A pep rally, conducted by OU Spirit, will be held 15 minutes prior to the team's arrival. This week's pep rally will be at 8:45 a.m. with the team arriving at 9 a.m. Fans are encouraged to cheer on the team upon arrival and watch as Coach Stoops and the squad walk the final yards to their temporary locker room facilities. Fans may begin lining up on Jenkins Ave. starting at 8:30 a.m.

• Sooner Fan Fest will be held in the Rhyne Hall parking lot directly east of McCasland Field House. It opens at 8 a.m. off Jenkins Ave. and concludes at 10:30 a.m. Fans will have the opportunity to meet Boomer and Sooner and have their photos taken with the Sooner Schooner, the mascots and members of the OU spirit squads at the OU Marketing trailer. Activities include a live band, a jumbotron showing games from around the country and interactive booths. Burgers, brats and hot dogs from Homeland and Red River Ranch will be available for purchase. And the Sooner Radio Network (flagship 107.7 The Franchise) will be broadcasting live from Fan Fest with Toby Rowland, Merv Johnson, Chris Plank, Ted Lehman and Rufus Alexander.

FIVE TOP STORYLINES

• The road team has won each of the last five meetings in the Oklahoma-Kansas State series. OU won in Manhattan in 2011 (58-17), 2013 (41-31) and 2015 (55-0). K-State won in Norman in 2012 (24-19) and 2014 (31-30).

• OU owns a 73-19-4 (.781) all-time record and a 10-5 (.667) Big 12-era mark against Kansas State, the highest winning percentages by a Wildcats' opponent among current Big 12 programs. In fact, no other current Big 12 program has a winning record against K-State since the league began in 1996. Under Bob Stoops, OU is 10-3 against the Wildcats.

• An assistant coach on Bill Snyder's first seven K-State teams (1989-1995), Stoops served as the defensive backs coach his first two years in Manhattan before serving the final five as co-defensive coordinator. The Wildcats failed to go to a bowl game the first four years of the Snyder/Stoops pairing (18-26 record), but did each of the last three years (28-6 record). Stoops played at Iowa from 1979-82 under head coach Hayden Fry, and that staff featured Snyder as offensive coordinator each of those seasons. Stoops left K-State following the 1995 season to become assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Florida.

• Snyder and Stoops rank first and second among active FBS coaches in career wins at their current school. Snyder, in his 25th year, has 196 wins at K-State, while Stoops, in his 18th season, has 182 victories at OU.

• Oklahoma has registered more than 500 yards of total offense in 10 of its last 12 regular season games (averaging 566.0 yards in those 12 contests). It has won all 10 of those games that it reached 500 yards (averaged 52.0 points in the 10 victories).

SCOUTING KANSAS STATE

• Kansas State comes to Norman with a 3-2 record and is 1-1 in league play. Last week, head coach Bill Snyder led the Wildcats to a 44-38 home win over Texas Tech. The game was Snyder's 300th at Kansas State, making him one of just seven head coaches to log at least than many games at one school.

Kansas State senior DE Jordan Willis ranks fourth in the country in sacks (6.0) and also has 20 total tackles, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

• Snyder is in his 25th season at the Kansas State helm and ranks first among active FBS coaches in wins at his current school with 196 (OU's Bob Stoops ranks second with 182).

• Always a hallmark of Snyder's teams, the Wildcats have been staunch defensively again in 2016. KSU ranks first in the Big 12 in both total defense and scoring defense, allowing opponents just 310.2 yards per contest (14th nationally) and 17.3 points per game (tied for 15th nationally). K-State held Texas Tech, which entered the game leading the nation in points per game, total offense and passing offense, to just 33 points (26.5 points below its season average of 59.5 ppg). KSU also ranks eighth nationally in turnover margin at +6 on the year, having made 10 takeaways.

• Senior DE Jordan Willis is among the best pass rushers in the nation. He ranks fourth in the country in sacks with 6.0 on the year to go with 20 total tackles, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Junior LB Elijah Lee leads the team with 41 tackles and has added 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack and one interception.

