Kansas State Does Not Turn The Ball Over Which Could Be a Problem

Oklahoma State heads to its’ proverbial house of horrors on Saturday, where the Cowboys will take on Bill Snyder and the Kansas State Wildcats. The Cowboys haven’t come home with a win at Bill Snyder Family Stadium since 2010, including a brutal 48-14 pounding in 2014 the last time the Pokes came to town.

This year’s Kansas State team is very similar to your typical Bill Snyder-coached group- they run the ball, they stop the run, and they refuse to turn the ball over. The Wildcats sit at 5-3 (3-2 in Big 12 play) and come off of a close shave against Iowa State in Farmageddon.

They held a 31-10 lead in the fourth quarter only to give up 16 unanswered and needed to recover an onside kick at the end to hang on for the win.

But the style that Kansas State plays may spell doom for a Cowboys defense that relies heavily on turnovers and struggles to get stops without them. Let’s take a look at a few numbers to know for Kansas State.

Kansas State will not give the ball up

As mentioned above, Kansas State has turned over the ball just seven times all season! This ranks eighth in the country, and will mean many long, slow drives up and down the field. QB Jesse Ertz facilitates an interesting spread offense, but executes more like a Big 10 offense than a Big 12.

Running backs Justin Silmon and Charles Thomas are a two headed monster out of the backfield that run hard and run often. The Cowboys defense should expect to be on the field more than almost any other game this season, and will need to stop the run against the Wildcats if they want to get off the field.

Oklahoma State will face the best run defense they’ve faced all year

K-State is elite at stopping the run. They give up just 102.3 yards per game, which is fifth in the entire country. OSU has improved quite a bit in the past few games running the football, but will face the toughest test of their season on the ground in Manhattan.

If the Pokes can’t run the ball and establish the ground game early, they will be in big trouble on the road.

The Cowboys continue to be road warriors in the Big 12

A stat that may surprise Cowboys fans — Oklahoma State is 7-1 in their last 8 true road games, dating back to 2014. Despite Mason Rudolph’s struggles on the road (10 touchdowns, 10 interceptions in his career), OSU has come up big this year and last year away from Stillwater, especially in the Big 12.

Kansas State has won the last two meetings in Manhattan, but this Oklahoma State team is riding high after the West Virginia win last week. If the Cowboys can get a win on the road this weekend, they will be in the driver’s seat to play for the Big 12 title in Norman the final day of the season.