Inside the Huddle, September 21, 2012

G A M E D AY TA B L O I D F O R S O O N E R F O O T B A L L | F R E E

INSIDE THE HUDDLETHIS WEEK

6 Oklahomavs.

15 Kansas State

OPPONENTKansas State quarterback Collin Klein can throw or run his way to a win for the Wildcats P5

DEPTH CHARTSSee who’s on the field this weekend for Oklahoma and Kansas State P10

OFFENSESooner QB Landry Jones has a chance to be just as impactful in QB battle P6 Snyder’s legacy extends to Norman

Iconic coach had impact on Stoops brothers, former Sooner coaches P8

ITH-2012-09-21-a-001.indd 2 9/19/12 6:22:33 PM

DILLON PHILLIPSAssistant Sports Editor

A cloud of uncertainty hov-ered over the ninth–ranked Sooners last October when they traveled to Manhattan, Kan.

OU had just fallen to an un-derwhelming, unranked Texas Tech squad at home — blow-ing a 39-game home winning streak in the process — and faced one of its toughest tests of the season: an undefeated Kansas State team that had crept quietly into the top 10.

With their national champi-onship hopes all but dashed, the question was how the Sooners would respond.

The answer: 690 yards of total offense and 44 unanswered points on the way to a 58-17 rout of the No. 8 Wildcats — one of the most impressive victories of the Stoops era.

Nearly a year later, the teams still closely resemble their counterparts from a season ago.

No. 6 O klahoma. No. 15 Kansas State. On paper, not much has changed.

Both teams return record-breaking quarterbacks. Both teams enter the game ranked in the top 15. Both teams have question marks on the offen-sive line.

But don’t expect the outcome to match last year’s blowout.

“You just got to be prepared,” junior linebacker Tom Wort said. “And with a team like this, you (have) got to be excited to play. They’re a highly ranked team, a real disciplined team,

2 • Friday, September 21, 2012 INSIDE THE HUDDLE

GAME PREVIEW » KANSAS STATE

Oklahoma ‘anxious’ for matchupSooners have been waiting for game with Wildcats, Nelson says

so it’s going to be fun to play them.”

Despite the beat down OU put on the Wildcats last sea-son, the Sooners aren’t taking this game lightly.

“We just have to continue

to remember the losses we had,” junior linebacker Corey Nelson said. “Coach (Bob) Stoops always reminds us that last year, we lost to teams that we shouldn’t have lost to, and that just hungers us more and

humbles us more to know that we can’t be complacent, no matter what happens.”

In fact, Nelson said the team has had this game circled on

KINGSLEY BURNS/THE DAILY

Junior running back Damien Williams (26) celebrates with quarterback Landry Jones (12) during the OU-Florida A&M game Sept. 8 in Norman. OU won, 69-13, and hosts Kansas State this weekend.

SEE K-STATE PAGE 3

a Student Media publication in association with

160 Copeland Hall860 Van Vleet Oval

Norman, OK 73019-2052

phone: 405-325-3666

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James CorleyInside the Huddle editor

twitter: @jamesfcorley

Kedric KitchensSports editor

twitter: @Kedric Kitchens

Dillon PhillipsAssistant sports editor

twitter: @DillonPhillips_

Tobi NeidySports reporter

twitter: @TobiAnn

Ross StrackeSports reporter

twitter: @RossStracke

Carter BaumSports reporter

twitter: @CarterBaum

Kearsten HowlandAdvertising manager

ITH-2012-09-21-a-002,003.indd 8 9/19/12 6:25:19 PM

O f f e n s eDefense

INSIDE THE HUDDLE Friday, September 21, 2012 • 3

the calendar for quite some time.

“It kind of seems like ev-eryone’s been waiting on this game,” Nelson said. “Everyone’s been anxious for it.”

With Stoops at the helm, OU has never lost to a ranked team at home — a perfect 13-0 — and has dominated ranked op-ponents by an average score of 43-16.

“It’s an amazing feeling (play-ing at home),” junior lineback-er Corey Nelson said. “It gets to show your true character out there on the field — what you really can do and what you re-ally are as a player.”

But Kansas State will be only the second ranked team to play at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium since 2009.

In 2001, the Wildcats gave the Sooners their closest home game of the Stoops era — a 38-37 shootout during which the Wildcats almost made a comeback after trailing, 35-14, midway through the third quarter.

The coaching connection between Kansas State coach Bill Snyder and Stoops, who was on Snyder’s staff at Kansas State in the early 1990s, has been exhausted in the build-up to Saturday’s game, but the story line is as relevant today as it’s ever been, despite Stoops’ dominance of the series.

It’s been nine years since Kansas State has won a confer-ence title, and Snyder has yet to beat Stoops’ Sooners during the regular season.

