Kansas gets blown out by Oklahoma
LAWRENCE, Kan. — The biggest highlight for Kansas on Saturday: third-string freshman quarterback Ryan Willis had the Jayhawks’ first punt of the season that dropped inside the 5-yard line.
It’s been that kind of season for the Jayhawks.
Baker Mayfield completed 27 of 32 passes for 383 yards and No. 14 Oklahoma beat Kansas 62-7 on Saturday.
The loss was the 11th straight for Kansas (0-8, 0-5 Big 12) dating to last season.
Punter Matthew Wyman had eight punts, none as good as Willis’ surprise kick on a fourth and 7 from Oklahoma’s 39 that went out of bounds at the 3.
“I couldn’t have done better,” Wyman said. “Out of bounds at the 3, that’s about the best you can do. I thought it was neat. I wasn’t expecting that. I thought we were going for it. It caught me off guard.”
That was about the only positive for Kansas, which trailed 38-7 at halftime and allowed 710 yards total.
Mayfield threw for four touchdowns.
“He was able to duck under some things and create some extended plays,” Kansas coach David Beaty said. “I’ve watched him since he was at (Texas Tech). He can do some great things with his feet. We’ve got to be able to get him down.”
Sterling Shepard had 183 yards receiving and a touchdown on 11 catches for the Sooners (7-1, 4-1). Samaje Perine added 90 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 11 carries.
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops is now 11-0 against the Jayhawks in his career.
Oklahoma scored on its first drive of the second half when Sam Grant snagged a 1-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield. Kansas fumbled on the first play of the next drive, and Oklahoma quickly took a 52-7 lead after backup quarterback Trevor Knight finished a short drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.
The Sooners kicked a field goal with 2:03 remaining in the third quarter, upping their lead to 55-7. Oklahoma pushed its advantage to 62-7 when Knight connected with his twin brother, Connor Knight, for a 17-yard score with 5:32 left in the game.
The Jayhawks had no answer for a powerful Sooners offense that scored 50 points for the third straight game. It was the first time Oklahoma has done that since 2008, when quarterback Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy.
“They’re a good team and they’re capable of both running and passing the ball,” defensive end Ben Goodman said. “It just comes down to us. We just have to do a better job of executing our plays.”
Oklahoma took a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter when Mayfield threw a strike to Joe Mixon, who outran defenders for a 68yard touchdown. The Sooners scored again on their next drive, which culminated in an 11yard touchdown pass to Durron Neal. On the following drive, Shepard’s leaping catch in the end zone stretched Oklahoma’s lead to 21-0 with 1:51 left in the first quarter.
Oklahoma outgained Kansas 248-41 in the first 15 minutes.
The Jayhawks showed signs of life in the second quarter after recovering Shepard’s muffed punt. Kansas took advantage of the short field, and Willis found Tyler Patrick for a 17-yard touchdown that brought Kansas within 21-7.
“When (Patrick) came to the sidelines I thought he was going to pass out he was screaming so loud,” Beaty said of the freshman’s first collegiate touchdown. “He was so excited. That kid’s steadily improved.”
With 9 minutes remaining in the half, Oklahoma upped its lead to 28-7 with a 3-yard rushing touchdown by Perine. The score capped a 14-play drive that lasted nearly 6 minutes. Mayfield was sacked twice during the drive and the Sooners hurt themselves with a 15-yard penalty, but Oklahoma still found the end zone.
On its next drive, Kansas threw a wrinkle at the Sooners with Willis’ punt. The Sooners settled for a 46-yard field goal, taking a 31-7 lead.
Iowa St 24, Texas 0: Joel Lanning threw a touchdown pass in his first start and freshman Mike Warren carved out another 100-yard rushing game, leading Iowa State to a much-needed victory over Texas on Saturday night.
Lanning, a sophomore who replaced senior Sam Richardson, struggled at times with his passing but did enough with his feet for the Cyclones (3-5, 2-3 Big 12) to break a three-game losing streak.
He led a 66-yard scoring drive that gave the Cyclones a quick early lead and floated a perfectly thrown pass to Dondre Daley in the left corner of the end zone to make it 17-0 in the third quarter.
Texas (3-5, 2-3) had upset Oklahoma and dominated Kansas State in its two previous outings with an improved running game. But the Longhorns struggled to get anything going in this one and never advanced past the Iowa State 47 until the final 90 seconds.
No. 5 TCU 40, West Virginia
10: Trevone Boykin passed for 388 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another 84 yards with a hurdling 2-yard score to help fifth-ranked TCU beat West Virginia 40-10 on Thursday night for its 16th straight victory.
Josh Doctson had 11 catches for 183 yards and two touchdowns for the Horned Frogs. They improved to 8-0 and made quite an impression in their final game before the first weekly College Football Playoff rankings of the season come out.
West Virginia is 3-4. The Mountaineers have lost all four of their Big 12 games — previously losing to No. 14 Oklahoma, No. 12 Oklahoma State and No. 2 Baylor — all teams TCU has to play in November.
TCU and West Virginia entered the Big 12 together in 2012. Their previous three games had been decided by a combined five points.