Kansas potentially walking into snake pit at Boone Pickens Stadium
Oklahoma State fans in the student section celebrate after a touchdown against Kansas State in the first quarter Saturday September 25, 2021 at Boone Pickens Stadium. (Lynn Harrington/stayaliveinpower5)
Although Boone Pickens Stadium only packs 60,000 fans, the venue gets loud enough to make the visiting players tremble in their shoes.
The Cowboys took down the reigning Big 12 champs at home last Friday. Now Mike Gundy’s boys are looking to make it back-to-back victories over teams from the Sunflower State. However, the Jayhawks have won five of their last six games, and been getting it done with two different quarterbacks.
Jalon Daniels, who’s the 2023 preseason Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, started against Illinois, Nevada and BYU. Those were all victories, and during that span Daniels threw for 705 yards, five touchdowns and an interception. Back tightness forced Daniels to miss games against Missouri State, Texas and UCF, but Jason Bean filled in admirably.
Bean started in Daniels’ absence, and combined for 503 passing yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in those games. So Bean clearly has embraced that next man up mentality. Daniels will likely be out for game seven too, which will be the third-straight week that he’s missing in action.
Meanwhile the Cowboys are starting to gain some traction after winning their first Big 12 game of the season. Everyone counted out Oklahoma State (3-2) after losses to South Alabama and Iowa State, but Gundy has his players believing again. The last time the Jayhawks invaded Boone Pickens, they left with a 55-3 loss. As a matter of fact, Kansas (5-1) hasn’t won in Stillwater since 2007.
The crowd will make it a hostile environment for the for the No. 23 team in the country. Coach Lance Leipold should expect the noise levels to be all the way up. Gundy is the longest-tenured coach in the Big 12, so he knows the style of play and coaching it takes to be successful in the league. Leipold needs to show that his team can win on the road. The beating Kansas took at Texas two weeks ago dropped it out of the top-25.
The Jayhawks are currently in a four-way tie for third place inthe Big 12 standings. Leipold’s squad started out 5-1 last year too, but lost five of their final seven games. Kansas is out to change that narrative this time around though, and it has the horses on offense to do it. The Jayhawks are the top rushing team in the conference, and rank sixth in the FBS.
Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw Jr., both eclipsed the century mark in rushing yards, and combined for three touchdowns in last week’s win over UCF. Kansas is also averaging 36 points per game. Slowing down the Jayhawks will be a tall task for the Cowboys, considering they rank 69th nationally in total defense, including 86th against the run.
Something has to give though. Kansas is trying to snap a six-game losing streak at Boone Pickens, and the Cowboys are looking to upset a ranked team for the first time this season. Both sides have plenty to play for, which should make for some good Big 12 football.
