Oklahoma-Kansas Observations: LIVE In-Game Blog
LAWRENCE, KS — AllSooners offers real-time observations throughout today's contest at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium as the No. 6-ranked Sooners take on the Kansas Jayhawks for the final time in Big 12 Conference play.
3:36 p.m.
OU facing 3rd-and-1 from its own 35 with :24 left. Gabriel completes a big 38-yard pass to Brenen Thompson to keep the drive going. One play left with :03 left and the ball at the KU 23-yard line. Perfect season hangs in the balance. Gabriel's throw to the end zone is tipped and caught out of bounds by a Kansas defender. That will do it. Final score: 38-33. OU suffers its first loss of the season and lose to the Jayhawks for the first time since 1997.
— TW
3:25 p.m.
OU punts and Kansas gets the ball back with 2:12 left. The Jayhawks are driving with time winding down. After a big Bean completion on fourth down, Neal scores and Kansas regains the lead, 38-33 after Sooners stop another 2-point conversion attempt. OU gets the ball back with :55 left and two timeouts.
— TW
3:19 p.m.
Kansas converts a 4th-down and 4 from its 44, then faces a 3rd-and 10 from the OU 48 thanks to two pass breakups by Key Lawrence, one a sure interception that was dropped. No problem, Ethan Downs picks off Bean and the offense is back in business with under three minutes to go.
— TW
3:07 p.m.
Sooners' defense desperately needs a stop on third-and 6 on KU's 15-yard line and they get it. Bean pass tipped by Key Lawrence and intercepted by Billy Bowman, setting up OU with a short field. A run by Jovantae Barnes gives the Sooners a first down on the 2-yard line. Gabriel scores. A 2-point conversion attempt fails, but OU back in from front 33-32 with 5:22 left in game.
— TW
3:05 p.m.
Gabriel finds Nic Anderson for a first down, but Gabriel stopped on third-down run. OU punts the ball back to Kansas with 8:12 left.
— TW
2:59 p.m.
Sooners dodge a bullet, muffing a short kickoff after Kansas regained the lead. Jayhawks score on the next play, but run is nullified by a penalty. KU stopped on third down by Kip Lewis tackle and then kicker misses field goal attempt. 32-27 Kansas with 10:49 left in the game.
— TW
2:41 p.m.
Third quarter is over. Game is up for grabs.
2:40 p.m.
Third quarter stats:
2:33 p.m.
Great drive and power run to finish it by Gavin Sawchuk for the touchdown to put Oklahoma up 27-26.
But what was that 2-point conversion play? Another jet sweep pass to Gavin Freeman, who gets hemmed in and tries to leap in from the 5-yard line, in traffic.
So weird.
— JH
2:27 p.m.
What a sequence for Kansas. Wideout Jalil Farooq takes a handoff up the middle, gets blasted by a d-lineman and fumbles. KU quarterback Jason Bean takes it 38 yards for a touchdown to give the Jayhawks a 26-21 lead.
Even though Tawee Walker has well over 100 yards, Oklahoma's running back room has apparently devolved to handing it to a wide receiver up the gut.
— JH
2:23 p.m.
Tracking the lineup changes (again):
Sexton, Green and Mettauer all returned along the offensive line, but Jalil Farooq and Gavin Freeman started this drive in the backfield.
Farooq fumbles, and Kansas now has the ball at the 36-yard line.
This seems pretty simple from the press box — feed Tawee Walker.
— RC
2:19 p.m.
This third quarter has been awfully mismanaged by the coaching staff so far.
The Sooners continue to play with the offensive line rotations right when it seemed Tawee Walker was primed to take over the game running behind Jacob Sexton and Cayden Green on the left side of the line.
On special teams, Luke Elzinga, who averaged over 50 yards per punt last week, was asked to execute a rugby kick (it went 31 yards, and Kansas got great field position).
Immediately after, Bean caught Kendel Dolby looking into he backfield and hit OU for a big pass over the top.
Oklahoma’s defense held, but Kansas cut the lead to 21-20 with a field goal with 4:03 left in the third quarter.
The Sooners are making this second half harder than it had to be after stealing all of the momentum after the weather delay in the second quarter.
— RC
2:16 p.m.
KU starts its next possession with a 38-yard deep ball, and Robert Spears-Jennings sustains what looks like a shoulder injury on the tackle.
— JH
2:15 p.m.
More than halfway through the third quarter and there’s no momentum either way. Luke Elzinga’s 31-yard punt — after a possession ruined by a personal foul against Savion Byrd — fires up the crowd momentarily. KU ball at their own 44.
— JH
2:10 p.m.
Bill Bedenbaugh’s game of musical chairs continues.
Now, Troy Everett is in for McKade Mettauer at right guard.
This move makes a big more sense if Mettauer got banged up on the first drive of the second half.
Still unsure why Rouse and Byrd came back in at right tackle and right guard after Sexton and Green had played so well, even after the rain delay.
Byrd then picked up a senseless unsportsmanlike penalty and Green is back in, bu the Sooners are backed up to third-and-19 on their own 14-yard line.
— RC
2:05 p.m.