But if the Wildcats plan on contending for a Big 12 title, they’ll have to.

Dillon Phillips, [email protected]

K-STATE: OU stands between Wildcats and their first Big 12 title since ’03Continued from page 2

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DAMIEN WILLIAMSJunior running back

COLLIN KLEINSenior quarterback

259 Rushing yards for OU junior

college transfer running back Damien Williams this season, his � rst with OU

89 Yards of the longest rush from

scrimmage for Williams, which resulted in a score against Florida A&M

13 Rushing yards per-attempt for

Williams after 20 carries

5 Touchdowns scored on the ground by

Williams in two games

609 Passing yards thrown by Klein,

averaging 203.0 yards per game through three games

210 Rushing yards for Kansas

State senior quarterback Collin Klein this season

72.9 Completion percentage

for Klein this year (43 of 59 with two interceptions)

9 Total touchdowns scored by Klein, four

on the ground and � ve through the air

ITH-2012-09-21-a-002,003.indd 9 9/19/12 6:25:23 PM

“Coach Stoops emphasized this isn’t last year,” senior of-fensive lineman Lane Johnson said. “K-State should have a bad taste in their mouth and they’re going to be coming in firing on all cylinders.”

The Sooner offense looks to pick up from where it left off against FAMU two weeks ago when the OU compiled 349 rushing yards, including eight touchdowns on the ground. Junior running back

Damien Williams currently leads the Big 12 after averaging 129.5 yards with five touchdown in the first two games.

But if there is one area the Sooners want to work on, it’s the passing game.

The OU wide receiving corps took multiple hits to the line-up during spring and summer camps, and Jones and Co. said they’re still looking to building camaraderie among the current

players. One way to help keep building the rapport is working on completely understanding the current playbook without add-ing too many new wrinkles to the offense.

“We are not going to put new stuff in,” Jones said. “I think this year it is more of knowing what you are doing so we can play fast and play physical.

“And if we don’t turn the ball over and pick up our mental

Tobi NeidySports Reporter

Two of the top Big 12 confer-ence heavyweights collide when No. 6 Oklahoma hosts No.15 Kansas State at 6:50 p.m. Saturday in Norman. This weekend’s game marks the 92nd game between the two programs — OU holds the overall series record of 71-17-4 — and will be the 2012 conference opener for both teams.

The Sooners look to start 3-0 for the 10th time under coach Bob Stoops after defeating UTEP and Florida A&M during the first two games of the season. OU was off last week and took time to prepare for this week’s offensive clash at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

“We practiced Monday through Thursday like we would a game week to work our preparation and get our plan in place,” Stoops said. “In particular (we worked on) going against (KSU’s) offense; they’re very complicated with all their different run schemes and the use of the quarterback run game all together, it takes some extra work.”

During last year’s 58-17 victory over the Wildcats in Manhattan, Kan., the Sooners trailed halfway through the second quarter before the OU offense scored on con-secutive series to take the game’s final lead. Then-freshman kicker Michael Hunnicutt nailed his ca-reer-long 53 yard field goal with 19 seconds before halftime — the longest in the Stoops era — to give the Sooners a 23-17 lead that they wouldn’t surrender.

But OU isn’t relying on last year’s performance to dictate this year’s outcome and the Sooners said they know they will need to play like a top-caliber team in order to compete this Saturday.


Game Preview » Kansas state

OU looks to continue success at home

Evan Morrison/ThE Daily

Junior fullback trey millard (center) leaps over a defender during OU’s 69-13 win against Florida a&m on sept. 8 in norman. Under stoops, the sooners are 14-0 against ranked teams when the game is played at Oklahoma memorial stadium.

Sooners 14-0 against ranked opponents in Norman under Stoops

assignments, then we are going to be right there with (KSU) at the end of the game.”

On the other side of the ball, the OU defense will also have its hand full disrupting another offense playmaker on the field: KSU’s starting quarterback Colin Klein.

The senior signal caller is cur-rently averaging 203 passing and 70 rushing yards per game and is responsible for nine Wildcat touchdowns so far this season. One thing that has made Klein progressively harder to defend is learning how to disrupt a duel- threat quarterback that isn’t afraid to rush through the line.

“(Klein’s) a big guy, he can run and he lowers his shoulder when he runs,” senior safety Javon Harris said. “Everybody else on the de-fense — defensive line, lineback-ers — we will be talking all week who’s going to be more physical, who’s going to take the person to the ground and who’s going to make the play.”

OU’s defense has limited oppo-nents to just one touchdown this season and getting to play against the KSU offense that is current-ly ranked 13th in the nation will be a good indicator of both how good this Sooners defense is and how much improvement can still be made over the course of the season.

Traditionally, OU performs well against ranked opponents this time of year.

