Oklahoma’s offense can trap offensive coordinators.

The Sooners' ability to score in a minute on every possession can trap play-callers into coming out of their comfort zone and taking more risks than they normally would. That’s a quick way to compound the issues in stopping the Sooner offense, by giving their defense an easy way out.

More risks mean more negative plays, and as Courtney Messingham said on Thursday, that can easily mean more third and longs. Kansas State is already ill-equipped to convert in those situations as it is.

Messingham explained why it is important not to get caught up in what Oklahoma does on offense and still manage and call the game like he normally would. Of course, he was also not afraid to share that finishing drives and coming away with touchdowns instead of field goals would also be a key factor. The more they have the ball on offense means the less the Sooners possess the pigskin.

Limiting possessions will be one of the chief goals.

To be clear, Messingham didn’t offer much clarity or definitive answers on the status of Phillip Brooks, Jordon Brown and Malik Knowles. He noted a few items on each, where we can draw our inferences and read between the lines, though.

It sounds like Brooks will be available. I got the impression that Messingham was itching to get him back involved in the offense, and it sounded like he expected him to in how he was phrasing it all. He seemed less certain on Brown, and made it appear as if it was still a scenario in which they were waiting on him to be medically cleared.

With Knowles, it was almost described by Messingham as if it was more dependent on Knowles’ pain tolerance. Knowles was on a pitch count last week and could be again depending on how he feels.

While Knowles may be on a pitch count once again on Saturday in Manhattan, Messingham responded by agreeing that it was pretty difficult to manage those snaps. I thought he did an excellent job of doing so last Saturday against TCU, but it was neat to hear him address the challenges of doing so during his press conference on Thursday.

It’s not as simple as inserting him into the game on third downs or just when a big play is needed. As Messingham revealed, that can be pretty easy for a defense to prepare and negate. It’s too predictable.

They had to pick their spots, their situations, the downs and distances and also keep the defense at bay and on their toes. I also appreciated how they conserved Knowles as well. He played much more in the second half against the Horned Frogs.

Kansas State’s offensive coordinator gushed about Oklahoma athlete Kenneth Murray when asked about him. It was apparent that he holds the Sooner defender in high regard. There’s not a whole lot he can’t do.

There are very few times when you have to know where a defensive player is at all times but he’s one of those, said Messingham.

***Subscribe to K-StateOnline by clicking here***

Talk K-State football and basketball in the largest, most active K-State message board community anywhere, The Foundation.