K-State Wildcats vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys: Prediction, kickoff time, line and TV

The No. 24 Kansas State Wildcats will play their first Big 12 Conference football game of the Chris Klieman era at 6 p.m. Saturday at Oklahoma State.

Here is everything you need to know to prepare for the fourth game of K-State’s football season:

The details

Kickoff: 6 p.m. Saturday

Where: Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, Oklahoma

Streaming: ESPN+

Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City, KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita

The line: Oklahoma State by 4

Prediction

A new challenge awaits K-State coach Klieman this weekend. The Wildcats are off to an impressive 3-0 start that includes a road win over Mississippi State, but that won’t mean anything when they take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday.

Mike Gundy’s team has a more powerful offense than anything K-State has faced this season. Spencer Sanders is a dangerous dual-threat quarterback, Chuba Hubbard is the nation’s leading rusher and Tylan Wallace might be the best receiver in the Big 12.

How will the Wildcats defend those playmakers? Good question. We don’t know yet, because this is the Big 12 opener for Klieman. But the answer will be telling, because most teams in the Big 12 use up-tempo spread offenses.

Limiting big plays will be more important than ever for the Wildcats. So will running the ball effectively and controlling the clock on offense.

A shootout favors the Cowboys. A defensive battle favors the Wildcats.

This game could go either way, even though Oklahoma State is a slim favorite at home.

Here’s guessing K-State pulls out a close one on the road. Skylar Thompson is 2-0 as a starter against Oklahoma State, and the best statistical game of his career came when he was a redshirt freshman in Stillwater. He could once again exploit this secondary. The Wildcats will enter this game with confidence and use that to their advantage.

K-State 35, Oklahoma State 33

This story was originally published September 28, 2019 at 5:00 AM.