Under Stoops, the Sooners are 14-0 against ranked teams in Norman and are a staggering 35-1 in games in the month of September.

“We’ve been great at home, no matter who it is, but as long as the fans are loud and we come to play we should be alright,” senior de-fensive end R.J. Washington said. “It’s going to be a battle.”

Tobi Neidy, [email protected]

ITH-2012-09-21-a-004.indd 2 9/19/12 6:26:07 PM

OppOnent prOfile » COllin Klein

Oklahoma focused on stopping K-State QB

Dillon PhilliPsAssistant Sports Editor

At 6-foot-5, 226 pounds, Kansas State senior quarterback Collin Klein is built more like a tight end than a quarterback.

The Loveland, Colo., native origi-nally came to Manhattan, Kan., to play wide receiver. But after red-shirting his freshman year and see-ing only marginal playing time at wideout, he switched to quarter-back in 2010.

The rest, they say, is history.Klein is considered by many to

be the best dual-threat quarter-back in the nation, and outside of Michigan’s Denard Robinson, no other QB can hold a candle to Klein’s production on the ground.

“He’s big and physical,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “You’re not going to arm tackle him, so if you don’t have a big square shot on him, you’re not going to tackle him. He’s got good speed. He’s very effective.”

Last season, Klein ran for a Football Bowl Subdivision quar-terback-record 27 touchdowns and averaged nearly 25 carries a game to lead the Wildcats in rushing.

His 317 carries were more than OU’s top-three running backs combined.

“You have to have a respect for a

Orlin Wagner/The assOciaTed Press

Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein (7) gets past a north texas linebacker during the Wildcats’ 35-21 win Sept. 15 in Manhattan, Kan.

guy like that,” OU senior defensive end David King said. “Anybody who can take the blows he’s taken over the past two or three years he’s been there and just bounce back... I don’t know if he’s missed a snap or not, but he’s a super tough guy.”

Despite the Sooners’ 58-17 trouncing of K-State last year, Klein still ran for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“The dude was stronger than what he seemed,” OU junior line-backer Corey Nelson said. “Way stronger.”

But it was Klein’s ineffectiveness throwing the football that cost the Wildcats last season.

Against OU, Klein tossed just 58 yards on 8-of-16 passing, and he finished the season with 1,918 yards and only 13 touchdowns to six interceptions.

Th i s s ea s o n , h ow e ve r, i t ’s Klein’s improvement as a passer that has the Sooner defense most concerned.

“Klein has gotten a lot better at throwing the football,” junior line-backer Tom Wort said. “He’s throw-ing the ball real good, so that’s something we didn’t really face as much last year. It makes you have to

stay honest and play both.”Stoops said he recognizes Klein’s

development in the pocket as a nat-ural process.

“[Kansas State is] throwing it more, and he’s throwing it well,”

Sooner defenders recognize Klein’s dual-threat abilities

kEy OppOnEntCollin KleinYear: senior

Position: Quarterback

Hometown: loveland, colo.

Stoops said. “That’s not surprising as he progresses and gets older. He’s a talented guy.”

The Sooner coaching staff was so impressed by Klein’s success last season that at Big 12 media days this summer, Stoops said Klein pro-vided the inspiration for OU’s highly successful “Belldozer” package.

“I saw [Klein] running all these great plays, and I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got [sophomore quarterback Blake Bell] with the same body over here. I need to borrow that,’” Stoops said. “That’s where it all started.”

Even with Klein’s reputation for his physical style of play, don’t think for a second the Sooner defense is intimidated.

“He’s a big guy. He can run, (and) he lowers his shoulder when he runs,” OU senior safety Javon Harris said. “But I’m physical, too. I feel like that’s one thing for me I’m going to take advantage of.”

OU’s defense isn’t shying away from the physical nature of Kansas State’s offense, and it recognizes that stopping Klein is the key to stopping the Wildcats.

“(He’s a) good athlete, good play-er. The offense revolves around him,” King said. “He does a good job of leading their team, and he’s going to try and lead them to a win in [Norman]. We have to do our job to not let him do that.”



ITH-2012-09-21-a-005.indd 2 9/19/12 6:27:06 PM



Oklahoma senior Landry Jones has never lost to Kansas State as the Sooners’ starting quarterback while the OU offense has been nothing less than stellar against the Wildcat defense.

Last season, Jones exploded for a school-record 505 yards and five touchdowns in the 58-17 thrashing of the Wildcats in Manhattan, Kan. In 2009, Jones also had a field day with the KSU defense, finishing with 294 yards and four TDs.

While KSU will look to reverse its five-game losing streak against OU, the Sooner coaching staff said they’re confident they will be bring an improved team onto the field on Saturday after spending the bye

week fine tuning the offense in practice. “(Having the bye week) was helpful be-

cause we have a lot of new skill players on of-fense,” co-offensive coordinator Jay Norvell said. “It gives us an advantage to practice what we do well and repetition is how we get better.”

