Kansas football: Strong showing against Oklahoma gives new life to season

Nobody gave Kansas football a chance against the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners, and a gritty Jayhawks team proved why all the doubters were wrong.

Kansas nearly shocked the college football world last Saturday when they almost pulled off the upset against No. 3 Oklahoma.

The Jayhawks ultimately fell short due to some bad luck, bad tackling, and — some would say — bad officiating.

Though another loss for this program is nothing to celebrate, one thing can be gained from a performance like that: hope.

Kansas football program has growing confidence

This Kansas football team has suffered big loss after big loss this season. Prior to the Oklahoma game, the Jayhawks were coming off a severely disappointing home beatdown to a visiting Texas Tech team that just fired their head coach this week.

Until Saturday, the season looked like a lost cause. Now, the Jayhawks may have gotten the confidence they needed to finish the year strong and possibly win another game or two.

Despite all the obstacles the Jayhawks have faced this year (the late start for the coaching staff, players transferring, etc.), they managed to compete with the best team in the Big 12 and a top five team in the country for four quarters. That should show these players that they are capable of winning and can compete with anyone in the conference.

Running back Devin Neal, who finished with 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the loss, said via KUSports.com, “I think that game gives us confidence that we can compete with the best.”

The toughest part of the Jayhawks conference schedule is over.

After this Saturday’s game against No. 15 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, all four of KU’s remaining games are against unranked opponents – two of which come at home. And none of those four remaining teams have a winning conference record.

There is nothing more dangerous than a team that is confident and believes in themselves. Couple that with a coaching staff that is getting better each week at understanding how to maximize their talent and make adjustments, and you have the makings of a team that could be hitting their stride in the final stretch of the season.