Jake Waters helped the Widlcats to a big road win over Oklahoma. (Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)
KICKOFF: Saturday, 8 p.m. ET
GAMEDATE: 11/1/14
SITE: Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas
TV: ABC
SERIES: Oklahoma State leads Kansas State 35-24. The Cowboys forced five second-half turnovers a year ago to outlast the Wildcats 33-29.
RANKINGS: Kansas State 11th
KEYS TO THE GAME
Mike Yurcich is a stand-up coach who will not use some convenient, and logical, excuses such as lack of experience and too many injuries when assessing Oklahoma State’s struggles on offense.
The Cowboys’ offensive coordinator accepts blame and vows to coach up his players after seeing his charges score just 19 points in back-to-back losses against TCU and West Virginia.
Fears over how the Cowboys would fare once they tackled the meat of a backloaded schedule seem to have been confirmed.
Yurcich will try to deal with the problems and try to find a more consistent rhythm for Daxx Garman, a junior quarterback who was thrust into duty after J.W. Walsh suffered a foot injury in the second game that will probably keep him out the remainder of the season.
“What am I supposed to do? Throw someone under the bus?” Yurcich asked. “I think every coach feels that way. I think every player should feel that way. It’s accountability, leadership. I just speak from the heart.”
Kansas State, meanwhile, is having to deal with trying to quiet talk about rolling to the Big 12 championship and a possible berth in the first College Football Playoff.
“We have a lot of football ahead of us. We are only as good as today, and tomorrow is a different day,” coach Bill Snyder said. “To have the continuity and to be able to do it continuously would be a good thing.
“We have not done it continuously all year. We’ve got a long ways to go.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Cowboys
–RB/KR Tyreek Hill enjoyed a tremendous debut when he sprinted for 278 all-purpose yards against No. 1 Florida State, but his heroics since then have been somewhat hit and miss. He has two touchdown returns on kickoff returns, including the decisive score in the Kansas win, and averages 5.2 yards per carry on a limited rushing workload.
–WR James Washington, a freshman, made the first start of his career last week against West Virginia and recorded five receptions, a career high for the freshman. They were good for 87 yards to match his best this season.
–DE Emmanuel Ogbah leads the Big 12 and ranks third nationally among defensive linemen in both sacks (eight) and tackles for loss (12.5). In the last three games, all against Big 12 opponents, Ogbah recorded five sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss.
–CB Kevin Peterson certainly boosted his stock with an outstanding performance in the 34-10 loss to West Virginia last week. Peterson held the Mountaineers’ star receiver, Kevin White, who came into the game leading the nation in receiving yardage, to three receptions for 27 yards.
Wildcats
–QB Jake Waters dealt with soreness in his non-throwing shoulder stemming from a hard fall to the turf in the win two weeks ago at Oklahoma, but he still managed to complete 19 of 30 passes for 224 yards with no interceptions against Texas. He has passed for over 236 yard a game and rushed for 370 yards for the season, second-best on the team.
–WR Tyler Lockett leads the Wildcats in receptions with 43 good for 558 yards and four touchdowns. He also is averaging 23.6 yards running back punts (one touchdown) and 18.2 on kickoff returns.
–PK Matthew McCrane continues to excel since moving into the lineup following the three field goals Jack Cantele missed in the Auburn defeat. McCrane made all three of his attempts against Texas from 19, 30 and 38 yards.
–SS Dante Barnett was in on four pass breakups and also assisted in a key fourth-down stop in the red zone early in the fourth quarter against Texas. Barnett was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week after getting in on seven tackles
