Kansas State vs. Oklahoma: Game Grades, Analysis for Wildcats and Sooners
Norman, Oklahoma, might as well be considered home for the Kansas State Wildcats.
For the second-straight year, the Wildcats stormed into the Oklahoma Sooners’ home turf and walked away with victory. This time around, Kansas State relied on the Sooners special teams’ miscues for a 31-30 victory.
Check out the final stats here, and take a look at first- and second-half game grades below.
| Pass Offense | B+ | A- |
| Rush Offense | B- | B+ |
| Pass Defense | C- | B |
| Rush Defense | A+ | C+ |
| Special Teams | C- | D |
| Coaching | D | D |
| Position Unit | First-Half Grades | Second-Half Grades |
| Pass Offense | A- | B |
| Rush Offense | F | B+ |
| Pass Defense | B | C- |
| Rush Defense | B- | C |
| Special Teams | A | A |
| Coaching | B+ | B+ |
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Passing Offense
Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight wishes he could have his first incompletion back. Instead, he saw a Kansas State defender take it back for a pick-six.
However, after that miscue, Knight responded by putting together a two-play touchdown drive backed by two great play-action passes. In total, Knight looked poised and dynamic in the pocket, throwing for 318 yards and three touchdowns on 26-of-32 passing. Hard to ask for more from a quarterback.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats got a lot from Jake Waters.
The senior made a lot of great plays both with his arm and his legs. He finished with 225 yards and two touchdowns on 15-of-23 passing while adding another 51 yards and a score on the ground.
Waters came to play.
Rushing Offense
Oklahoma got off to a slow start running the ball. In the first half, Samaje Perine only went for 19 yards on nine carries.
In the second half, Perine came alive, rushing for 70 of his 89 yards over the final two quarters on 15 carries. However, his performance will mostly be remembered for failing to be able to convert on three rushes from inside the 5-yard line late in the fourth quarter.
Alex Ross also contributed with 75 yards on eight carries.
On the other hand, Kansas State was absolutely shut down on the ground in the first half. Of 15 rushes, the Wildcats only went for 23 yards.
In the second half, Kansas State found more room. The team busted out several big runs, including a 53-yard scamper from Waters. The Wildcats finished with 160 rushes on 32 carries for the day.
Pass Defense
The Sooners secondary was almost nonexistent in the first half. Waters and the Kansas State offense picked up first downs with ease and seemed to find anything they wanted downfield. To add to that, Oklahoma couldn't tackle at all.
In the second half, the unit stepped up, limiting Waters to just 100 yards through the air. However, it came at the cost of the run defense.
For the Wildcats, other than the interception return for a touchdown, the secondary didn't fare too much better.
Sterling Shepard had his way with the Kansas State cornerbacks, finishing with 15 receptions for 197 yards and a touchdown. Even when they knew the ball was coming to No. 3, the defenders couldn't stop it.
Run Defense
No matter what the Wildcats tried, the Sooners front seven was up for the task.
Options, quarterback draws, up the middle or tosses to the outside—Oklahoma stopped it all. Kansas State struggled to pass 20 yards on the ground in the first half.
However, due to the inefficiencies of the secondary, the Sooners had to pay more attention to the passing attack. With that, the run defense took a turn for the worse.
The Wildcats began the game pretty solid against the run. However, once Oklahoma moved to an uptempo offense in the second half, the unit was gashed repeatedly.
Whether it was Ross or Perine, both running backs had success on the ground.
Special Teams
An area of strength in recent weeks, the Sooners were let down in this category.
The usually dependent Michael Hunnicutt missed on two chip-shot field goals, including one from the 19-yard line with a little over three minutes remaining. He also had an extra point blocked earlier in the fourth quarter.
On the other hand, Kansas State got a boost from their unit.
Placekicker Matthew McCrane—who has struggled in recent weeks—made his only field goal of the afternoon and connected on all four extra points. Punter Nick Walsh was also excellent, pinning Oklahoma inside its own 10 twice on the day.
Coaching
It was another rough day for the Sooners coaching staff.
After becoming a scapegoat in recent weeks, offensive coordinator Josh Heupel really turned things around this week. The Oklahoma offense looked as good as it has in years. Unfortunately, the defense struggled with coverage decisions and poor play-calling. Not to mention, the several timeouts the Sooners burned pointlessly.
Meanwhile, it was a pretty clean game for Kansas State.
One could argue that the team turned down its aggressiveness late in the third quarter and for much of the fourth quarter. But it did enough to get the win on the road.
The defense will have a lot of work to do, though, after being gashed by Oklahoma’s offense for over 530 yards.
All stats courtesy of NCAA.com.
For complete coverage and everything college football, you can reach Sebastian on Twitter and via email at Sebastian.LenaBR@gmail.com.
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