#18 Texas Longhorns at #6 Kansas State Wildcats Preview

Saturday night at 8:00 PM, Collin Klein will not only look to prove to the Heisman voters the he deserves the Heisman trophy, but he will also look to lead his Kansas State Wildcats to yet another victory this year, this time over the Texas Longhorns.

Collin Klein looks to impress Heisman
voters this Saturday against Texas.

This season the Longhorns haven't been as impressive as most years. They have an 8-3 overall record, with the three losses all coming in Big 12 play. KSU has only lost one game, to Baylor on November 17th. Kansas State hasn't had a game since then. Coming off of a loss, they'll definitely be looking to get back to their winning ways inside Bill Snyder Stadium.

Collin Klein has had a very impressive season, throwing for over 2,300 yards and 14 touchdowns, while also rushing for 787 yards and scoring 20 rushing touchdowns. Sounds like a Heisman candidate to me.

Klein has a running back behind him by the name of John Hubert. Hubert has carried the ball 158 times for 826 yards and 12 touchdowns. He is a nice reliable option Klein has, not only to pass to, but also to take the pressure off of Klein, and open up both sides of the offense for the Wildcats.

The Wildcats also have Chris Harper and Tyler Lockett at wide receiver. Both men have three receiving touchdowns. Harper has 727 receiving yards while Lockett has 579. Both will look to have a big game this Saturday and assist Klein in impressing those Heisman voters while also gaining their 11th victory of the season.

The Longhorns have other plans however. Although Texas hasn't had their best year, they have been playing well. Unfortunately for them, their quarterback David Ash is questionable, and it looks as if Colt McCoy's little brother Case McCoy will be starting at quarterback.

Case isn't a bad quarterback. Just hasn't had the experience Ash has. McCoy is currently 28/42 for 408 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. KSU will be looking to put a lot of pressure on McCoy, to force mistakes, and obviously try to force some turnovers.

Mike Davis will look to assist Case McCoy in leading
the Longhorns to a victory over KSU.

McCoy has two reliable receivers to throw to. Mike Davis is one. Davis has 51 receptions for 891 yards and seven touchdowns. Jaxon Shipley (who is the little brother of NFL wide receiver Jordan Shipley - who played at Texas with Case's big brother Colt). Jaxon has reeled in 46 receptions for 581 yards and five touchdowns.

Texas is allowing about 28 points per game while Kansas State is only allowing 20. It looks as if KSU's defense is the better D, and with Texas starting McCoy as QB, I really think they're going to have a tough time slowing down Kansas State. KSU coming off of a loss is another big factor in my eyes, as most teams coming off of a loss are that much more hungry to put another 'W' in that win column.

The Longhorns are going to have to put pressure on Collin Klein, and pretty much shut him down completely. If he doesn't burn you through the air, he'll burn you with his feet. If they can shut Klein down, they may just shut the Wildcats down. But they also have to be able to move the ball on this Wildcat defense.

This matchup is a good one. It will be a good game Saturday night on ABC.

- Matt Lytle

@mattlytle

#12 Oklahoma Sooners at West Virginia Mountaineers Preview

Oklahoma and West Virginia began the season with a lot of Heisman hype. Landry Jones, who is the Sooners' quarterback and Geno Smith, the Mountaineers' QB, both looked to take possession of the prestigious trophy. Now it seems, neither will end up with the honor.

Oklahoma has only lost two games this season (to current #1 team Kansas State and current #3 team Notre Dame). The Sooners still look strong, and look to travel to Morgantown and defeat the Mountaineers in front of their hometown crowd.

Landry Jones looks to defeat WVU on Saturday night.

The Sooners are obviously led by their senior quarterback Landry Jones. Jones has thrown for 2,691 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has had an amazing career at Oklahoma, and looks to continue it Saturday night at 7:00 PM.

Jones has a very capable running back in his backfield in Damien Williams. Williams has carried the ball over 100 times for nearly 700 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. Landry also has a reliable receiver in Kenny Stills, who has reeled in 54 catches for 682 yards and six touchdowns.

Oklahoma's passing game is ranked 15th in the country with an average of 309 passing yards per game. 15th in the country isn't too bad, however, West Virginia is ranked fifth! Yes, I said fifth.

WVU is led by Geno Smith, who is a senior just like Landry Jones. Smith has had an outstanding year with over 3,000 yards passing, 31 touchdowns thrown, and only three interceptions. How WVU hasn't won more games is beyond me. Currently they are sitting at 5-4. Their first five games, they won them all. So now they're riding a four game losing streak. They're hoping to snap that slump on Saturday.

Geno Smith has an amazing 31 TDs thrown this season.

Smith has two very nice targets at wide out. Stedman Bailey, a junior, who has 75 catches this season for 1,055 yards and 16 touchdowns. On the other side, he has senior receiver Tavon Austin. Austin has 96 receptions for nearly 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns.

WVU's biggest strength is their passing game, and obviously putting points on the board (they're ranked 10th in the country for points scored, with an average of 40 points. Oklahoma is ranked 12th with an average of 39 points scored). Oklahoma's defense is ranked higher than WVU, and that will be a big key in the game.

If Oklahoma can shut down Geno Smith and WVU's passing game, it's simple, they'll win the game. WVU isn't doing very well in the running game, while Oklahoma has done an okay job.

Both teams put points on the board and make it look easy. Whoever can shut down the others' offense is going to win the game. Turnovers can play a big part in this game, and more importantly scoring off of those turnovers.

I'm going to say that whoever has the most turnovers, is going to win this game. But I also believe this is going to be a shootout. Very exciting, and high scoring. If you like those types of games, I encourage you to tune in at 7:00 PM Saturday night on Fox. Get your popcorn and soda ready, it's going to be quite a game!

- Matt Lytle

@mattlytle