I’m not sure even Bo Pelini knows yet who will start for him come Saturday between Cody Green and Zac Lee.

Edge: OU

Running backs
When healthy, DeMarco Murray is an elite back.

When healthy, so is Roy Helu Jr. Both are looking healthier this week.

Edge: Even

Wide receivers
Dejuan Miller appears primed to take over as Ryan Broyles’ wingman.

Niles Paul is the only Husker with more than 16 catches.

Edge: OU

Tight ends
The Sooners are using Eric Mensik more and more.

The Huskers play a ton of tight ends, led by Mike McNeill.

Edge: Nebraska

Offensive line

The Sooners appear to be slowly getting better up front.

The Huskers appear to be slowly getting worse up front.

Edge: OU

Defensive line
Led by GK McCoy, OU has arguably the best defensive front in all of college football.

Led by Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska has arguably the best defensive front in all of college football.

Edge: Even

Linebackers
The Sooners are talented and seasoned.

The Huskers are talented, but still young.

Edge: OU

Defensive backs

Led by their corners, OU’s DBs have been strong.

But Nebraska has put together one of the pass defenses in the nation.

Edge: Nebraska

Special teams
NU’s Alex Henery is one of the best kickers in the nation.

OU just benched Jimmy Stevens for inexperienced freshman Tress Way.

Edge: Nebraska

Prediction: OU 24, Nebraska 9

Nebraska’s defense will give the Sooners problems. But the Huskers’ struggling offense won’t be able to score enough points to pull the upset.

-JT

Barnes visited Norman the first weekend in October, and is also considering North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, UCLA and Iowa State, the school in his hometown of Ames, Iowa.

School officials told the Des Moines Register that ESPN had expressed interest in broadcasting the press conference, but no plans had been finalized.

For those who haven’t heard, Florida LB Brandon Spikes was recently suspended for a half for attempting to eye-gouge Georgia running back Washaun Ealey.

Remember back in August, Spikes randomly attacked Oklahoma, calling them the dirty.

“Compared to Oklahoma, you won’t find anyone (as dirty),” Spikes said, referring to Florida’s meeting with OU in the national championship.

Pot, meet kettle.

-JT

Close to Tournament time, I’ve always enjoyed in late Feb., when ESPN takes a comparison look at three teams on the bubble, but reduces their identity as Team A, Team B, Team C. You’re always surprised when the team most deserving of a spot, Team A, is like Marist, while B and C are like Kentucky and Indiana.

In honor of that, here’s an anonymous comparison of Big 12 quarterbacks:

QB A: 1,657 yards, 17 TDs, 6 INTs, 62.4%
QB B: 1,977 yards, 15 TDs, 8 INTs, 72.0%
QB C: 1,650 yards, 13 TDs, 7 INTs, 63.7%
QB D: 2,385 yards, 16 TDs, 7 INTs, 64.1%

So which QB would you take for all-conference honors? It’s tough. But you’d have to take a long look at QB A, with his high TD vs. INT ratio.

Who’s who:
QB A: Landry Jones, OU
QB B: Colt McCoy, Texas
QB C: Zac Robinson, OSU
QB D: Todd Reesing, KU

Of course, Landry Jones won’t be named first-team All-Big 12 QB. Not with Colt McCoy still around. But looking at the numbers, he’s having just as good a season as any of the elite QBs in the league.

The exciting thing for the Sooners?

Jones is the only one of the four not a senior.

-JT

G: Tommy Mason-Griffin, freshman
G: Willie Warren, sophomore
G: Tony Crocker, senior
F: Ryan Wright, senior
F: Tiny Gallon, freshman

Though coach Jeff Capel has been publicly non-committal about how much impact Mason-Griffin and Gallon could have right away, for them to be starting this early in the season says plenty.

Capel said junior forward Orlando Allen’s conditioning was not where he wanted it, but expect him to get some quality minutes spelling Gallon and Wright. Against British Columbia, a lot of players could get a lot of minutes, but anyone who shows up to the Lloyd Noble Center on Tuesday night should get a good, long look at Oklahoma’s new pair of McDonald’s All-Americans.

British Columbia has seen another memorable Sooner debut. In his first game, former Sooner Blake Griffin scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against the Thunderbirds in 2007.

What did we learn following Oklahoma’s 42-30 victory over Kansas State on Halloween?

For starters, quarterback Landry Jones continues to thrive, despite the pressures of replacing a Heisman Trophy winner.

Jones told me after the game that he feels like he’s playing his best ball of the season. I agree.

Jones was 14 of 14 to close the game. 14 of 14. That’s Sam Bradford precision.

“I’m seeing the stuff easier out on the field and seeing the coverages more,” Jones said.

And the scary part is that Jones still has a ways to go.

“He will get better,” coach Bob Stoops said. “There are still some spots out there that he’ll see, geez I could have gone a few different places.”

If Jones continues to improve, the Sooners could easily finish this season 9-3 with six straight wins, which would probably put them in the Cotton Bowl, likely against LSU. Not bad for a team that had to replace the best QB in all of college football.

Quick hits
* People forget just how great a coach Bill Snyder is. The Wildcats are so well-coached, and even being down 28-9, stayed with their game plan and never panicked. I was somewhat skeptical about how effective Snyder would be in a comeback. But after watching the way his team played Saturday, I believe K-State is on the way back. In fact, I am now picking the Wildcats to win the North.

