Game Primer: Kansas

October 31 | Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas

¹⁴ Oklahoma

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OPENING KICK

• No. 14/13 Oklahoma (6-1, 3-1) looks to move to 3-0 in true road games when it travels to face Kansas (0-7, 0-4) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT in Lawrence. The game will be televised nationally by FS1 with Joe Davis, Brady Quinn and Kris Budden announcing.

• Oklahoma has won 10 straight games against Kansas. It is OU's second-longest active winning streak (the Sooners have won 16 in a row against Iowa State).

• Bob Stoops is 10-0 vs. the Jayhawks as OU's head coach, with each game being decided by at least 15 points. The average score in those contests has been 39-12.

• OU is 15-2 in true road games since the start of the 2012 season.

OU is 15-2 in true road games since the start of the 2012 season.

• The Sooners are 20-5 all-time when ranked No. 14 in the AP poll (7-0 under Stoops). They are 43-6-1 when ranked playing against KU (9-0 under Stoops).

• The Sooners are coming off a 63-27 home win over Texas Tech in which they racked up 617 yards of total offense, including a season-high 405 on the ground. Samaje Perine (201 yards and four TDs) and Joe Mixon (154 yards and two TDs) combined for 355 rushing yards and six scores. OU intercepted four passes (its most since 2003) and held the Red Raiders to 199 total yards and 175 passing yards below their season averages.

• Kansas, a 58-10 loser at Oklahoma State last Saturday, has dropped 10 straight games dating back to last season (is 0-7 this year). The Jayhawks are under the first-year direction of head coach David Beaty, who came to KU after serving the past three years as wide receivers coach at Texas A&M. This is Beaty's third stint with the Jayhawks (was co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach in 2011, and was wide receivers coach in 2008 and '09).

• Oklahoma is 42-6 (.875) since the start of the 2010 season against teams unranked in the AP Top 25 Poll.

FIVE TOP STORYLINES

mixon

Joe Mixon (pictured) and Samaje Perine led an Oklahoma rushing attack that pounded Texas Tech for 405 yards.

• Oklahoma owns a 72-27-6 (.714) all-time record against Kansas and is 34-15-4 in Lawrence. In the Big 12 era, the Sooners hold a 10-2 advantage (5-1 on the road). KU's two Big 12 wins over OU came in 1996 and 1997, the first two years of the league. OU is 5-0 on the road against the Jayhawks under Bob Stoops, and has won those games by an average score of 35-12.

• With their 405-yard rushing performance against Texas Tech on Saturday, the Sooners jumped 43 spots from 82nd nationally to 39th in rushing yards per game (194.0). Kansas ranks ninth in the Big 12 and 118th nationally by giving up 244.9 yards an outing. Last year against KU in Norman, the Sooners ran for 510 yards (tied for the most of the Stoops era) behind Samaje Perine's 427-yard effort, an FBS record.

• Oklahoma's defense has been opportunistic in the month of October, forcing 12 turnovers for an average of 3.0 per game. The Sooners' 10 interceptions this month lead the country. OU has also returned those 10 picks and two fumble recoveries an average of 19.8 yards.

• The Sooners have outscored their four Big 12 opponents by a combined 179-75 margin (average of 45-19). Over the last two games, OU has outscored Kansas State (55-0) and Texas Tech (63-27) by a 118-27 count. OU has not scored 50 or more points in three straight games since Sam Bradford's Heisman Trophy-winning season of 2008.

• Oklahoma leads the Big 12 in conference play in most of the major defensive categories. The Sooners rank first in total defense (320.8 ypg), pass defense (131.5 ypg; second and third are 176.2 and 246.5), scoring defense (18.8 ppg; second is 24.2), pass efficiency defense (87.7; second and third are 104.0 and 119.8), sacks (4.8 per game) and interceptions (2.5 per game).

SCOUTING KANSAS

• One of the nation's youngest teams, Kansas enters Saturday's game searching for its first win of the season. The Jayhawks, who lost 30-20 at home to Texas Tech two weeks ago, are coming off a 58-10 loss at Oklahoma State. They were outgained 583 yards to 221 in Stillwater.

Steven Sims is the Jayhawks' second-leading receiver, with 17 catches on the year.

• KU ranks eighth in the Big 12 in total offense (355.4 ypg) and passing offense (237.6), and 10th in rushing offense (117.9).

• On the other side of the ball, the Jayhawks rank 10th in total defense (564.3) and passing defense (319.4), and ninth in rushing defense (244.9). They rank fifth in sacks per game (2.43).

• Freshman quarterback Ryan Willis has played five games and has started the last three. He is 75 for 135 through the air for 779 yards (155.8 per game) with four touchdowns and four interceptions. In his starts, he is averaging 226.3 passing yards. Willis was 35 for 50 for 330 yards and two TDs in KU's last home game against Texas Tech.

• Junior running back Ke'aun Kinner leads the team with his 55.1 rushing yards per game and five rushing TDs. He averaged 135.0 yards on the ground in the season's first two games but is averaging 23.2 in five games since.

• Senior wide receiver Tre' Parmalee is one of 15 Jayhawks to catch at least three passes this year. He is averaging a team-high 73.5 yards per game to rank seventh in the Big 12, and has two receiving TDs. He accounted for 115 of KU's 191 receiving yards at Oklahoma State.

• Junior safety Fish Smithson leads the team and ranks second in the Big 12 with his 9.3 tackles per game.

LAST YEAR VS. THE JAYHAWKS

• Then-freshman Samaje Perine rushed for 427 yards on 34 carries, breaking the all-time FBS record for single-game rushing yards that Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon had set (408) just one week earlier. Perine piled up 222 yards on the ground by halftime and opened the third quarter with 66-yard touchdown run. He broke the record on a 42-yard tote early in the fourth quarter.

