Written by Max Meyer

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Four Things to Know: Oklahoma vs Kansas St

1. Collin Klein should be taken seriously as a Heisman candidate

Klein exploded onto the national scene in the middle of last season, and his play this year has generated plenty of recognition from around the country. Klein has improved most in his passing accuracy. In his first three games Klein has completed 72.9% of his passes, whereas last season he only had a 57.3% mark. However, with Kansas State leading for the majority of its first three games, Klein hasn't yet been tested as his season high for passes is 28. In what figures to be a shootout against Oklahoma this weekend, expect Klein to throw at least 35 passes.

What makes Klein special is not just his arm, but the fact that he is a dual-threat. He is averaging 70 rushing yards a game and he's compiled four rushing touchdowns already. This is following a season where Klein had 1,141 yards rushing along with 27 rushing touchdowns. Klein has been a more effective runner this season, averaging a full yard more on his carries (4.6 to 3.6) from last season.

If Klein can lead Kansas St. to a victory over Oklahoma in Norman, he will be on everyone's Heisman Watch List the following week.

2. The match-up of the day will be K-State’s run game against Oklahoma’s defensive front

Kansas State is 18th in the nation with 251.7 rushing yards per game. They are also tied for ninth in the nation with 11 rushing scores. The Wildcats' ground attack is clearly the key for the offense.

Besides Klein, it's been junior running back John Hubert who has made the most noise out of the Kansas St. backfield. He's averaging just under 100 rushing yards per game, but most impressively he's been doing so by averaging 6.9 yards per carry. However, according to AccuScore simulations, Hubert is only projected to have 54.2 yards rushing this game.

Last season, Kansas St. gained 182 rushing yards against Oklahoma. Klein led the way with 92 of them also scoring two touchdowns. In order for Kansas St. to upset Oklahoma in Norman I think Klein and Hubert will need to combine for at least 200 rushing yards.

Kansas St. may be able to achieve that yardage total because Oklahoma's defensive line has been very shaky this season. The Sooners lost their two of their defensive ends from last season (Frank Alexander and Ronnell Lewis) to the NFL. Senior defensive tackle Stacy McGee has also been suspended indefinitely because he violated a university policy.

Oklahoma's run defense wasn't tested in their last game against FCS school Florida A&M. However, they gave up over 200 yards rushing in a much closer than expected Week 1 battle against UTEP. If Kansas St. can manhandle Oklahoma upfront, they will win this game.

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3. Oklahoma's run game is nothing to sneeze at either

While they do have star quarterback Landry Jones, it's been an OU running back standing out in the first two games. Surprisingly, back-up running back Damien Williams has been the best player on offense so far. He already has five rushing touchdowns, and he's been explosive on every rushing attempt. He currently leads the country averaging 13 yards per carry.

If Williams has another big game this weekend, expect him to take the starting job from Dominique Whaley. AccuScore simulations think Whaley will have a better game though projecting him for 67.5 yards rushing compared to the 43.1 yards for Williams. Granted, AccuScore also predicts that Williams will have fewer carries in the game than Whaley, but I'm not so sure. The junior-college transfer has easily outperformed Whaley through the first two games, and I see no reason why that can't translate over the rest of the season.

4. Will Kansas State Be Able To Stop Landry Jones?

In last season’s game, Jones threw for a school-record 505 yards to go along with five touchdowns. The year before, Jones had 294 yards passing and four touchdowns. Both times Jones was able to shred the Kansas State defense because no pressure was generated. In both of those meetings the Wildcats did not record a sack.

This year might be different though. Kansas State has sacked the quarterback eight times in the past two games. The defensive line has been led by senior Adam Davis who has three sacks and three forced fumbles this season. Additionally, Oklahoma has not been protecting Jones well this season. Jones was only sacked 10 times in 2011. Despite playing a weak schedule Jones has already been sacked four times this year.

The K-State secondary that got torched for 500+ passing yards against Oklahoma last season returns mostly intact. While they currently are ranked at the bottom of the Big 12 in pass defense, they are an experienced group. The passing totals against are inflated because teams have been forced to pass this year because of early deficits.

The big question for Landry Jones to answer is his effectiveness without stud wide receiver Ryan Broyles. Broyles, a sure-handed receiver who had a knack for getting open, was a huge reason why Oklahoma's pass offense was dominant over the past couple of seasons. After he got injured in the middle of last season, Jones struggled and Oklahoma lost games against to Texas Tech, Baylor, and Oklahoma State. Broyles was drafted in the 2nd round of the NFL Draft, and the pass offense again is lacking without him.

Jones is a very mediocre 49th in the nation in passing efficiency while Klein ranks 9th. However, AccuScore simulations project Jones to have the better passing day with a 164.4 passer rating compared to a 120.5 rating for Klein.

The Prediction:

Oklahoma is favored by 14 points over Kansas State. Everything is screaming for me to pick Oklahoma. AccuScore simulations have Oklahoma winning 77.2% of the time (but they only cover the spread 45.4%). Oklahoma has won 42 of their past 43 games at Memorial Stadium. According to ESPN, under Bob Stoops the Sooners have won by an average of 27.4 points against ranked opponents at home. Stoops is also 7-1 in his career against Kansas State coach and his former boss Bill Snyder.

However, just because a ranked team looked good against an FCS team doesn't mean that they are that good of a team (see Oklahoma State). I just don't think that Oklahoma's offense is the same as it's been in the past couple of years. Also, I fully expect Kansas State to run all over Oklahoma's defense with Klein and Hubert.

Call me crazy, but I'm predicting Kansas State to outright beat Oklahoma in Norman.

#15 Kansas State 35, #6 Oklahoma 31