Kansas Hands No. 6 Oklahoma First Loss, Shakes Up College Football Playoff Race
Rock chalk.
Unranked Kansas (6-2) upset No. 6 Oklahoma (7-1) in Lawrence on Saturday, 38–33, to hand the Sooners their first loss of the season and shake up the College Football Playoff race.
The Jayhawks were on the brink of a loss, facing fourth down and six from the Oklahoma 46 with 58 seconds to play, trailing 33–32. Kansas quarterback Jason Bean connected with receiver Lawrence Arnold for a 37 yard completion down to the Oklahoma nine. On the very next play, Jayhawks running back Devin Neal sprinted in from nine yards out to give Kansas a 38–33 lead.
After the two point conversion failed, Oklahoma was set to take over with less than a minute to play.
When Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel hit Brenen Thompson on a 39 yard completion to the Kansas 27 with 17 seconds to play, it looked like Oklahoma was in business. However, three straight Gabriel incompletions ended the game, with Lance Leipold and the Jayhawks completing a fourth quarter comeback and a monumental upset of the Sooners.
Oklahoma will assuredly have to win out and capture the Big 12 title in order to give itself a chance at the College Football Playoff. The Jayhawks, meanwhile, kept their outside chance of making a run to the Big 12 championship game alive. Kansas will undoubtedly be back in the AP Top 25 when the poll is released on Sunday.
