Welcome to a belated edition of the CRFF Roundtable! The Pokes travel to Lawrence on Saturday to take on the Jayhawks. This is an important game for Oklahoma State. Gotta win it to stay afloat in the Big 12. Is it a trap game?

We’ll get to that.

Why is Kansas so bad at football?

Joel Penfield: "We're really more of a basketball school."

Gallagher Martin: Because they put 100 percent of their time into basketball. Seems to work out come winter.

Phillip Slavin: Honestly? Why would good players go there?

Robert Whetsell: First of all, the premise of your question is incorrect. It should be "Why does Kansas bother with a football program" or "Should Kansas go FCS in football so they have a chance to be a .500 program? That being said, Kansas SUCKS at football because Bill Self is hoarding all the "good."

Wait, he's actually hoarding all the "great," so there's plenty of "good," "mediocre," and "Texas" left for the football program.

I feel really bad for Ned Beatty...I mean Ted Beatty...or is it Ted Bundy?

Austin Higgs: Because, who wants to play football at Kansas?

Tyler Wiederhoeft (New Guy): 2 words: Basketball. School. Remember that video of the football team playing basketball at practice? That's how much of a basketball school they are.

Will Hendrickson (Also new guy who gave a much better answer than the rest of us): This is hard. I think the quick and easy answer is coaching, specifically Charlie Weiss. After Charlie Weiss got to Lawrence in 2012, he dismissed 29 players. A year later the majority of his 25-player recruiting class were Juco transfers and half of them never even played a down for KU. This decimated KU football and left them in a major hole. As recent as last year they only had 64 scholarship players, the FBS allows 85. Combine this with poor in-state high school talent and KU was destined to be awful. They need to find a coach and give that coach time to turn around the program. Kansas State was a terrible football school until they hired the Wizard we know as Bill Snyder.

Is this a trap game for Oklahoma State?

Joel: It could be, the last couple trips to Lawrence haven't been fantastic showings by the Pokes. I'm hoping this week will be different, because I don't know if my blood pressure can take it.

Gallagher: LOLOLOL. Okay, that's a fair question, but even if Oklahoma State overlooks Kansas I just don't know how Kansas comes away with a win. I hear they aren't very good.

Phillip: The last two games in Lawrence came down to the fourth quarter. 20-14 (2012) and 27-20 (2014). I'm not going to call it a trap game, because I expect the coaches to bring this point up to players.

Robert: See 2012 and 2014.

Austin: It could be, but I think this game will play out a lot like last year's game.

Tyler: I don't think it is a trap game. I think of this almost as a "tune-up" game before we host WVU for Homecoming in a couple weeks. I considered Iowa State more of a trap game than KU. Ever since 2010, I always feel a bit nervous whenever we play ISU.

Will: It seems like this entire season has been one big trap game for OSU. Save Baylor and Texas, the Pokes have come out disengaged and disinterested against lesser competition so far this year (SE Louisiana doesn’t count). So yes, I think it is a trap game. Another game at 11 a.m. against an inferior opponent with homecoming and #12 West Virginia on the horizon. We need to come out ready to play or KU might hang around like they have in our past two trips to Lawrence. We won 20-14 in 2012 and had to be saved by a Tyreek Hill kickoff return in 2014, only to escape 27-20.

Chris Carson is supposed to be back from injury this week. Do you expect him to split time with Justice Hill or is it the Hill Show?

Joel: It's gonna be the Hill Show. It's Justice's job now, I think we'll see Carson a little bit on 3rd down and short yardage but beyond that, Justice should get the bulk of the carries.

Gallagher: Maybe he splits time with Jeff Carr as the No. 4 running back, but Justice Hill and Rennie Childs are the clear starters.

Phillip: It's the Hill show to start with, but OSU will back him up with whoever they think will run the best, whether that's Carson, Carr, or Sanders.

Robert: If there's any intelligent life in the program, Hill sees the bulk of the carries until the game is under control.

Austin: He should get a few carries to get back into the swing of things, but no way should he receive near the amount of snaps that Hill does.

Tyler: Hill has earned his spot as the starter. I believe Carson will split the backup duties with Sanders and Childs. We may see a bit more of Carson this week considering the opponent.

Will: I expect the backfield carries to be dominated by Hill going forward the rest of the year. He by far has the most burst out of the backfield and has shown he can be a difference maker at the position for us. The only way I see hill’s carries reduced is if he continues to have trouble holding on to the football, that will shorten his leash very quick if that is a problem the rest of the year. I see Carson mixing in carries with Rennie Childs and Barry J. and maybe getting a few carries at the goal line.

What are you hoping to see from the Pokes this weekend?

Joel: I'm hoping to see OSU finally step on the throat of an opponent they KNOW they are better than. I do not want to see OSU look past this game and look ahead of WVU too early. If they look past KU, it could be another rough game against a team OSU is more than capable of beating.

Gallagher: I'm hoping to see a dominant win. The Cowboys haven't been dominant in Lawerence for a while, and the play calling is usually very vanilla. With West Virginia next week, brace yourself for basic play calling.

Phillip: Just play a sound game. No turnovers, few penalties, no big mistakes. It's Kansas. Show us you can play a solid game from beginning to end.

Robert: See 2011.

Austin: A convincing win. It's been a while since we've kicked the snot out of a (FBS) team.

Tyler: I want to see the run game reassert itself, along with Rudolph completing the screen plays. We all know Mason can throw the deep ball, but is constantly overthrowing his dump offs and screen passes. The run game is better than last year, but still not as good as I think it should be. On the defensive side, I want to see the backs not give up any big plays to the KU WRs.

Will: I want to see a complete game from OSU - start to finish. I want to see us come out of the gate fast and not look back, just like Baylor did last week. We have continuously played down to lesser opponents this season (see CMU, ISU, Pitt) and have come out flat. I want to see us establish the run and limit the big plays we have been giving up on defense this year. We are a much better football team than Kansas and we need to dominate from start to finish like we’re expected to.

Score prediction and your thoughts.

Joel: This will finally be a very convincing win in all facets of the game for the Cowboys. It will also be a confidence booster heading into next week against WVU. 42-17, Oklahoma State.

Gallagher: It wouldn't surprise me one bit if this game is close at halftime, but we won't lose to Kansas. 34-20, Oklahoma State.

Phillip: I'm would rather predict another closer than expected game and be wrong than predict a blow-out... and be wrong. 34-24, Oklahoma State.

Robert: 28-24 OSU... Because this season.

Austin: 42-17 OSU. Because Kansas

Tyler: KU *may* get an early lead, but this team is too talented and Gundy is too good of a coach to let the Jayhawks stick around for long. 52-24, Oklahoma State.

Will: I think Gundy has us focused off a bye week, healthy and ready to play. I think we lead at half 31-14, make a few defensive adjustments in the second half and build on our lead in the 3^rd quarter. We are a far more talented football team and I think we show it tomorrow against a reeling KU football program. Here’s to resting our starters in the 4th, and moving on to 5-2 (6-1 if we’re being honest). 48-20, Oklahoma State.