After losing all but one experienced re-ceiver during the off-season, the OU offense spent most of summer and fall camps work-ing to develop a better rapport between Jones and the wide receivers.

Although the Sooners produced two wins while Jones threw for 494 yards and four touchdowns during the team’s first two out-ings, the quarterback admitted that even his expectations of the OU offense were too high for the first game of the season.

“You obviously expect everybody to be right on and you expect them to play well,”

Offense » Landry JOnes

Jones has opportunity to shine against K-StateSenior quarterback brings own talents to matchup

see QBS page 7

evin Morrison/The Daily

senior quarterback Landry Jones (12) steps back to pass during OU’s win against florida a&M on sept. 8 in norman. He and the sooners go head-to-head with Kansas state and Collin Klein on saturday.

ITH-2012-09-21-a-006,007.indd 8 9/19/12 6:27:52 PM


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presents1904 World’s Fair Souvenirs

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Open to the public during regular hours.Open until kick-off on game days.

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QBs: Sooner offense ‘heading in the right direction,’ Jones saysContinued from page 6

Jones said after the first game. “You expect to do all these different things but some-times it just doesn’t work like that.”

The OU offense sputtered for most of the 24-7 win against UTEP three weeks ago. OU only scored 10 points in the first half be-fore surging ahead to claim the win in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t the pretty win with the dominant numbers that the team was expecting from its offense that returned a Heisman-hopeful quarterback.

But Jones remained optimistic that his offense just needed to work out the kinks they could finally see after facing the first opponent.

“We just weren’t in sync and I figured it just comes with time and practice and also playing in games,” Jones said.

So last week, while the team as a whole took the extra time to get ready for Kansas State, Jones and the WRs took it upon them-selves to get some extra reps without the coaches around.

“We took some extra reps after everyone left,” senior WR Justin Brown said. “It was just us and Landry out there working on our routes.”

Continuing to build rapport with the re-ceivers both in practice and on their own times schedule will be vital to the Sooners’ offensive success this season because Jones himself is more successful throwing to fa-miliar hands.

In the win over UTEP, Jones connected veteran receiver Kenny Stills for 121 yards on six passes, including a 68-yard touch-down pass that gave the Sooners their first

points of the season. The duo returned for an encore perfor-

mance against Florida A&M where Stills fin-ished with 120 yards on 10 receptions with a touchdown that gave the Sooners a com-fortable four-possession lead.

Although Stills — who is currently sixth in the NCAA averaging just over 120 yards per game — has emerged as the front runner in from the WR stable, Jones said he’s starting to gain confidence in Brown and freshman WR Trey Metoyer.

“I think we are heading in the right direc-tion,” Jones said. “It was nice to have that (bye) week with Justin, Trey, and Kenny just to get even more on the same page.”

OU faces a big test this week against KSU that not only packs a punch on defense but will also plan to outscore the Sooners with balanced offensive attack on their own. But having Jones as a senior QB that continues to improve with his receivers each week in practice gives the Sooners the edge to pull out a victory in the conference-opening contest.


PlayeR PRofile Landry Jones

Year: senior

Position: Quarterback

Hometown: artesia, n.M.

vs. FAMU: 19-of-28 for 252 yards, two TDs, one inT

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ITH-2012-09-21-a-006,007.indd 9 9/19/12 6:46:16 PM

AT A GLANCE Big 12 Conference preview

8 • Friday, September 21, 2012 INSIDE THE HUDDLE INSIDE THE HUDDLE Friday, September 21, 2012 • 9

SEPT.

22OCT.

06OCT.

13OCT.

20NOV.

03NOV.

10NOV.

17NOV.

24DEC.

01

BRET BIELEMAWisconsin head coach

MARK MANGINOFormer Kansas head coach

CHUCK LONGNorman High School receivers coach

URBAN MEYEROhio State head coach

JIM LEAVITTSan Francisco 49ers linebackers coach

BOB STOOPSOklahoma head coach

MIKE STOOPSOklahoma defensive coordinator

BRENT VENABLESClemson defensive coordinator

Coaching legacySnyder taught excellence while building program

JAMES CORLEY • INSIDE THE HUDDLE EDITORBill Snyder essentially built the

Kansas State football program from the ground up, and several future Sooner coaches helped.

The Wildcats had been peren-nial bottom-dwellers in a confer-ence dominated by Oklahoma and Nebraska. There was little for KSU to be proud of in football, but Snyder changed all that when he brought his revolutionary system to Manhattan, Kan.

But Snyder didn’t do it by himself. The 72-year-old surrounded him-self with assistants and coordina-tors who, after his tutelage, left to steer their own programs, including Sooner head coach Bob Stoops.

