John Rohde, sports columnist
Kansas State defies preseason predictions
By John Rohde
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Published: October 31, 2009
NORMAN — Think back to the first week of September, before the Big 12 football season started.
Kansas State players have plenty of reason to celebrate so far this season. Despite some early hiccups, the Wildcats lead the Big 12 North. AP PHOTO
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Where did you anticipate Oklahoma to be at this point in the schedule? 7-0 overall? Maybe 6-1?
Where did you envision Kansas State? A little under .500, perhaps still looking for its first conference win?
When the two teams meet tonight at 6 on Owen Field, instead it’s the Wildcats who are atop their division, not the
Sooners.
Of course, pigskin prognosticators make their preseason picks based on teams being at full strength.
It’s in poor taste to predict injuries, particularly the season-ending variety to the reigning
Heisman Trophy winner and his All-American tight end.
OU is what it is without
Sam Bradford and
Jermaine Gresham, and that’s 4-3 overall, 2-1 in the Big 12 and struggling to consistently move the ball forward on offense.
After KSU barely survived
Massachusetts 21-17 in its season opener and then lost 17-15 at
Louisiana-Lafayette, no one of sound mind projected the Wildcats to be 5-3 and 3-1 heading into Norman.
Not even the return of miracle worker
Bill Snyder — "The coach of the century,” according to former OU coach
Barry Switzer — possibly could right all that had gone wrong in
Manhattan under predecessor
Ron Prince.
While the Sooners are ailing, Kansas State might be healthier than anticipated thanks to the immediate impact of 6-foot-2, 227-pound junior running back
Daniel Thomas, who arrived via
Northwest Mississippi Community College.
"You know, I think that’s what they focus on,”
Colorado defensive end
Marquez Herrod said after last week’s 20-6 loss to the Wildcats. "They focus on running the ball and managing the clock. They (have) got a good, fast, hard-running guy back there. You know they stick with it. We stopped them a few times, but they always kept coming back to the run.”
Take away Thomas’ 814 rushing yards and nine touchdowns and there’s no telling where the Wildcats might be at the moment. They likely wouldn’t be in the driver’s seat and headed toward this year’s Big 12 championship game at the new Cowboys Stadium in
Arlington, Texas.
Success is relative, however. In the latest Sagarin ratings, Kansas State ranks No. 81 in strength of schedule and tonight faces the nation’s No. 3 rushing defense (70.1 yards per game) in the Sooners.
The Wildcats are about to hit the beefy part of their schedule, but exactly where’s the beef in the North?
While trying to pick a Northern favorite, it’s extremely dangerous to compare scores.
KSU,
Texas A&M and
Texas Tech are in the
Bermuda Triangle of score comparsions.
Kansas State lost 66-14 to Texas Tech, which lost 52-30 to Texas A&M, which lost 62-14 to
Kansas State.
Exactly who wins that three-way tiebreaker?
After tonight, the Wildcats have home games remaining against
Kansas (Nov. 7) and
Missouri (Nov. 14) and a season finale at
Nebraska (Nov. 19).
Beat the Sooners, and Kansas State would be 4-1 in the North with two straight home games upcoming.
And all pigskin pickers would be shaking their heads in disbelief.
John Rohde: 475-3099.
John Rohde can be heard Monday-Friday from 6-7 p.m. on The Sports Animal Network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1.
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