• The Sooners dominated the Jayhawks on the ground, outrushing Kansas 510 yards to 19. It marked the second time in 2014 that OU rushed for 510 yards (most yards on the ground in the Bob Stoops era).

The Sooners dominated the Jayhawks on the ground, outrushing Kansas 510 yards to 19.

• Perine scored five touchdowns on the day, becoming just the fifth Sooner to rush for five scores in a single game. Perine's performance broke the school record for single-game rushing yardage set by Greg Pruitt (297) in 1971 and the Big 12 record set by Iowa State's Troy Davis (378) in 1996. He also became the only FBS player to ever rush for more than 200 yards in each half of a game.

• The Sooner defense limited the Jayhawks to just 103 yards of total offense and did not allow an offensive score (Kansas scored a TD on a fumble return in the third quarter). Eric Striker recovered a fumble and recorded two tackles for loss while Ahmad Thomas grabbed an interception to account for KU's two turnovers. Kansas had just seven first downs and punted 11 times.

• Facing a stifling Sooner defense, Corey Avery led the Jayhawks in rushing with 38 yards on 11 carries. Michael Cummings was limited to just 8-of-22 passing for 84 yards. Five Jayhawks recorded a reception with Jimmay Mundine pacing the team with 27 yards on three catches.

PASS DEFENSE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED

thomas

Jordan Thomas has accounted for three of Oklahoma's 11 interceptions this season.

• After ranking 51st nationally in total defense last season (382.6 yards allowed per game), OU ranks 30th this season (338 ypg). The jump can be traced to the Sooners' dramatic improvement against the pass. Last year they ranked 117th in pass defense (276.2 ypg), but this season rank 13th (166.6 ypg). And that's after facing the nation's No. 2 passing attack last week in Texas Tech.

• Oklahoma has held three of its seven opponents under 100 passing yards each, four to 125 or fewer passing yards and five to under 175 passing yards.

• The Sooners' 11 interceptions this year are one fewer than they had all of last season (have played six fewer games).

• OU has seven interceptions and 10 sacks over the last two games in blowout wins at Kansas State and versus Texas Tech.

• OU's seven interceptions the last two weeks are its most in back-to-back games since its 2000 national championship season.

EXTRA POINTS

• Running backs Samaje Perine (201 yards, four touchdowns) and Joe Mixon (154, two) combined for 355 rushing yards and six rushing TDs in last Saturday's win over Texas Tech. It marked the first time since the 2008 Big 12 Championship Game against Missouri that OU had two rushers who each registered at least 100 yards and two scores (Mossis Madu and Chris Brown). Perine averaged 8.7 yards per carry while Mixon averaged 9.6.

• The Sooners recorded four interceptions on Patrick Mahomes' 40 pass attempts last week. Mahomes entered the game with six interceptions this season on 307 attempts. OU's four interceptions were its most since 2003.

• The inside linebacking trio of Dominique Alexander, Jordan Evans and Frank Shannon has combined for 550 career tackles.

• Junior quarterback Baker Mayfield is off to a stellar start in his first year of competition with the Sooners. A former walk-on at Texas Tech who transferred to Oklahoma (also as a walk-on) without talking to OU coaches after being named Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year as a Red Raider, Mayfield ranks fifth among FBS players in points responsible for per game (21.4), sixth in passing TDs per game (3.0), 12th in total offense per game (324.1) and 17th in passing yards per game (298.1).

• Senior receiver Sterling Shepard is rapidly ascending several OU career charts. Shepard is tied for third in career 100-yard receiving games (9) and ranks fourth in career receiving yards (2,743), fifth in career receptions (179) and sixth in career TD receptions (20).

Receiver Mark Andrews has five TD receptions, one shy of the OU's single-season freshman record (Ryan Broyles in 2008).

• Receiver Mark Andrews has five TD receptions, one shy of the OU's single-season freshman record (Ryan Broyles in 2008).

• With 22.0 career sacks (6.5 this season), Eric Striker is OU's all-time leader in the category among linebackers and ranks sixth overall in school history. He has 8.0 more than second-place Rocky Calmus (1998-01). Striker is tied for second in the Big 12 in sacks this year (0.93 per game) and second in tackles for loss (1.71 per game). He has 10.0 tackles for loss over the last four games.

• Freshman kicker Austin Seibert is also one of two kickers in the country to have made at least 10 field goals and 39 extra points this year.

• Over the season's first three games, OU was -4 in turnover margin. Over the last four contests (all in Big 12 play), it is +7.

• Oklahoma's performance in the Big 12 Conference since Bob Stoops took over as head coach in 1999 has been nothing short of dominant. The Sooners have won eight Big 12 titles in Stoops' first 16 seasons, with no other program during that span winning more than two.

• OU owns a league-best 107-29 (.787) record in regular season Big 12 games since the Stoops era began. Texas ranks second with a 99-37 (.728) record during the same span and TCU is third (18-13; .581).

• Since Bob Stoops' arrival in 1999, OU leads all Power Five conference programs in wins (174) and points scored (8,095).

OPENING KICK

FIVE TOP STORYLINES

SCOUTING KANSAS

LAST YEAR VS. THE JAYHAWKS

PASS DEFENSE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED

EXTRA POINTS

Players Mentioned

Dominique Alexander

Mark Andrews

Jordan Evans

Baker Mayfield

Joe Mixon

Samaje Perine

Austin Seibert

Frank Shannon

Sterling Shepard

Eric Striker

Ahmad Thomas

Jordan Thomas

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