Snyder is known for his tradition-al approach to college football, but he’s made his share of innovations to the game, too.

Ever heard of the Wildcat forma-tion? The offensive set that swept

through the football landscape — from middle schools to the NFL — was created by Snyder & Co. at Kansas State (thus, “Wildcat”).

Snyder collaborated with Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, who won two national championships at Florida, to develop another trend that’s caught fire: the spread option.

The white-haired teaching jug-gernaut made a living of instruct-ing young players and future head coaches. And he’s resurrected KSU once more.

The Wildcats are No. 15 and con-sidered strong contenders for a Big 12 title or more this year, and it seems fitting the one who first put the team on the map is the one try-ing to help it leave its mark on foot-ball with a national championship.

It’s also fitting that two of his for-mer protégés — Bob and Mike Stoops — are standing in his way.

The Wildcats are off to another fast start under visionary coach Bill Snyder.

Kansas State is 3-0 with a signature win against Miami (Fla.).

Senior quarterback Collin Klein, who is the center of KSU’s offense, also is the reason for much of the Wildcats’ recent success.

Texas Tech is still recovering from a tumultuous coaching overhaul when the Red Raiders tossed former offensive mad genius Mike Leach in favor of a new era under Tommy Tuberville.

Tech will have to wait a little longer to return to its former glory because for now, it’s nothing more than a potential giant-killer.

Texas coach Mack Brown has arguably the Big 12’s most-solid defense and a young quarterback, David Ash, who looks like he may be slowly � nding his footing as the starter at a program like UT.

Defense might win championships, but teams have to put up points to win games. The Longhorns haven’t had trouble scoring... yet, anyway.

It’s going to be another one of those years in Lawrence. Even though the Jayhawks are pleased to have Charlie Weis in place to try a program turn-around, he’ll need time just like Tuberville at Texas Tech will.

Kansas shouldn’t expect another trip to a BCS bowl again for now.

The Cyclones have a new � gure to worship alongside former college great Seneca Wallace: coach Paul Rhoads.

In just three years at the helm, Rhoads has led ISU to signature wins against its rival, Iowa, and a stunning upset against Oklahoma State.

The future is bright for Iowa State.

The Bears were hopeful they could bounce back quickly from losing Robert Grif� n III and Kendall Wright, but they haven’t had to prove it on the � eld yet.

The Big 12 Conference is stout this year, and only time will tell whether Baylor can stand on its own without RG3 at quarterback.

Despite being newcomers to the Big 12, the West Virginia Mountaineers have made a lot of noise early on this season and are favorites to win the conference title.

WVU has an explosive offense led by a trio of NFL-talent playmakers, and the Mountaineers show no sign of slowing down or letting up.

The Cowboys’ hopes for another magical season are crumbling quickly.

After losing key players from both sides of the ball to the NFL draft, Oklahoma State dropped a key nonconference road matchup to Arizona and may have lost their primary on-� eld signal-caller, too.

I’ll bet they miss Brandon Weeden.

At the end of a long road of conference matchups for the Sooners sits TCU. The Horned Frogs also are new to the Big 12, but they have skill players capable of keeping up with “big league” players in the automatic-qualifying conference world.

TCU’s offense is rolling and its defense is holding, but that may not still be the case by season’s end.

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Arguably the biggest victory in Bill Snyder’s long, successful tenure at Kansas State came against the program that has otherwise caused him the most problems.

It was back in 2003, when the Wildcats were annually among the nation’s elite. They were heavy underdogs heading into the Big 12 championships game against top-ranked Oklahoma, and managed to upend the Sooners on a cold, clear night at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

That remains the only time Kansas State has beaten Oklahoma in nearly 15 years.

They haven’t played every year, of course. Only occasionally back in the days of a 12-member Big 12. But a program that has won 11 games on numerous occasions, and played in marquee bowl games after so many splendid seasons, has had its hands full with its neighbor to the south.

“The games I’ve been a part of, there were points or a turning point where we weren’t able to get it done,” Kansas State’s senior quarterback Collin Klein said. “We weren’t beat because of the helmet they were wearing. They’ve just made plays and we haven’t.”

Still, the No. 15 Wildcats (3-0) are in a familiar spot heading into Saturday’s showdown with sixth-ranked Oklahoma (2-0). They’re undefeated, staring at another solid

season, but � rst have to get through what has historically been their biggest stumbling block.

Take, for instance, the 2000 season.

Kansas State had lost just once the previous year, and had rattled off six straight wins to begin the season, climbing to No. 2 in the nation. The Sooners, ranked eighth, scratched out a 41-31 victory, and went on to win their seventh national championship.

The Wildcats won their � rst two games the following season before losing to Oklahoma, and the 38-37 defeat began a string of four consecutive losses. In 2005, the � nal year under Snyder before his brief retirement, a 3-0 start came to an end with a 43-21 defeat by the Sooners.

