Kansas blew Oklahoma State's doors off the last time these two played. The rosters, staffs and quarterbacks on both sidelines will look almost nothing alike by the time they meet again in Stillwater.
Share
Show fees
FRI NOV 27 · 11:00 PM CT
Spread
ML
Total
Kansas
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State's whole approach got a facelift this offseason. New coach Eric Morris arrives from North Texas, where his offense led the nation in scoring, and he brought his quarterback with him — Drew Mestemaker, who led all of FBS with 4,379 passing yards and 34 touchdowns last season. Kansas, meanwhile, is still figuring out who lines up behind center. Jalon Daniels is gone, and Cole Ballard holds a slight edge over Isaiah Marshall in a battle head coach Lance Leipold says remains open through fall camp.
The supporting cast matters just as much. Kansas brought back Andy Kotelnicki to run the offense — the same coordinator who had the Jayhawks humming from 2021 to 2023 — and added transfer receivers Nahzae Cox and Nik McMillan, who combined for 102 catches at their old schools last season. Oklahoma State's rebuild goes deeper than the quarterback room too, with Morris importing much of his North Texas staff, including offensive coordinator Sean Brophy, to install the same up-tempo system that got Mestemaker to a conference title game.
It's worth remembering how lopsided this series went the last time these two met. Kansas beat Oklahoma State 38-21 on November 1 last year, with Daniels engineering four second-half touchdown drives to pull away. That version of Kansas doesn't exist anymore, and neither does the Oklahoma State team that lost that game — the Cowboys enter this one having gone winless against FBS competition a season ago, which is exactly why Stillwater blew up its coaching staff and quarterback room.
Kansas Jayhawks
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries to report
Oklahoma State Cowboys
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries to report
Kansas Jayhawks
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Kansas' defense has its own questions to answer by then. The Jayhawks lose their entire starting defensive line, leaning on returners Leroy Harris and Blake Herlod along with transfers Tre'von McAlpine and Alex Bray to fill the gaps, with linebacker Trey Lathan asked to hold it together as the unit's clear leader. Add in a Big 12 schedule that sends Kansas to London to face Arizona State, and the version of this team that shows up in Stillwater on Friday, November 27 could look very different from the one that opens fall camp.
Oklahoma State's bar is lower and clearer: beat the teams it's supposed to beat and prove last year's collapse was an aberration, not a preview of where the program is headed. Win or lose, this is a measuring-stick spot for both staffs — proof of concept for Morris' rebuild, and a look at whether Leipold's Jayhawks can finally turn a talented roster into a bowl bid.
