Oklahoma State @ Kansas preview

Oklahoma State at Kansas

Last Meeting ( Nov 10, 2007 ) Kansas 43, Oklahoma State 28

With a spot in the Big 12 title game up for grabs, No. 10 Oklahoma State looks likes it’s ready to jump up and claim its place.

The Cowboys will be looking to strengthen their record when they visit lowly Kansas on Saturday.

Already enjoying their best season in years, Oklahoma State (9-1, 5-1 Big 12) put another notch in its belt last weekend with a 33-16 win over frequent nemesis Texas. The Cowboys had not beaten the Longhorns in 12 years and had not won in Austin since 1944. Even in a down year for Texas, the victory was some form of redemption for coach Mike Gundy, who had yet to beat the conference power.

Another big test for Gundy and the Cowboys looms in the final regular season game when Oklahoma comes to Stillwater — a matchup that will likely determine who represents the South Division in the Big 12 Championship game. Looking even further ahead, if Oklahoma State manages to take down Kansas and Oklahoma, it will get a shot at Nebraska — the only school to beat the Cowboys so far this season — with a BCS bowl berth on the line.

But for now, Gundy and his players are riding high off the Texas win and preparing their high-powered offense for the Jayhawks.

Quarterback Brandon Weeden passed for 409 yards last week and has already topped the Cowboys’ record for yards in a season, sitting at 3,391. The 27-year-old is in his first season as Oklahoma State’s starter after spending five seasons playing minor league baseball and another two sitting behind Zac Robinson.

Helping Weeden a great deal has been sophomore wide receiver Justin Blackmon, who has at least 100 yards and a touchdown in each of the last nine games while showing off the skills that make NFL scouts drool. Blackmon and running back Kendall Hunter this week were listed as two of 15 “players to watch” for the Walter Camp Player of the Year award.

Kansas (3-7, 1-5) is allowing 27 points per game, but has been getting gashed on the ground more than in the passing game, where they have managed to hold opponents to 208.3 yards per game through the air.

The season started out badly for first-year head coach Turner Gill and it hasn’t gotten much better, with the Jayhawks dropping five of their last six. The lone victory in that span came against Colorado on Nov. 6, when Kansas somehow overcame a 28-point deficit in the fourth quarter for a 52-45 victory.

But that was a clear outlier on the schedule, since the Jayhawks have totaled 43 points in their last five losses. It was Nebraska’s turn to pick on them last weekend, cruising to a 20-3 win while holding Kansas to just 87 yards of total offense while forcing five turnovers.

Kansas and Oklahoma State have played each other to an historical draw at 29-29-2. The Jayhawks won the last meeting, 43-28 in 2007.