Quick Takeaways From Oklahoma's Victory Over Kansas State
MANHATTAN, KS — Finally, Lincoln Riley bested Chris Klieman.
With questions and concerns surrounding the Oklahoma offense, the No. 6-ranked Sooners showed improvement and downed the Kansas State Wildcats 37-31 on Saturday afternoon at Bill Synder Family Stadium.
In his first road game played before a packed stadium, maligned OU quarterback Spencer Rattler dazzled, showing the potential which fueled his preseason Heisman Trophy hype train.
Oklahoma’s performance was far from perfect, but there are plenty of positive takeaways from the victory as OU moved to 5-0 entering Texas week.
Offense Takes Major Step Forward
It wasn’t always pretty, but the offense at least resembled the explosive unit that has been the norm sine Riley arrived on campus at times on Saturday.
The offensive line played much better agains the Wildcats, helping OU rush for 131 yards, averaging 4.1 yards per rush. The rushing numbers look even better if Caleb Williams’ 12-yard loss on a fumbled snap in the first quarter is taken out of the total, bringing OU’s average per carry to 4.6 yards.
As the run game started to get rolling, things started to open up downfield for Rattler, who was excellent picking apart the KSU secondary.
Rattler finished 22-for-25, passing for 243 yards and two touchdowns in his best performance of the year.
Oklahoma’s pass protection was by no means perfect, but on multiple occasions Rattler was able to create and keep the chains moving.
Perhaps the best example of that was on his touchdown pass to wide receiver Mike Woods in the third quarter.
Rattler initially had a pretty clean pocket, but he sensed pressure from the Wildcat defensive line coming from his right. Rattler was able to step up and evade the pressure, rolling out to his right behind the line of scrimmage and then he delivered a 14-yard strike to put the Sooners up 17 points with 5:30 remaining in the quarter.
There’s still plenty of room to improve, but it was a much better performance from the offense as a whole.
Linebackers Still Struggling
Everybody is going to try and use pre-snap motion to confuse the OU defense, and the linebackers are going to have to play better going forward.
Though the Sooners finally solved the Klieman riddle on the scoreboard, the Wildcats still averaged 6.2 yards per play, and did plenty to move the ball up and down the field between the 20’s.
Kansas State quarterback Skylar Thompson did an especially nice job of attacking the middle of the field on third and fourth downs, as the Wildcats combined to convert 12-of-20 attempts on the decisive downs.
Running back Deuce Vaughn still found plenty of daylight as well despite the defeat, racking up 155 all-purpose yards on the afternoon.
While K-State was insistent on keeping a tight end or fullback handy to ensure Thompson was protected, the onus fell mainly on the linebackers to make plays in the open field.
OU Finally Creates Second Half Separation
For the first time since the Western Carolina game, the Sooners played complimentary football in the third quarter and extended their lead.
The Sooners marched straight down the field to open the second half and punched in a touchdown, followed up immediately by the defense forcing a three-and-out. Rattler then responded with a nine-play, 90-yard touchdown drive to put the Sooners up 17, and they never looked back.
Even if the puzzling series of official reviews surrounding Kansas State’s surprise onside kick hadn’t gone Oklahoma’s way, the Sooners built a cushion where they could withstand a bad drive or a busted play.
The cushion OU created early in the second half forced Kansas State to speed their offense up just enough throughout the second half to take the Wildcats out of their comfort zone.
Kansas State found success late, cutting the lead to 10 lints with 4:15 left in the game, but it was too little too late for the Wildcats to overcome the deficit due to OU’s ability to build to their lead in the third quarter.
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