Oklahoma Sooners (5-1, 2-1)
Kansas Jayhawks (2-3, 0-2)The Sooners travel to Lawrence Kansas today to take on the Jayhawks in a game that should help OU put to sleep the reminders of the loss suffered at the hands of Rival Texas last week in Dallas.
The Sooner OU gets back to winning football the better and if you have to do it on the road there are far worse places to do it than Lawrence Kansas. The Sooners are 69-22-6 in 97 games against KU. That includes a 33-13-4 record in Lawrence. If the Sooners are frustrated, the Jayhawks can be a very comforting punching bag.
When people hear The Kansas Jayhawks they automatically think college Basketball. Oh, KU does play in almost all sports but the rumor is that the game of Basketball was created in Lawrence. When talk of Jayhawk football enters a conversation, the subject usually turns to Gale Sayers. Sayers, the Kansas Comet, is about the best thing to come out playing football at KU. Sure, Glen Mason won a couple of game and Mark Mangino did come within a whisper of a Big 12 title but few remember them. Kansas fans have always paid homage to Basketball first and, until the start of the basketball season, used the football games as a place to meet, eat and drink.
The 2013 Jayhawk team, coached by oft traveled Charlie Weis, have played good football in spurts this season. Most notably in the first quarter. In week 6 the Jayhawks led Texas Tech 10-0 after the first quarter, and lost 54-16. A week later, the Hawks were tied with TCU 10-10 at the half and lost 27-17. KU can start, but they struggle to finish. Once their opponent takes the lead, the Jayhawks tend to fold. I have a hard time imagining a different game today.
Bob Stoops Sooners are 14-0 following the Texas game. Seven of those games have come against KU. After a loss to Texas the Sooners are typically in a bad mood and are refocused. OU has outscored all opponents 37-12 following the Texas game. In three games against the Jayhawks following a loss to Texas, the Sooners have beaten KU by and average score of 33-16. Today is not likely to be any different.
The biggest question going in to today's game is whether or not Trevor Knight or Kendall Thompson will see any time at quarterback for the Sooners. Blake Bell has struggled to lead this offense in the last two games against Texas and TCU. His throwing has not been very good and his lumbering runs are easily sniffed out by opposing defenses. The Sooners are still in position to win the Big 12 but they will have to score 30 to 50 points to beat the likes of Baylor and Texas Tech. Bell has not shown that he can do that. TCU and Texas took away the run and dared the Sooners to beat them in the air. TCU almost beat OU and Texas did. A one dimensional OU team will not win games against equal opponents. Blake Bells inability to run effectively makes OU one dimensional.
Bell has also not played well coming from behind. If Texas does not take a 10-3 lead on the pick 6 thrown by Bell early, the Texas game might have ended differently. After the last two weeks, I wonder how the Notre Dame game would have gone had the OU defense not given Bell and the offense a 14 point lead. After all, the defensive scores and the two point conversion were the difference in that game.
I am not advocating a quarterback change by any stretch. Bell has proven to be a solid gamer. And, this is only his fifth start. It would be interesting to see what the added dimension of a running quarterback like Knight or Thompson would bring. OU is still in the hunt for a Big 12 Championship, I just think this is a good time to take a look at all of our options.
The Sooners should win this game even if the Jayhawks jump on them early. But I don't see the Bell led offense putting up more than 28 points unless OU establishes the run effectively and early. If not, It could be a long day for the Sooners. However, with the 14-0 record they are bringing in following the Texas game I am hard pressed to pick against the Sooners.
Somewhere I can hear Barry Switzer saying "Run baby Run"!
CMan's pic: OU 24 - 14
Buster' pick: OU 31-17
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