• Kansas State ranks 112th nationally by averaging 344.2 offensive yards per game, but has found ways to get on the scoreboard, ranking 44th nationally with its 34.2 points per contest. The Wildcats have been much stronger on the ground than through the air. They are averaging 188.8 rushing yards per contest (51st) but average just 155.4 passing yards per game (116th).

• Junior QB Jesse Ertz is completing 48.6 percent of his passes and has thrown for 688 yards and five touchdowns to go with a pair of interceptions. Senior RB Charles Jones leads the team in rushing with 287 yards on 56 carries (5.1 ypc). Senior QB Joe Hubener is a factor in short-yardage and red zone situations. Hubener has rushed just nine times but six of those attempts have resulted in touchdowns. He is also 8 for 12 passing for 78 yards with one interception.

LAST YEAR VS. THE WILDCATS

• No. 19/19 Oklahoma outgained Kansas State 568 yards to 110 and racked up 30 first downs to the Wildcats' seven in a 55-0 road win on Oct. 17 last year. It was OU's first Big 12 shutout since 2010 and the first time K-State was blanked at home since 1991. It also marked the first shutout of 55-0 or better on the road within Big 12 play since Texas beat Baylor 62-0 on Nov. 5, 2005.

• Quarterback Baker Mayfield, who did not play in the fourth quarter, completed 20 of his 27 pass attempts for 282 yards and a career-high five touchdowns (no interceptions). He threw all five of his TDs in the first two quarters, tying an OU record (Jason White vs. Texas A&M in 2003) for TD passes in a half. He also ran for 33 yards.

• Dede Westbrook (five catches) and Sterling Shepard (four) paced OU with 85 and 83 receiving yards, respectively. Westbrook scored one TD while Shepard scored two.

• Joe Mixon led an OU rushing attack that outgained K-State 232 yards to 65. Mixon totaled 73 yards on the ground (one TD) and caught three passes for 29 yards (one TD). Samaje Perine added 56 yards on 11 carries and 20 yards on two catches.

• The 110 yards surrendered by OU were its fewest on the road since Oct. 15, 2005, when it gave up 97 yards at Kansas. Kansas State averaged only 2.1 yards per play and completed just 22.7 percent of its pass attempts (5 for 22).

• OU tied a season high with three interceptions and set a season high with 11 tackles for loss. Its six sacks were one shy of its season high.

• Cornerback Zack Sanchez picked off two passes, returning the second one 38 yards for a TD on K-State's opening possession of the second half. Sanchez was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for the second time of the season. Fellow cornerback Jordan Thomas had OU's other interception.

CALL HIM "TD" WESTBROOK

• Senior wide receiver Dede Westbrook is on a two-game tear, amassing 17 catches for 390 yards with five touchdowns against TCU and Texas the last two weeks. The 390 yards are the most ever by a Sooner in back-to-back games and the five TDs are the second most in school history over a two-game stretch.

• Westbrook's five TDs the last two games are one more than he had in the first 16 games of his career. His five scores (two against TCU; three vs. Texas) came (in order) from 67, 40, 71, 42 and 47 yards and occurred over a 75:42 stretch.

• In Big 12 play, Westbrook ranks first in the conference in receptions (8.5 per game), receiving yards (185.5 per game), all-purpose yards (197.0 per game) and points (15.0 per game).

• Westbrook's 232 receiving yards against Texas represent the school single-game record and are the fourth most by an FBS player this season.

MAYFIELD CONTINUES TO LIGHT IT UP

• Junior quarterback Baker Mayfield is picking up where he left off in 2015 when he finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting and was named national player of the year by Sporting News. Mayfield, who completed 68.1 percent of his passes for 3,700 yards and 36 touchdowns against only seven interceptions last year, is 100 for 146 (68.5 percent) this season with 12 TDs and four picks. He leads all Power 5 quarterbacks with his 9.98 yards per pass attempt.

Mayfield has accounted for 58 touchdowns as a Sooner, the most by a player in the first 18 games of an OU career.

• Mayfield is averaging 291.4 passing yards through five games (he did not play in the second half against ULM after directing the Sooners to six touchdown drives and a 42-0 halftime lead). In OU's two Big 12 games, he is averaging 332.0 passing yards while completing 73.8 percent of his throws. He boasts a Big 12-best 185.7 pass efficiency rating in league play.

