KU Jayhawks vs. Oklahoma Sooners: Five things to know entering Saturday’s football game
Kansas linebacker Rich Miller was too busy shaking hands with TCU’s football players — while also processing a 38-31 loss to the Horned Frogs — to notice something special happening in the stands at the conclusion of Saturday’s entertaining Big 12 battle at Booth Memorial Stadium.
“I wasn’t really paying attention to it for real. I was trying to get to the locker room,” Miller said of his failing to observe KU’s sellout crowd of 47,233 fans standing and cheering the Jayhawks as they exited the field after their first loss of the season — their first loss in six games and first Big 12 Conference loss in three.
“If they did, I really appreciate that for sure,” added Miller, a 6-foot-1, 225-pound Detroit native who had nine tackles vs. the Horned Frogs (5-0, 2-0).
Though Saturday’s showdown definitely lived up to its pre-game hype — ESPN GameDay was in town to witness KU’s third straight sellout — the outcome left the Jayhawks wanting more.
“I wouldn’t say we’re happy with it,” Miller said. “At the end of the day, we gave up too many points and we lost the game. We don’t want to be happy with it at all.
“I’m happy the way we fought, happy the way my team fought. I know we’re going to fight with anybody who comes on the field with us. We can play with anybody.”
KU, ranked No. 19 in the AP poll for the second straight week, will next meet Oklahoma (3-3, 0-3) at 11 a.m. Saturday at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. The game will be shown on ESPN2.
TCU is No. 13 this week after coming in at 17 a week ago..
“We bounce back,” Miller said. “We go harder. We take this one on the chin and learn from it.”
THE DETAILS
Kickoff: 11 a.m., Saturday
Where: Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WHB (810) in Kansas City; KFH (1240 AM, 97.5 FM) in Wichita
Early betting line: Oklahoma is favored by 7.5 points
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
1. Oklahoma (3-3, 0-3 Big 12) was picked to finish second behind Baylor in the Big 12 preseason media poll: The Sooners since opening conference play, have lost to 41-34 to Kansas State in Norman, 55-24 to TCU in Fort Worth and 49-0 to Texas last Saturday in Dallas. OU beat Nebraska (49-14), Kent State (33-3) and UTEP (45-13) in the non-conference portion of the season. The Nebraska rout was on the road, the other two games in Norman.
2. Brent Venables is off to a dismal start in his first season as head coach at OU: The Sooners have lost three straight games for the first time since 1998. OU lost five in a row that season and opened the Big 12 campaign 0-4. The Sooners suffered the worst shutout loss in school history vs. Texas. Their largest shutout loss previously had been 47-0 to Oklahoma State in 1945.
3. Like Kansas, the Sooners have an injured quarterback: Dillon Gabriel, who was a game-time decision against Texas, missed the contest after failing to pass concussion protocols. Gabriel, a 5-11 redshirt junior from Hawaii, suffered a concussion in the second quarter against TCU and missed the final two quarters of that contest. Davis Beville, a 6-6 redshirt junior transfer from Pitt, was 6-for-12 passing for just 38 yards vs. Texas. Without Gabriel, Oklahoma had several direct snaps to running back Eric Gray or tight end Brayden Willis. Against TCU, Beville was 7 of 16 for 50 yards. “We’ll see and we’ll continue to evaluate him on his availability. They’ll let me know,” Venables told media Saturday when asked Gabriel’s status for the KU game.
4. KU’s offense has continued to click even with Jalon Daniels on the sidelines: The Jayhawks, who were without starting QB Daniels (shoulder injury) the second half of Saturday’s game, outgained TCU 540 yards to 452. KU’s 540 yards were a season high and marked the third time this season KU has accumulated 500-plus yards of total offense (528 vs. Duke, 502 vs. Tennessee Tech). KU’s 540 yards (346 put up by backup QB Jason Bean in the final half) were the most for a KU team since the Jayhawks gained 569 at Texas in 2019. It was KU’s most yards of offense at home since 2018 vs. Rutgers (544 yards).
5. Redshirt sophomore running back Ky Thomas had a 16-yard rush in the second quarter, his longest run of the season: Thomas, a Topeka native who had missed the previous two games because of an undisclosed injury, entered Saturday’s game with a season-long run of seven yards and 25 yards total on 11 carries. He finished the TCU game with 19 yards on six carries. Devin Neal was KU’s leading rusher with 88 yards on 15 carries.
