J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q

After an impressive victory over an offensively talented and well coached Kansas team last week in the friendly confines of the Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium, the Oklahoma Sooners travel north to play the Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan in what some pundits feel is the proverbial “trap game” for OU.

One can certainly ask the question after playing the likes of TCU, Texas, and KU in three of the past four weeks are the Sooners due to mentally have an “off day?” Will last year’s road woes return and become problematic for Stoops’ Troops?

Without question the Sooners have practiced hard and with intensity this week while keeping in mind that championship caliber teams win the road games that they are supposed to win. Yeah, I remember Colorado last year. I wasn’t able to change the TV channel as I was there and saw the Sooners play without intensity allowing the home team to make some plays therefore giving the home crowd a reason to have hope and to emotionally invest in the game. It wasn’t an enjoyable trip that day to the Rocky Mountains and all the “Banquet Beer” and John Denver tunes combined couldn’t fix what went wrong that afternoon for this fan.

Is the table set for a road shocker this weekend with yet another unique, or are they even unique any longer, starting time of 11:30 Saturday morning in the “Little Apple” on Fox Sports television?

The short answer is, “highly unlikely” but the reality of it is that it is that it obviously could happen. It could happen if the Sooners come out flat and uninspired while K-State gets a hot hand early, gets their crowd involved, and can make some big plays in non traditional ways.

Kansas State has a strong special teams unit that leads the national in blocked kicks with 7. Any time the Sooners punt Saturday it will be a potentially momentum changing play and not simply because Ryan Broyles or Dominique Franks are past due to take one to the house. The Wildcats have scored 5 special teams touchdowns compared to none for the Sooners.

Read the rest of J.R.'s column at OUInsider.com »