‘It’s definitely very possible’: K-State confident it can hang with favored Sooners
Wyatt Hubert got a lot of questions about the Oklahoma Sooners this week.
What’s the most impressive thing about their high-flying offense? How do you slow a quarterback/receiver tandem like Jalen Hurts and CeeDee Lamb? What do you remember from last year’s 55-14 loss at Oklahoma? And do you realize they are favored by 23 1/2 points this time around?
After all that someone then asked Hubert, a sophomore defensive end, what K-State hopes to accomplish against the Sooners this week?
“Getting a win,” Hubert said bluntly. “It’s definitely very possible. We just have to go out there and do our job and execute. For example, No. (13) Wisconsin got knocked off by Illinois. It can happen to anyone. It all comes down to who prepares best and who wants it more.”
Hubert has a point. The previously undefeated Badgers lost as 31-point favorites last week against Illinois. Crazier things have happened in college football.
On paper, K-State might not look like it has much of a shot against No. 5 Oklahoma at 11 a.m. Saturday in Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The Sooners embarrassed the Wildcats a year ago in Norman and haven’t lost in Manhattan since 1996. Lincoln Riley’s offense is averaging nearly 51 points while Chris Klieman’s attack hasn’t scored more than 24 points against a Big 12 opponent. Oklahoma is also much improved on defense.
But K-State players aren’t intimidated by this matchup. They are treating the Sooners like any other team and expect to win, even if the odds are against them.
“We can’t wait,” K-State running back James Gilbert said. “We don’t look at the opportunity like we have to play Oklahoma. We get to play Oklahoma. We get to showcase our talent and showcase what our team is all about. Everyone is looking forward to the opportunity.”
How can the Wildcats pull an upset that would “shock the world” this week? Perhaps that’s a better question to ask.
It won’t be easy, but there are some paths K-State could take that would allow it to compete with Oklahoma.
Let’s start on offense.
The Wildcats haven’t looked like much of a power-running team of late, but they did eclipse 300 rushing yards in their first two games and will try to move the ball on the ground against the Sooners. If they can take an early lead the way they did with an opportunistic touchdown pass to tight end Nick Lenners in the first quarter against TCU last week, perhaps they can play the game at their pace.
“Two things need to happen from our standpoint,” K-State offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham said. “We need to score points, because they’re going to figure out how to score some points, but we then need to keep the ball away from their offense. So, if that means getting some 12-play drives, that would be phenomenal, but then we need to finish those drives.”
On defense, the most important thing will be limiting Oklahoma’s explosive plays.
That will be a challenge. K-State boasts one of the nation’s best defenses on third down, but it tends to give up home-run plays on first and second down. The Wildcats can ill afford to let the Sooners score quickly. Hurts, one of the nation’s most efficient passers as well as a gifted runner, is always looking for big plays. Oklahoma has found the end zone with a 75-yard rushing play and a 74-yard passing play this season.
“I think it’s a scary deal,” K-State defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton said. “It’s a fun challenge. It will be fun to see. There’s been some times you play some offenses that are freaky good like that. Sometimes it goes your way and it’s a great deal. It gives you great confidence and it shocks the world, and sometimes it doesn’t and your like, ‘OK, let’s move on and get better at what we do and move on to the next week. Let’s see if we can continue to get on a roll after that.’”
Hubert is trying to take a simple approach.
A year ago, the Sooners ran the ball at will for 322 yards against the Wildcats, which allowed them to open up the offense and also throw for 380 yards. If K-State can stop Oklahoma on the ground in the rematch, he thinks his team will stand a much better chance of winning.
Just like any other week, that’s his only goal for this game.
This story was originally published October 24, 2019 at 4:57 PM.