Under Klieman, Kansas State has given Oklahoma more trouble than any other Big 12 team
The Big 12 doesn’t hand out trophies for regular-season wins against Oklahoma, but if it did Kansas State would have more of them than any team in the conference since Chris Klieman took over as coach.
Klieman has led the Wildcats to a pair of victories over the Sooners and owns a winning record against them at 2-1. Only three other Big 12 teams (Baylor, Iowa State and Oklahoma State) have beaten Oklahoma during the past three seasons, but they have each done so just once.
That gives K-State and Klieman bragging rights over the team they will play at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma.
But K-State’s recent track record of success might not mean all that much this time around. Lincoln Riley is now coaching at USC. Skylar Thompson is now on an NFL roster. Brent Venables is now in charge at Oklahoma. Adrian Martinez is now the quarterback at K-State.
In other words: much has changed. So when Klieman began studying the No. 6 Sooners earlier this week, he saw a brand new opponent.
“Quite a bit different,” Klieman said. “They have used a lot of different defenses in the three games that have played. I think part of that is Brent trying to find out what his identity is and what is his best personnel. It’s hard to do that in the spring ... Brent knows more defense than just about anyone in the country ... We’re not quite sure what we’re going to get.”
Klieman is also skeptical that winning at Oklahoma two years ago, during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, will truly prepare the Wildcats for the sellout crowd that will likely be on hand on Saturday.
“There aren’t enough guys from 2020,” Klieman said. “There are a handful, for sure, but there aren’t enough. That was such a strange year. There was nobody in the stands at all. For some of our guys, just being there will help, but it’s going to be a totally different crowd.”
That being said, there are a few things the Wildcats can try to duplicate from their recent victories over Oklahoma when they meet on Saturday.
For starters, Martinez can start taking chances down field. Thompson gave Oklahoma all kinds of trouble with his arm the past three seasons. He threw for 213 yards, on top of four rushing touchdowns, during a 48-41 victory in 2019. Then he torched the Sooners for 334 passing yards and four total touchdowns the following year as K-State win 38-35.
Even last season, when Oklahoma survived 37-31, Thompson gave the Wildcats a shot by throwing for 320 yards and two scores.
Martinez has thrown for a total of 301 yards and a touchdown in his first three games with the Wildcats. But he did throw for 289 yards and a touchdown against Oklahoma in a 23-16 loss last season while he was at Nebraska.
Re-creating that kind of production is his primary goal.
“Having an aggressive mindset is good and something that our offense and our team collectively has going into this week,” Martinez said. “All of our goals and aspirations are still ahead of us. This team is still really confident in what we can do.”
Secondly, K-State never blinked when it fell behind against Oklahoma in recent games.
The Sooners raced to a 10-0 lead in 2019 and the Wildcats responded with a 48-13 run. A year later, Oklahoma led 35-14 in the second half and K-State finished off the game with 24 straight points.
“I remember being down 21 without a whole bunch of time left,” K-State running back Deuce Vaughn said. “But there was always a feeling in that locker room and on that sideline that we were going to win that game.”
Forcing some turnovers on defense and making a few big plays on special teams would also help Saturday. The Wildcats always thrive on those, regardless of the opponent.
But nobody knows that better than Venables, who once played linebacker at K-State under Bill Snyder.
It’s a whole new matchup this season.
This story was originally published September 22, 2022 at 12:18 PM.