Oklahoma State football: Numbers to know for Kansas State game

1. Kansas State is the Big 12’s best at stopping the run. Through three games, the Wildcats rank No. 6 in the nation in rushing defense, allowing only 54.7 yards on the ground per game. OSU figures to immediately put this to the test, as the Cowboys rushed on 57 plays (as opposed to 13 attempted passes) in last week’s win against Boise State.

2. Before 2020, OSU had dropped four Big 12 openers in a row. The Cowboys opened Big 12 play in 2020 with a 27-13 win at home against West Virginia. It marked the first time in five years that OSU had won its conference opener, a streak that included losses to Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, and Texas in four consecutive years.

3. Since 2016, the Cowboys have won eight of 11 games as an unranked squad against a Top 25 opponent. In the six of these games that have occurred in Stillwater, OSU is 5-1. Perhaps ranked teams tend to overlook unranked opponents, or Mike Gundy’s teams thrive on being an underdog. In this Week 4 matchup at home, OSU is a 5.5-point favorite despite being ranked lower (technically No. 29 in the AP poll based on votes) than Kansas State.

4. OSU has won six of its last seven home meetings against Kansas State. The Cowboys’ lone home loss to the Wildcats since 2003 occurred four years ago, when a Bill Snyder-coached squad snatched a 45-40 win from OSU. Overall, the Cowboys own a 41-26 series advantage against Kansas State and have won each of the previous two seasons. Interestingly enough, the Wildcats defeated the Cowboys nine times in a row between 1990 and 2002.

5. OSU’s offense has averaged only 190 passing yards per game. It’s an odd sight to see a Gundy-coached squad struggle so much through the air. The Cowboys rank No. 101 in the nation in terms of passing offense, behind every Big 12 team besides Kansas and Kansas State. If any of OSU’s injured wide receivers can return for Week 4, it will be a boost to Spencer Sanders and the air attack.

6. Through three games, 11 different Cowboys have caught a pass. And there hasn’t been a more important reception than that of Cale Cabbiness, a redshirt freshman walk-on from Norman who recorded his first career catch as a crucial third-and-long conversion late in the fourth quarter. The game-sealing catch enabled OSU to run out the clock against Boise State, which had already used its final timeout.