Nine Things to Know as Oklahoma State Heads to Manhattan Looking for its Fifth Win

I rolled through the game notes and found a number of interesting stats and tidbits that stood out. Most good, some bad but all fascinating as the Pokes take on the Wildcats looking to remove themselves from a 1-2 mini slump and move toward the right side of .500 after the bye week.

Another Bad Offense?

I made this point last week when Iowa State came in averaging 17.5 a game, and they nearly put up 50 in Stillwater so maybe you should ignore me. But Kansas State scores 22 a game and is No. 67 nationally in points per drive at 2.14 (this is also slightly better than Iowa State). Their defense (!) has actually been even worse, allowing 2.6 PPD, good for 92nd in the country.

Third Down Conversions

There are only five teams worse than Kansas State in defensive stops on third down. KSU is allowing opposing offenses to get necessary yardage on third down a stunning 51 percent of the time. Fire Glenn Spencer!

Poll Streak, Gone

After being ranked for 29 straight weeks in either the Coaches Poll or the AP Poll, OSU goes to Manhattan unranked for the first time since, I believe, the beginning of the 2016 season.

Messrs. October

OSU has lost one game in October since 2014. That was last week to Iowa State. A stunning stat.

Is the Sky Falling?

I’ve been as guilty as anyone this week of overreacting and being frustrated with the general state of things in Stillwater, USA. Reading and research helped assuage those fears a bit. The overall numbers from Oklahoma State are still gaudy. If they win on Saturday, they’ll be 63-9 in their last 72 against unranked opponents and 37-11 in their last 48. That’s … really good.

Moar TOs

OSU has won 58 of 63 when winning the turnover battle. The Pokes have won just one (!) turnover battle this season, and it came against — you guessed it — Boise State. And even then it was 1-0.

Road Streaking

If OSU wins on Saturday that will be eight straight on the road. Their only two longer streaks came from teams that either won a national championship ? or came close.

• 1943-45: 11 straight
• 2010-2011: 10 straight

Explosiveness Intact

How about this number: 53 percent of Oklahoma State’s total yardage has come from just 11 percent of its plays. OSU is second nationally in 20+ yard plays with 50. Ole Miss leads with 51. Alabama has 46. OU has 41.

Tylan the Great

Tylan Wallace is one of 10 players nationally averaging at least 100 yards a game. I know he’s been awesome, but that’s still pretty cool to see.