Watch Kansas State offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham's entire Thursday media session and read notes based on his comments.

Oklahoma State is probably going to use an odd front along the line of scrimmage more than just about every program Kansas State will see this year, perhaps even all of them.

It is the type of scheme that can be easy to run on if the opposition does not have a dominant nose-guard that can just swallow up the entire interior of an offense. Those are rare in college football, not just Stillwater. It’s why K-State teams coached by Bill Snyder found some success against OSU on the ground.

It does present some alternative challenges and different items to be concerned about, though.

Offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham highlighted a few of those. With an odd front and only three on the line of scrimmage, it makes it more imperative that you know what side the blitz is going to come from, and that’s something that could be a bit more difficult to identify as well.

There will be a fourth rusher, at least, on every play. You'll have to identify, each snap, where that's coming from.

Furthermore, what Messingham seemed to emphasize the most is knowing which way to slide the offensive line at all times. That will probably be on Skylar Thompson, mostly. If they don’t slide the correct way, that can really bust up a play before it even starts.

It is kind of reading in between the lines, but I think Courtney Messingham wants to find different ways to get the ball to Jordon Brown. He did agree that he probably wanted to feed him a little more, and use him a little more, when the question about involvement was asked. Although, to be fair, he did ultimately defer to game flow - and other weapons -figuring into the equation and dictating their decisions.

However, I thought it was very interesting that he fit the idea of Brown having the ball in one-on-one situations. I think there’s some big-play ability and explosiveness that they believe he possesses that we probably haven’t seen yet this year. I’d keep that in mind and remember Messingham’s comment on that this week, if it indeed does come to fruition.

KSO asked the question to Scottie Hazelton as well, and we also asked Messingham if there was someone on the offensive side of the ball that wasn’t getting enough notoriety from the media. Someone that the coaches were thrilled about thus far turned out to be tight end Blaise Gammon.

It wasn’t because Gammon had any flashy plays or reeled of anything explosive, but because his understanding of the offense just allowed them more freedom to do more things.

What he has provided, and all that he has provided, hasn’t shown up on the stat sheet.

Just judging by facial expression, tone of voice and what was said, it seems like Messingham is growing a little exhausted about hearing how much of a surprise it is that Kansas State’s running game has been so impressive and so efficient. He was even asked today specifically how surprised he is by their success.

Honestly, he isn’t, and I think that’s why he’s a bit agitated and irritated over the insinuation. It also suggests he didn’t have high expectations for his players, and I don’t think he necessarily wants them to have that impression. I also don’t think he had that impression of them, and I totally am a believer that Messingham thought the world of them and that they could provide this much of a boost to the offense.

Yes, few projected this success on the ground, but it doesn't mean that surprise has to be projected onto K-State's staff.

It was great to see Messingham visually show how proud he was of James Gilbert’s red zone run on third-and-5 against Mississippi State, where he converted the first down and set K-State up for a touchdown. I think some of it was Gilbert recognizing they had the confidence to give him that ball in that down and distance, and then he backed it up by delivering.

If there was one time that Messingham’s eyes lit up when discussing Mike Gundy’s defense, it was when the subject was the Oklahoma State cornerbacks.

It was readily apparent that the Wildcats’ offensive play-caller has a lot of respect for that particular position for Oklahoma State and thinks that is where most of their talent on that side of the ball resides.

Something my mind latched onto was Messingham agreeing that, ideally, Oklahoma State was the type of team where long scoring drives would be the most impactful and beneficial.

I totally agree with that, too, by the way.

He did take it a step further, stating that he would rather a 10-15 play touchdown drive than one that was three or four plays. Sure, I can understand that it would be the preference, while they certainly won't turn down any big plays.

I’ve been pretty impressed with their play-calling, both from a timing and play-design perspective, so far. That comment just scares me a little into thinking that they will play, and design, a drive with that purpose in mind, and perhaps it could keep them from seeing something else that could be open or more effective because of a desire to control clock

It’s probably an overreaction on my part, but it’s an observation I made. And to be fair, it’s not something that has ever come into play so far this season, so there isn’t a trend or any evidence to suggest that it is something that has trapped them before.

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