Snyder isn’t one to ponder bad omens. He doesn’t link one loss to another, particularly when they happen across seasons. Rosters and coaching staffs change, after all. The game evolves, and two programs that have been helped to dominate the Big 12 have evolved plenty over the years.

Kansas State’s last regular-season win over Oklahoma was on Oct. 25, 1997, prior to Stoops’ arrival in Norman. It’s been all heartache for the Wildcats ever since, a troubling trend that they are aiming to end on Saturday night.

The Associated Press

History between Kansas State, Oklahoma highlights program-highs for one and program-lows for the other

ITH-2012-09-21-a-008,009.indd 8-9 9/19/12 7:03:33 PM


Oklahoma depth chartOffense

69 Lane Johnson

71 Tyrus Thompson

74 Adam shead

54 Nila Kasitati

64 Gabe Ikard

56 Ty Darlington

68 Bronson Irwin

50 Austin Woods

79 Daryl Williams

72 Derek Farniok

85 Geneo Grissom or

88 Taylor Mcnamara

82 Brandon Green

17 Trey Metoyer

18 Lacolton Bester

19 Justin Brown

13 Durron Neal

4 Kenny stills

3 Sterling Shepard

22 Roy Finch

12 Landry Jones

10 Blake Bell

15 Drew Allen

33 Trey Millard

48 Aaron Ripkowski

8 Dominique Whaley

24 Brennan Clay or

26 Damien Williams

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Defense11 R.J. Washington

10 Rashod Favors or

91 Charles Tapper

90 David King

80 Jordan Phillips

97 Jamarkus Mcfarland

53 Casey Walker

98 Chuka ndulue

84 Mike Onuoha

7 Corey nelson

25 Aaron Franklin or

5 Joseph Ibiloye

21 Tom Wort

20 Frank Shannon or

44 Jaydan Bird

9 Gabe Lynn

2 Julian Wilson

23 Kass Everett

14 Aaron Colvin

27 Gary Simon

30 Javon Harris

9 Gabe Lynn

1 Tony Jefferson

42 Jesse Paulsen

6 Demontre Hurst

15 Lamar Harris

26 Zack Sanchez

De

DT

DT

De

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MLB

WLB

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Jr.

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sr.

Sr.

Fr.

ITH-2012-09-21-a-010,011.indd 8 9/19/12 6:40:28 PM

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Kansas State depth chartOffense

78 Cornelius Lucas

64 Tomasi Mariner

55 Cody Whitehair

50 Nick Puetz

66 B.J. finney

61 Drew Liddle

79 Keenan Taylor

71 Ethan Douglas

73 Tavon Rooks

55 Cody Whitehair

80 Travis Tannahill

85 Zach Trujillo

16 Tyler Lockett

14 Curry Sexton

86 Tramaine Thompson

81 Kyle Klein

7 Collin Klein

4 Daniel Sams or

15 Sam Johnson

48 Braden Wilson

89 Zach Nemecheck

33 John Hubert

29 Angelo Pease

LT

LG

C

RG

RT

Te

WR

WR

QB

fB

RB

Jr.

So.

R-fr.

Sr.

so.

So.

Jr.

Sr.

Jr.

R-Fr.

sr.

So.

so.

So.

Jr.

R-Fr.

sr.

R-Fr.

So.

sr.

So.

Jr.

Sr.

Defense97 Adam Davis

94 Alauna Finau

92 Vai Lutui

Travis Britz

71 John sua

99 Javonta Boyd

42 Meshak Williams

44 Ryan Mueller

2 Justin Tuggle or

Jarell Childs

46 Arthur Brown

53 Blake Slaughter

50 Tre Walker

39 Jonathan Truman

3 Allen Chapman

19 Carl Miles

23 Jared Milo

22 Thomas Ferguson

12 Ty Zimmerman

29 Kent Gainous

21 nigel Malone

15 Randall Evans or

7 Kip Daily

De

DT

DT

De

sLB

MLB

WLB

CB

ss

fs

CB

sr.

Jr.

sr.

Fr.

sr.

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sr.

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sr.

sr.

sr.

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sr.

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So.

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ITH-2012-09-21-a-010,011.indd 9 9/19/12 6:40:30 PM


The Daily’s NCAA football pick ’em challengeThe Daily’s writers make their predictions for 10 college football games this week, selecting one matchup as their lock.

