Date: Friday, October 6, 2023
Kickoff: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Stillwater, Okla.
Stadium: Boone Pickens Stadium (53,855)
Series: Oklahoma State Leads, 42-27
THE TOP 5
1) Kansas State won its Big 12 opener for a second-straight season with a 44-31 victory over new conference member UCF, and the Wildcats will look to make it two in a row following their lone bye week of the season as they face Oklahoma State on Friday in Stillwater. It will be K-State's first weeknight conference game since playing Baylor on a Thursday in 2015.
2) K-State hit the 40-point mark for a third-straight conference game dating back to last season (not counting the Big 12 Championship), its longest streak since a three-game stretch in 2012. Since Collin Klein took over as offensive coordinator for the 2021 Texas Bowl, K-State is averaging 34.3 points per game. The Cats currently rank 14th nationally and second in the Big 12 with 39.5 points per game.
3) Senior quarterback Will Howard has thrown for over 250 yards in each of the first four games, the longest streak ever by a Wildcat. However, it was DJ Giddens who stole the show against UCF, rushing for 207 yards and four touchdowns en route to Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors. He produced the first 200-yard, four-touchdown rushing performance in school history.
4) The K-State defense enters the week ranked in the top 15 nationally in rushing defense (6th – 73.2 yds/gm), tackles for loss (6th – 9.0 TFLs per game), sacks (10th – 3.50 sacks per game) and first down defense (12th – 67). Since the Cats switched to a 3-3-5 alignment to start the 2021 season, K-State has allowed just 21.1 points per game to rank 21st in the nation and second in the Big 12 (Iowa State – 20.9).
5) Senior linebacker Austin Moore leads the team with 22 tackles, including 7.0 tackles for loss to enter the week ranked 10th in the nation. Defensive end Khalid Duke – who has moved from linebacker back to his natural home at defensive end – has 4.0 sacks over the first four games to rank sixth in the nation, while Jacob Parrish ranks eighth in the country in passes defended with 1.5 per game.
STATISTICAL SPOTLIGHTS
207 – Rushing yards by DJ Giddens vs. UCF, the first Wildcat to rush for over 200 yards since Alex Barnes at Baylor in 2018.
134 – Number of Big 12 wins for K-State since the league was formed, which ranks third behind Texas and Oklahoma.
75.5 – Career winning % by Chris Klieman, which ranks fourth nationally among FBS coaches with at least 10 years experience.
73.2 – Rushing yards per game given up by K-State this season, which ranks sixth nationally and is first in the Big 12.
36 – Tackles for loss in the first four games this year, as K-State ranks fifth in tackles for loss per game (9.0).
TEAM NOTES
RECENT RECAP
• In K-State's last home game, the Wildcats used a strong running attack from DJ Giddens to rush past UCF, 44-30, to open Big 12 play and move to 3-1 on the year.
• Giddens' 207 yards and four touchdowns earned him Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors.
• K-State registered 536 yards of total offense against UCF, the second time this season the Wildcats eclipsed the 500-yard mark (588 yards vs. SEMO), and it marked the first time K-State had two 500-yard games in the same season since 2019.
• K-State won its second game of the season, a 42-13 triumph over Troy to end the Trojans' 12-game winning streak.
• Will Howard threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more to lead a Wildcat offense that amassed 397 total yards, including a 5-play, 66-yard touchdown drive during the final minute of the first half to take a 21-10 lead.
• K-State went on to out-score Troy, 21-3, in the second half, converting on 5-of-8 third-down attempts.
• The defense held Troy to just 70 rushing yards on 28 attempts (2.5 yds/att) with 46 yards coming on one rush.
• K-State, which collected 9.0 tackles for loss with 4.0 sacks, did not allow Troy to convert any of its seven third-down attempts in the second half as it held the Trojans to just 98 second-half yards.
• An SEC-record 61-yard field goal as time expired lifted Missouri to a narrow 30-27 win over the Wildcats in Columbia in the Cats' first road game of the season.
• Howard threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns on 25-of-39 aim with his 25 completions setting a career high, bettering the 21 he had last year against Oklahoma State and the previous week against Troy.