* DeMarco Murray does two things very well. Catches the ball out of the backfield. And doesn’t go down easy between the tackles. His longest run was only 14 yards, and most of his 62 rushing yards came tough between the tackles.

* Dejuan Miller is really beginning to emerge. Nine catches, 94 yards, 1 TD. The question now is, will he sustain it, or is he just the next flavor of the week at receiver?

* Remember Adron Tennell? Since dropping a touchdown pass against Tulsa, Tennell has quietly been one of OU’s most reliable targets. He had the best game of his career last weekend against Kansas. But he was just as good against K-State, finishing with four catches for 62 yards. Best stat, though? No drops.

* Is Jeremy Beal the best defensive end in college football? He was terrific again with 1 1/2 sacks and 5 tackles for loss. He is now 7th nationally in sacks and tackles for loss.

* After three straight dominating weeks, the Sooner secondary finally broke down in the second half. Brandon Banks hit OU up for several big catches. OU’s secondary is still outstanding. When you face great WRs week after week, you’re bound to get burned.

* The Sooners did something interesting, beginning the game in a true 4-3 base defense with Austin Box in for Keenan Clayton at LB. The idea was to counter K-State’s power rushing attack. Box and Clayton rotated in and out at strong-side linebacker throughout the game.

They said it
Bob Stoops on receiver Ryan Broyles: “The guy is something. He is really talented with his quickness, ability to make big plays, make people miss him right after the catch. He is a great competitor.”

Stoops on safety Quinton Carter, who led OU with nine tackles: “He had a big night. Tackling was excellent. His run fits and all, covered well and had a big interception towards the end.”

Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson on facing first-and-45: “My first idea was that we had so many negative plays that I ran it, to settle everybody down and see where we were at and see if we could get in that 50 yard field goal range. As we always tell the quarterbacks, you don’t have to throw it and both of those throws were check down throws. When it is third and real long, and you throw it underneath and make a guy miss, getting the ball in space is good. So the nice thing is that Landry didn’t force it.”

Defensive end Jeremy Beal: “I thought the offense played exceptionally well. Especially in the second half when they answered every time they scored. That helped us out a lot. The defense, we didn’t play as well as we needed to, especially in the second half, but we came out in the fourth and made some key stops that helped us to a win.”

Broyles on the other receivers: “It’s good when guys step up, it’s definitely a good thing. We just have to keep moving up from here. We have a lot of talent and a lot of guys have the chance to play, we just have to make the best of it.”

By the numbers
351: Brandon Banks’ all-purpose total. The K-State slot receiver had 156 yards receiving and 195 in kick returns, including a 98-yard touchdown.

79: OU has now outscored its opponents 79-0 in the first quarter this season.

40: DeMarco Murray’s career TDs. He had three Saturday. Only seven all-time Sooners have more.

14: Landry Jones completed his final 14 attempts of the game.

2: OU blocked extra points. Adrian Taylor and Auston English each blocked one.

-JT

PGATOUR.COM: Not a Clippers fan?

AK: No way, man. Even though my boy B.G. (Blake Griffin) plays for them now, I’m still a Lakers fan. Blake and I both went to Oklahoma, and my strength and conditioning coach, Darby Rich, used to be the strength and conditioning coach for the men’s basketball team and trained Blake when he was there.

PGATOUR.COM: You ever play against Blake?

AK: I don’t even fool around with Blake. How am I going to mess with him on the court? That would be like him trying to mess with me on the golf course. But I always played with other guys from the OU team, and I was probably the only guy from the golf team to do that. It was good because it was competitive, and it’s good to try stuff you don’t always practice. And I love to talk trash.

FULL INTERVIEW

But not as good a job as Landry Jones has filling in for Sam Bradford.

Edge: OU

Running backs
When healthy, DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown form one of the best 1-2 punches in the nation.

But Daniel Thomas could be the Big 12’s offensive newcomer of the year.

Edge: Even

Wide receivers
Brandon Banks is one of the top slot backs in the Big 12.

Ryan Broyles is one of the top slot backs in the country.

Edge: OU

Tight ends
Jeron Mastrud is off to another fine year, with 17 catches for 207 yards.

The Sooners didn’t even play a tight end last week.

Edge: K-State

Offensive line

The Sooners are still searching for consistency, going with yet another lineup last week.

The Wildcats have paved the way for Thomas, who leads the Big 12 in rushing.

Edge: K-State

Defensive line
Jeff Fitzgerald has been disruptive for the ‘Cats at DT.

The entire OU d-line, however, has been disruptive for everyone.

Edge: OU

Linebackers
Senior MLB Ulla Pomele leads a solid K-State unit.

But the trio of Ryan Reynolds, Travis Lewis and Keenan Clayton have been much better than solid.

Edge: OU

Defensive backs

Free safety Tysyn Hartman has been a big-time playmaker for the Wildcats.

But no CB duo is playing as well as OU’s Dom Franks and Brian Jackson.

Edge: OU

Special teams
Josh Cherry has struggled with FG attempts longer than 30 yards; Banks is an electric returner.

The Sooners are testing out Tress Way at place-kicker; Broyles only career punt return TD came at K-State last year.

Edge: Even

Prediction: OU 41, K-State 13

K-State is one of the Big 12’s surprises, but is yet to defeat anyone of substance. The ‘Cats are on the right path, but they don’t have near the talent to deal with the Sooners in Norman.

-JT