• Mayfield has accounted for 58 touchdowns as a Sooner, the most by a player in the first 18 games of an OU career. He ranks second behind Sam Bradford with 48 touchdown passes through his first 18 games.

NOTING OU'S DEFENSE

• Oklahoma ranks 89th out of 128 teams in total defense at 428.4 yards per game, but it has faced four of the nation's top offenses in its five games. Ohio State ranks fifth in total offense at 537.6 yards per game, TCU ranks eighth at 530.7 yards, Houston 19th at 502.3 and Texas 20th at 498.8. The Sooners held Ohio State to 94 yards below the Buckeyes' current average, Houston to 92 yards below its current average, TCU to 16 yards below its current average and Texas to 73 yards below its current average. Three more opponents this season enter the week ranked in the top 30 in total offense (Texas Tech ranks No. 2, Baylor No. 4 and Oklahoma State No. 27).

• Due mainly to injuries, 18 different Sooners have started on defense through five games.

• OU, which ranks second in the Big 12 and 45th nationally in rushing defense (140.6 yards allowed per game), has held three of its five opponents to less than 90 yards on the ground (89 by Houston, 78 by ULM and 65 by TCU).

• Cornerback Jordan Thomas leads the Big 12 with his 1.6 pass breakups per game (had a career-high four against Texas), linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo ranks second in the league with his 1.0 sack per game, and inside linebacker Jordan Evans ranks third with his 8.8 tackles per contest.

EXTRA POINTS

• Oklahoma is 97-9 (.915) at home under Bob Stoops with all 106 of those games sellouts. It is the best home winning percentage among Power 5 schools during the time period (Ohio State is next at .879). OU has outscored its foes by an average of 42-16 in those games.

• The Sooners are 43-6 (.878) all-time against Kansas State when ranked, including 9-3 (.750) under Stoops.

Samaje Perine, who is coming off a 214-yard rushing game against Texas, ranks second in the Big 12 by averaging 92.2 yards per contest.

• OU has boasted some incredibly potent offenses in Bob Stoops' 18 years as head coach, but none of his first 17 squads averaged more yards per play for an entire season than this season's squad is averaging through five games (7.08).

• Samaje Perine, who is coming off a 214-yard rushing game against Texas, ranks second in the Big 12 by averaging 92.2 yards per contest. In conference play, he is averaging a league-high 156.0 yards per game.

• Joe Mixon leads the Big 12 and ranks fourth nationally with his 179.0 all-purpose yards per game this season. He is averaging 77.6 rushing yards per game (ranks eighth in Big 12), 34.8 receiving yards per contest (ranks third on team), 25.7 yards per kickoff return (ranks second in Big 12) and 6.2 yards per punt return.

• Of all active FBS players with at least 10 career TD receptions, Mark Andrews has the best TD-to-catch ratio at 35.5 percent. The next closest players are Toledo's Michael Roberts (12 TDs on 44 catches; 27.3%), Pitt's Scott Orndoff (10 on 37; 27.0%), North Carolina's Mack Hollins (20 on 80; 25.0%) and Clemson's Deon Cain (11 on 47; 23.4%).

• OU has three Kansans on its roster: freshman DE Amani Bledsoe (Lawrence; Lawrence HS), RS sophomore OL Quinn Mittermeier (Topeka; Washburn Rural HS and Butler CC) and sophomore OL Ben Powers (Wichita; Kapun Mt. Carmel HS and Butler CC).

OPENING KICK

FOR THE FANS

FIVE TOP STORYLINES

SCOUTING KANSAS STATE

LAST YEAR VS. THE WILDCATS

CALL HIM "TD" WESTBROOK

MAYFIELD CONTINUES TO LIGHT IT UP

NOTING OU'S DEFENSE

EXTRA POINTS

Players Mentioned

Mark Andrews

Amani Bledsoe

Jordan Evans

Baker Mayfield

Quinn Mittermeier

Joe Mixon

Ogbonnia Okoronkwo

Samaje Perine

Ben Powers

Zack Sanchez

Sterling Shepard

Jordan Thomas

Dede Westbrook

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