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Not really much to say about this one, as I think the outcome was about what most of us expected. Good teams win, but great teams cover, right?
I suppose that means Oklahoma is but not great?
Anyway. Kansas nearly tripled its offensive output from last week against one of the most talented defenses in the country, so go ahead and say it with me - PROGRESS!
A couple of interesting stats to come out of this game was that OU trailed for the first time this year, and, KU held the Sooners to approximately 120 yards under their season average for total offense. So, take that for whatever its worth.
The Jayhawks averaged 6.0 yards per play, which is pretty good. However, unfortunately Oklahoma averaged 8.3 yards per play, which is really good. KU did force OU to work for its points, as the Jayhawks did a great job of limiting big plays by the Sooners. OU’s longest play from scrimmage was 61 yards; that was the only play for OU that went for more than 25 yards.
The only turnover of the game actually went KU’s way, with a pretty crazy INT by Najee Stevens-McKenzie early in the fourth quarter.
Kansas was 6-14 on third downs (42.8%), while OU converted 6-9 (66.7%). Kansas was 0-2 on the only fourth down conversion attempts of the game, neither of which went well for Kansas. A wide open James Sosinski dropped an easy catch and run in the second quarter, while Carter Stanley overthrew an open Jake Luavasa late in the fourth quarter.
Oh, one more thing. When was the last time you saw third-and-goal from midfield? And did you ever expect it to NOT be Kansas? I’d really like to know the last team that punted on fourth-and-goal.
The Good
The downfield passing game seemed pretty productive, with Carter Stanley averaging 8.2 yards per attempt. More of that, please.
Also, Kansas seemed to have players in position to make plays...
The Bad
... it just didn’t consistently get done. From the two fourth down attempts to Mike Lee’s would-be pick-6, things could have gone a lot better for Kansas.
The Ugly
Despite the positive stats you can pull out for the KU defense, Oklahoma still had its way with the Jayhawks. KU couldn’t get off the field on third down while OU rolled up 545 yards of total offense. The Sooners only punted twice.
The Stats
Carter Stanley was 18-28 for 230 yards and 3 TDs. Stanley took 3 sacks and only picked up 9 rush yards on 6 carries. It should also be noted that well over half of Stanley’s production came in the fourth quarter against OU’s backups, where he was 8-10 for 142 yards and 2 TDs.
Pooka Williams picked up 137 yards on 23 carries. (Only 16 of his rush yards came in the fourth quarter.) Pooka added 20 yards on five receptions.
Velton Gardner only saw 3 carries, picking up 5 yards.
Stephon Robinson had himself a game with 5 receptions for 131 yards and 2 TDs.
Daylon Charlot had KU’s other TD to go along with 2 catches for 33 yards.
Andrew Parchment added 45 yards on 4 receptions.
Bryce Torneden had 6 tackles with a TFL.
Jeremiah McCullough shared the team lead with 6 tackles as well.
Davon Ferguson added 5 tackles with a TFL.
Azur Kamara had 5 tackles with a sack.
Najee Stevens-McKenzie had two tackles and an INT.
Kyle Thompson hit 5 punts for a 43.0 average.