Kansas football vs. Oklahoma Preview: Do the Jayhawks have a shot?

Kansas football will take on #6 Oklahoma next Saturday in Lawrence at 11 AM. Many believe that the Jayhawks don’t have a prayer, and they aren’t wrong. Still, there’s a game to play, so here’s our Kansas vs. Oklahoma preview.

LAST WEEK

Kansas football lost in brutal fashion to TCU on the road last week. It was a Saturday that seemed to define the past 10 years of instability and futility surrounding the Kansas football program.

In a strange sequence, the Jayhawks’ leading rusher Khalil Herbert was listed out due to “personal reasons” right before the game. Herbert’s teammates didn’t know what was going on, and then, to everyone’s surprise, Herbert seems to have decided to redshirt this season with the intention to transfer.

Between the Herbert debacle and the performance on the field, it was not a great day to be a Kansas football fan. The Jayhawk offense looked pitiful in the 51-14 defeat, only gaining 159 yards of offense compared to TCU’s 625.

The Jayhawks also went a ghastly 1-11 on third-down conversions and got dominated on the time of possession with TCU having the ball almost twice as long as Kansas. About the only bright spot from the Jayhawks’ offense was that no turnovers were committed.

The Sooners, on the other hand, cruised to another victory. Oklahoma’s 55-16 win over Texas Tech puts the Sooners at 4-0 on the season and in firm control of the Big 12.

There’s just not a lot to say about the sixth-ranked Sooners that isn’t already widely known. Alabama transfer Jalen Hurts has been dominant, throwing for 415 yards and three touchdowns last week against Texas Tech. Hurts also picked up 70 yards and a touchdown on the ground as well. Oklahoma receiver CeeDee Lamb also had a good game last week with seven receptions for 185 yards and three touchdowns.

THIS WEEK

Oklahoma is currently a 36 point favorite over the Kansas Jayhawks. What a big surprise, right? The Sooners have beat Kansas in every meeting between these teams since the 1997 Jayhawks beat Oklahoma 20-17 in Lawrence, so does Kansas football even have a realistic chance of winning?

About the only thing Kansas has going for them is that Oklahoma will be taking on Texas on October 12, the week after they face Kansas. The Jayhawks will need literally everything to go right for them if they are going to even have a slight chance of winning.

According to ESPN, Oklahoma has a 98.1% chance of winning the game, so how could Kansas pull out the 1.9% chance of winning?

Well, if Oklahoma looks ahead to Texas, the Jayhawks get lucky, Jalen Hurts forgets how to play football, Lincoln Riley forgets how to coach, Kansas gets lucky, Les Miles finds a four-leaf clover, a rainbow forms over Memorial Stadium, and Kansas gets extremely lucky, the Jayhawks may have a small chance to win.

PREDICTION

It wouldn’t be surprising if the Sooners put up 35+ in the first or second quarter and pulled Jalen Hurts before halftime. In that event, the outcome wouldn’t be changed, but perhaps Oklahoma won’t put up AS many points as they would with Hurts.

Therefore, Kansas may be able to stay within 35 points of the Sooners, beating the spread. Honestly, if the Jayhawks can keep it that close, they should consider that a victory heading into their bye week.

The only way Kansas will somehow win this game is if they can out-score the Sooner offense since it’s basically unstoppable. Considering last week’s performance by Kansas, that probably won’t be happening.

This one will likely get ugly early, and it’ll be on to Texas for Oklahoma and on to a much-needed bye week for Kansas football. Still, if Kansas pulls this one out, I’ll see you at the goalposts.

Prediction: 66-21 Oklahoma