OSU Football: Kansas Preview

A healthy and rested Oklahoma State team heads to Kansas to face the Jayhawks in Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. CT.

Kansas (1-5, 0-3) comes off last week’s 49-7 blasting at Baylor but second-year coach David Beaty’s team nearly upset TCU a week earlier, falling 24-23 when kicker Matthew Wyman’s last-second field goal attempt went wide right. As bad as the Jayhawks are, they’re dangerous at home.

“I think you can watch the tape of people who have played up there and had a better team than what the public thought, for example TCU,” Cowboy coach Mike Gundy explained when asked how to motivate his players. “I would guess that they probably didn't play as well as they had wanted to. We try to use those as examples. Obviously, we have a good football team and Coach (David) Beaty is in a rebuilding process, but we know that if we don't practice well, don't play well or turn the ball over, it could be a tough day.”

Oklahoma State (4-2, 2-1) gets running back Chris Carson back from a hand injury. Justice Hill has a stranglehold on the starting job but Carson will get carries to spell the freshman. Sophomore Jeff Carr had a career-high 51 rushing yards against Kansas last year, a blowout 58-10 Cowboy victory. Carr is a player to watch this week after he ripped off a 33-yard run on his only carry against Iowa State two weeks ago.

Kansas has had trouble with turnovers this season and both of the Jayhawks quarterbacks have thrown multiple interceptions. Ryan Willis has thrown three picks in each of KU’s past two games and has seven on the season while Montell Cozart threw four in four games to start the season. Third-stringer Carter Stanley got in the game last week and went 3-for-8 for 45 yards with an interception.

Oklahoma State forced three turnovers against Iowa State and the Cowboys have played two turnover-free games on offense since a pair of fumbles cost them the Baylor game.

“Every week you talk about those opportunities, when they happen you have to make the most of it,” defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer said. “They have had issues with that, and I'm always on the side of they're getting that corrected. They're stressing that and seeing why they can't do that. They're trying to get those things corrected. Our challenge is to go for that ball.”

Oklahoma State Player To Watch – DeQuinton Osborne has steadily increased his role on the defensive line and the Juco-transfer now leads the team in sacks after getting 2.5 against Iowa State. He’s got a chance to go against a bad offensive line this week and should be a disruptive force in the KU backfield.

Kansas Player To Watch – Sophomore wide receiver Stephen Sims Jr. leads the Jayhawks in receiving yards and has gone for 100+ yards in every home game this year. It’s no secret that the Cowboy secondary has struggled with big plays. Look for Kansas to try a few bombs early to Sims.

Prediction – Oklahoma State looks rusty but overpowers Kansas 40-17