OSU VS. KANSAS STATE
• When: 2:30 p.m., Saturday
• Where: Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater
• TV: ESPN2 (Cox 28/HD 721; Dish 143; DirecTV 209; U-verse 606/HD 1606)
• Radio: KXXY-FM 96.1
Scouting Kansas State
2017 record: 5-5 overall, 3-4 Big 12; coming off a 28-23 loss to West Virginia
Best player: Linebacker Jayd Kirby has emerged as a playmaker in the Wildcats’ defense after two years as mostly a special-teams weapon. The 6-foot-2, 222-pound senior is the team’s best weapon as a blitzing linebacker, with three sacks and nine tackles for loss, both leading the team. He’s second in tackles with 73.
Case for the Wildcats: Their offense is finding its way after a sketchy start. But the Wildcats have scored at least 30 points in four of their last six games, despite uncertainty at quarterback. The OSU defense, meanwhile, is coming off its toughest two-game stretch of the season and will be without starting free safety Tre Flowers for the first half because of a targeting suspension.
Case for the Cowboys: They survived their Bedlam hangover, and they’ve got two games left to give themselves a shot at the Big 12 title game — with some help, of course — and perhaps a major bowl game. The offense is still rolling, which will be important against a K-State team that is 1-4 when it allows more than 25 points.