2008 Season Preview: Kansas State

by ccmachine on Jul 29, 2008 6:55 PM CDT

Oklahoma will go from hosting the Kansas Jayhawks for Homecoming one week to playing at Kansas State for the Wildcats’ Homecoming the following week. KSU has a 16-2 record on Homecoming the last 18 years and the quality of this opponent is still very much a question mark.

Coming off a 5-7 record last year the Wildcats return 12 starters, 7 on offense and 5 on defense, and have loaded up on JUCO talent to try to fill the holes this year. On offense they lose their leading rusher and receiver but return the self proclaimed top quarterback in the conference. In front of Josh Freeman will be one of the top offensive lines in the conference where the Wildcats only lose one starter. The question for the offense going into the season is who their playmakers are going to be. Leon Patton is slated to start as the running back. He only carried the ball 83 times last season but averaged 4.7 yards per carry. Deon Murphy now becomes their go-to receiver. He also has talent but was overshadowed by All-American Jordy Nelson. Murphy had less that half of Nelson’s catches and over 1,000 less in receiving.

2007 Offensive Leaders
Passing	Josh Freeman	316/499, 3353 yards, 18 TD, 11 INT
Rushing	James Johnson	174 carries 1164 yards, 12 touchdowns
Receiving	Jordy Nelson	122 receptions, 1606 yards, 11 touchdowns

In 2007 the Wildcats averaged scoring 35.2 points per game which was a steady improvement over Ron Prince’s first season in Manhattan but the also gave up more points per game than his inaugural year by allowing opponents an average of 30.8 points per game. Only five players from last season’s defense return in 2008 and among the departed are their top two tacklers. They do return their leader in sacks as well as their leader in interceptions and moving Ian Campbell back to defensive end from linebacker will be a huge move because it will allow him to be in position to make more plays in the offensive backfield.

2007 Defensive Leaders
Tackles	Justin McKinney	74
Tackles for Loss	Ian Campbell	6.5
Sacks	Ian Campbell	4.5
Interceptions	Chris Carney	4

I don’t necessarily believe that Ron Prince is on the hot seat this year like some are saying. He went to a bowl in `06 and just missed out on going to one last season. If they don’t field a competitive team this season and miss out on bowls in back-to-back years then 2009 could be a critical year.