James Corley

6-4 (0-1)

Kedric Kitchens

6-4 (1-0)

Dillon Phillips

5-5 (1-0)

TobiNeidy

5-5 (1-0)

Brent Stenstrom

3-7 (1-0)

Ross Stracke

6-4 (1-0)SEASON RECORD (LOCKS)

No. 15 Kansas State at No. 6 Oklahoma Oklahoma

LSU

Oregon

Florida State

South Carolina

Notre Dame

TCU

UCLA

Georgia Tech

UTSA

Oklahoma

LSU

Oregon

Clemson

Missouri

Notre Dame

TCU

UCLA

Georgia Tech

UTSA

Oklahoma

LSU

Oregon

Florida State

South Carolina

Michigan

TCU

UCLA

Georgia Tech

UTSA

Oklahoma

LSU

Arizona

Florida State

Missouri

Notre Dame

TCU

UCLA

Georgia

UTSA

Oklahoma

LSU

Oregon

Clemson

South Carolina

Notre Dame

Virginia

UCLA

Miami (Fla.)

UTSA

Oklahoma

LSU

Oregon

Clemson

South Carolina

Notre Dame

TCU

Oregon State

Georgia Tech

UTSA

No. 2 LSU at Auburn

No. 22 Arizona at No. 3 Oregon

No. 10 Clemson at No. 4 Florida State

Missouri at No. 7 South Carolina

No. 18 Michigan at No. 11 Notre Dame

Virginia at No. 17 TCU

Oregon State at No. 19 UCLA

Miami (Fla.) at Georgia Tech

NW Oklahoma St. at Texas-San Antonio

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During Monday’s press confer-ence, coach Bob Stoops did some-thing he hadn’t done since 2008: called on the fans to help his team.

“Hopefully our crowd will engage and be a factor,” Stoops said, hinting at the need for added fan noise dur-ing the looming Big 12 opener that will feature two top-25 teams this Saturday in Norman.

Although it wasn’t the same as telling OU fans a week before the game that they aren’t loud enough and that they didn’t impact games like Stoops had seen during his time in the SEC, the suggestion for added boisterous behavior by the 14-year head coach proved just how impor-tant this game is to the 2012 team.

Most of the current OU students weren’t around for the 2008 match-up against Texas Tech, so here’s the atmosphere that prompted Stoops’ first call-to-arms to the Sooner faithful.

Tech had just come off beating No. 1 Texas and No. 9 Oklahoma State to become the second-ranked team in the BCS rankings. The Red Raiders only had to get past No. 5 Oklahoma on a chilly November night in order to win the Big 12

South division and make a strong conversation to be included in the national title game.

OU, under the direction of Heisman-winning quarterback Sam Bradford, had lost to Texas, 45-35, earlier that season. Both rival teams were ranked in the top five during the meeting at the Cotton Bowl, and the UT win allowed the Longhorns to continue their climb to the top of the BCS after beating

Missouri and Oklahoma State in the following weeks.

But the Longhorns hit a road block, falling to the Red Raiders, 39-33, after former Tech wide re-ceiver Michael Crabtree executed a tight-rope walk into the end zone as the clock expired.

That set up the Big 12 South showdown in Norman.

A Big 12 title and a national championship berth were on the

line, so Stoops rallied everyone in the Norman city limits to make some noise that day.

So the Sooners fans spent four quarters of yelling, dancing to the popular “Jump Around” song and overall causing chaotic disruption from all points inside Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

The result of the added obnox-ious behavior: a 65-21 blowout vic-tory by the team in crimson.

All the players interviewed after the game had nothing but praise to give to the fans, saying that the vol-ume in the stadium affected Tech’s play-calling and hearing the crowd also boosted the team both on the field and off.

Stoops was so impressed, he gave one of the game balls to the fans that is still on display at the Switzer Center.

Without beating Tech, Oklahoma wouldn’t have been able to advance to the national title game against Florida.

So when Stoops chose to reach out to the Sooner fan base Monday, it proved how important this KSU matchup is to OU’s hopes of finish-ing back atop the Big 12 standings.

While the Sooners’ conference opener won’t officially decide the fate, the result could play a factor down the road, especially if the Big 12 decides to beat up on each other as the season progresses. And if having the energetic crowd makes a difference between a win and a loss, Stoops isn’t shy about calling on the program’s rowdy fans for another round of stadium disruption.

“You’d like to see [the fans] like that every Saturday,” Stoops said about the 2008 crowd, “but if you can’t be that way every Saturday, be that way this Saturday.”


Atmosphere » FAn support

Fans need to revive ’08 energy for matchupOU-Kansas State game key for both programs’ goals this season

Kingsley Burns/The Daily

Junior running back Damien Williams (26) celebrates after making a touchdown in the second quarter of the ou-Florida A&m game sept. 8 in norman, bringing the score to 20-3. ou won the game, 69-13.

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Dillon PhilliPsAssistant Sports Editor

Dual-threat quarterbacks are nothing new to college football’s evolution, and the question of how to best defend a mobile quarter-back is as old as the game itself.

