Kansas shocked the college football world by slowing down No. 4 Oklahoma in the first half over the weekend from Lawrence, Kan.
In fact, the Jayhawks kept OU scoreless until after halftime. It was the first time that the Sooners had been shutout in the first half since Lincoln Riley became head coach and since the 2014 season.
It was also the first time in 32 consecutive games that Oklahoma didn’t score in the first quarter. That snapped the Sooners’ FBS-best streak in that department.
Oklahoma’s first-half possessions against Kansas went like this: five plays and a punt on the first series. Caleb Williams was intercepted on the third snap of the second possession. Then Oklahoma turned it over on downs at the Kansas 33-yard-line after nine plays on the third and final offensive series.
Basically, it was a mess. Williams completed just 6-of-9 passes for 71 yards and he was intercepted by Kansas’ Ricky Thomas Jr. OU running back Kennedy Brooks rushed it just six times for 28 yards before recess.
As a team, Oklahoma was outgained by Kansas in the first half 195 to 78. The Jayhawks chewed up the first-half clock and ran 39 offensive plays compared to Oklahoma’s 17.
At first glance, freshman wide receiver Mario Williams and senior wideout Michael Woods missing the Kansas game due to injury wouldn’t have seemed a big concern. After all, this was KU who ranks 123rd nationally in total defense and 127th in scoring defense.
It didn’t play out that way. Oklahoma looked like it missed both Williams and Woods as the Sooners’ passing game never fully got on track.
Williams did toss a couple of touchdown passes after halftime, a five-yarder to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jadon Haselwood and an eight-yarder to redshirt senior H-back Jeremiah Hall.
Still, he only passed for 178 yards. That was Williams’ lowest passing mark since taking over the quarterbacking duties.
Junior running back Eric Gray actually finished as Oklahoma’s leading receiver with three receptions for 42 yards. A week after his three-touchdown performance against TCU, Haselwood notched just the three receptions for 38 yards.
Junior receiver Drake Stoops had three grabs for 30 yards and sophomore Marvin Mims and freshman Jalil Farooq each had one grab for a combined 19 receiving yards.
OU wide receivers caught eight passes total. According to Pro Football Focus, Sooner wide receivers were targeted just ten times in the game.
Asked about Oklahoma’s slow start against Kansas, Kennedy Brooks was transparent with his thoughts immediately after the game against the Jayhawks.
“I mean, honestly, we just played down to our opponent. We try to fight for our standard to play hard for four quarters and we didn’t do that today, so we’ve just got to go back to the grind. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday for practice and just work and just strive for that,” Brooks said.
Oklahoma head football coach Lincoln Riley was pleased with how his team responded after halftime but disappointed the 35-23 win over Kansas represented another game where OU didn’t put it together for four quarters.
“Obviously, proud of the win and our fight in the second half. Not excited about how we played in the first half. Just really poor football in the first half all the way around,” Riley said.
“So, we had to bow up obviously the second half and we did that,” Riley continued. “We played better on all three sides in the second half. I give our team credit for rising up. Again, I don’t care who you’re playing, if you don’t seize momentum early in a road football game, you’re going to be in for a dogfight and we were. I think Kansas deserves a lot of credit. They made some really nice plays. I thought they were very efficient offensively, did a few things that obviously gave us trouble, and had a good plan.”
Despite being down personnel on both sides of the football, it’s what Riley said next about this Oklahoma football team that really resonated on exactly who and what OU currently is.
“For this team, we’ve kind of figured out our personality a little bit. Our personality is we can finish with the best of them, but it’s frustrating for us of how much we put ourselves I think in position, especially not playing our best early in games, where we have to finish,” Riley said.
Riley added, “We have to finish all the time, but where we need to finish well to win games. We’re going to keep battling with it. We had a good visit in there right after the game. I think our guys know what we need to do, but it’s time for us to start, you know, closing the gaps and playing a little bit better here and more consistently. That is what it is. We’re still a very capable football team. There’s no question and we’ll be excited to have a chance to get some guys back.
“That’s got to be our spark right here is a combination of getting some of these guys back. We’re obviously pretty thin in a lot of areas today. We’ve got to get guys back. The guys that are playing have got to play at a high level. We’ve got to coach at a high level. Our time’s when we’re not playing well, it’s close, but we’re tired of being close. We’ve got to push it over the edge. We’re getting here back half of the season. This is the time where we’ve got to do it. Again, proud of the win, don’t take them for granted, know we have to be a lot better.”
Riley summed up the play of his quarterback Caleb Williams against Kansas and it mirrored the team’s day overall.
“He didn’t play very good in the first half. I thought more than anything there was probably a little bit of frustration when we didn’t… you know, had low possessions, weren’t playing well. Especially the interception, I mean we’ve got a back just standing wide open in the flat,” Riley said.
“He’s got to be a little bit more composed there, but he did, he handled the second half well. I think he understood what we were doing, obviously made some important plays, I thought was pretty calm the second half and certainly more settled in.”
There wasn’t an injury update on Williams and Woods’ statuses after the win over Kansas. Hopefully, Oklahoma gets good news on both quickly, because their absences corresponded with the worst offensive first half in the Lincoln Riley era.
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