Saturday, OU’s defense faces that challenge: Kansas State senior quarterback Collin Klein.

Klein is the driving force behind the Wildcats’ physical, run-heavy offense, which will test the mettle of the Sooner front seven.

Defensive coordinator Mike Stoops uses a pattern-read, gap-responsibility defense that typical-ly relies on the nickel back to walk up in the box to contain the quar-terback run game and provide run support.

But with Kansas State running the majority of its plays out of a two-back set, OU plans on using a third linebacker — either se-nior Joseph Ibiloye or sophomore Aaron Franklin — to match the Wildcats’ personnel and better de-fend the run.

“In their two-back sets, we’ll use a [strong-side] linebacker, so we’ll be in our traditional 4-3 look,” linebackers coach Tim Kish said. “When they go to one back, it will be a nickel package, similar to what we’ve done in the past.”

AnAlysis » Defensive schemes

sooner defense plans to match KsU personnel

With read options, counters and other misdirection plays as the foundation of the Wildcats’ offense, it ’s crucial for OU’s

linebackers to keep their eyes in the backfield and find the ball.

“You just got to see the pullers,” junior linebacker Tom Wort said.

“They do a lot of pulling, a lot of misdirection, split zones, stuff like that. You just have to read your key and be disciplined and fit where

you’re supposed to fit.”But the Sooners aren’t shying

away from Kansas State’s physical-ity — they’re embracing it.

“I respect their players,” Wort said. “I respect their fullback, their quarterback. They’re tough guys. I’m looking forward to going against them and banging heads a little bit.”

OU put a shellacking on the Wildcats last season, but Klein still managed to rush for 92 yards and two touchdowns.

This year, the Sooners are hop-ing to do a better job of shutting him down, namely by forcing Klein to throw the football.

“If we can get them uncomfort-able running the ball and make them throw the ball, it’ll be a suc-cessful day for us,” senior defensive end David King said.

But stopping a quarterback who rushed for 1,141 yards and 27 touchdowns last season is easier said than done.

“Anytime you use the quarter-back in the run game and you have a good quarterback runner like they do, that adds an extra gap to your assignments,” Kish said. “We got to be assignment sound. We got to be option assignment sound, and we got to be gap sound.

“All those things are going to count Saturday.”


Orlin Wagner/The assOciaTed Press

Kansas state quarterback collin Klein (7) looks for a call after crossing the goal line during the Wildcats’ 52-13 win against miami (fla.) on sept. 8 in manhattan, Kan. Klein finished with 281 all-purpose yards and four total touchdowns.

Wildcat offense presents challenges for Oklahoma

ITH-2012-09-21-a-014.indd 2 9/19/12 6:52:08 PM


News from around the college football worldTulane

Injured player still recovering, moved from Tulsa hospital after 10 days

TULSA — Tulane officials say seriously injured football player Devon Walker has been moved to a new facility as he contin-ues therapy for his fractured spine.

The university released a statement Tuesday night from Walker’s parents, Booker and Inez Walker, who said they were grateful to doctors and staff at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, where their son was taken after he was injured during the Tulane-Tulsa game Sept. 8.

They did not disclose the name of the rehabilitation cen-ter and said they appreciated “everyone’s understanding of our request for privacy as we focus on his recovery.”


Penn STaTe

Judge releases sentencing date for Sandusky 4 months after his trial

A judge announced Monday he will sentence former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky on Oct. 9, nearly four months after Sandusky was convicted in the child molestation scandal at Penn State.

The 68-year-old Sandusky, given his age and the serious nature of the crimes, is likely to receive a sentence that will keep him in prison for life. He is jailed pending sen-tencing and maintains his innocence.

Judge John Cleland will determine if Sandusky should be classified as a sexually violent predator, a designation that subjects a convict to intense reporting requirements upon release. An assessment board has recommended Sandusky for the designation, though it’s expected to have little practical effect since he stands to die in prison.


RankingS

Four teams on Oklahoma’s schedule sit in the latest AP top-25 poll

Southeastern Conference powerhouses Alabama and LSU are back atop the rankings at Nos. 1 and 2 this week after spending much of last year occupying the top spots.

Oregon, Florida State and Georgia round out the rest of the top five in the AP Poll.

The Sooners fell to No. 6 after their bye week. South Carolina sits at No. 7, followed by West Virginia, Stanford and Clemson.

Four of OU’s future opponents also sit in the top 25, including the Sooners’ foe this Saturday, No. 15 Kansas State. Notre Dame and Texas are Nos. 11 and 12, and fellow Big 12 program TCU rolls in at No. 17.

Staff reports

Visit OUDaily.com for more news and information about all things Sooner sports.

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ITH-2012-09-21-a-016.indd 2 9/19/12 6:53:46 PM

Documents

Inside the Huddle, September 21, 2012