Great time for a cornerback blitz on that third down — Woodi Washington came free and made Jason Bean throw it away, forcing a Kansas punt,.
— JH
2:01 p.m.
Danny Stutsman played the first defensive snap of the third quarter but then took himself out. Was clearly still hobbled as he jogged off the field.
Kip Lewis was shuttled in from the sideline, will be him alongside Jaren Kanak on this drive.
— RC
1:57 p.m.
Another weird third-down call by Jeff Lebby on short-yardage. OU has been chewing up vertical rushing yards, but on third-and-short, they run a jet sweep to Gavin Freeman — a play that really has not worked consistently since the season-opener, a 73-0 win over Arkansas State. That’s just a bad play call.
OU takes a delay penalty on fourth down, then has to burn a timeout as Jacobe Johnson is late getting on the field for punt team.
— JH
1:55 p.m.
Tawee Walker just went over 100 yards for the day. Was at 97 (on 14 carries) at halftime, and opened the third quarter with runs of 14, 6, 1.
— JH
1:38 p.m.
Halftime, and Oklahoma is back in command.
1:34 p.m.
Halftime stats:
1:32 p.m.
Walter Rouse is back in at left tackle. Mettauer finishing the half at right guard, and Savion Byrd was at left guard as the Sooners take a 21-17 lead into halftime.
— JH
1:29 p.m.
Danny Stutsman almost has an interception for a touchback on third-and-goal.
It hit the turf, but more importantly, Stutsman appeared to come down on the Kansas receivers’ foot.
He as in clear pain, but walked off under his own power after trainers got a look at him.
Kansas settles for a 24-yard field goal to cut OU’s lead to 21-17 with 50 seconds left in the first half.
Sooners have all three timeouts, but unclear how aggressive they’ll be in the rain.
— RC
1:25 p.m.
Oklahoma’s tacking has been atrocious.
— RC
1:15 p.m.
A quick note on the weather delay: When the lightning stopped the 2019 game for 30 minutes, Kansas led 7-0.
When lighting stopped this year’s game, Kansas led 14-7.
OU won that ’19 game 45-20. Since today’s delay,, the Sooners have outscored KU 14-0 and now lead 21-14.
— JH
1:12 p.m.
Kansas fumbles the kickoff and it’s OU football. Ball magnet Kip Lewis on the recovery.
The energy in this stadium has completely flipped. Not all the Kansas fans came back after the delay, and all the noise before that kickoff was from the OU fans. Sooners sideline dancing and getting the road fans pumped up while the KU sideline looked dead.
This thing is about to be over if Oklahoma can capitalize with a touchdown.
— RC
1:08 p.m.
Jeff Lebby may very well have made some halftime adjustments during that lightning delay. The Sooners are running with much more authority — as they should be against the 93rd ranked run defense in the country. Tawee Walker (6 for 55) and Dillon Gabriel (2 for 8) were impressive that drive.
— JH
1:08 p.m.
Six of Oklahoma’s seven plays out of the weather delay were rushes. The pass to Farooq didn’t go far, either.
Looks like Jeff Lebby has found something.
Now it’s up to the defense to tighten things up and give the ball back to the offense.
— RC
1:06 p.m.
The Oklahoma offense is driving. Even overcame a significant penalty. Big runs from Dillon Gabriel and Tawee Walker, and Walker's 2-yard TD run makes it 14-13, 6:05 til halftime and the PAT pending.
— JH
1:02 p.m.
Game on...
— JH
1:00 p.m.
Lightning delay appears over. Both teams are back on the field and AC/DC is playing on the loud speakers (“TNT” from their album High Voltage.) Just saying. Jayhawks lead it 14-7 as the rain resumes at a very heavy pace. And the stadium is about 15 percent full. Buckle in for a wild 2 1/2 quarters.
— JH
12:04 p.m.
Game has just been put into a weather delay.
Clearing the field. We're in for 30 minutes after the "most recent lightning strike."
— RC
12:03 p.m.
Lebby and Bedenbaugh sticking with Sexton, Green and Tawee Walker on this drive. Makes all the sense world with the momentum the Sooners built last drive.
— RC
11:58 a.m.
What a play on third down by Kobie McKinzie, in the game after a couple of mistakes by Jaren Kanak. He recognized the short throw to the tight end, reacted immediately to the ball and then reached in and pulled out the football to prevent a completion.
Jasiah Wagoner also was in at corner on that drive.
— JH
11:53 a.m.
As the rain starts to fall at The Booth, Oklahoma gets hurt on one call (Tawee Walker looked like he had a first down but was ruled a yard short) and gets the benefit of another (Walker’s forward progress was ruled stopped before he lost control of the football).
It all culminates in Dillon Gabriel’s 7-yard touchdown run, a tough run by him out of a power formation behind the blocking of Walker.
Sooners are on the board (14-7) and look like they're back in business.
— JH
11:51 a.m.
While OU has been on this drive, conditions are deteriorating. It’s dumping rain now.
Anyways, Dillon Gabriel cashes in Oklahoma’s first points of the day with a 7-yard touchdown run.
Oklahoma marched 75 yards on 10 plays in 3:54. Some big boy football running downhill and a great play call paired with an even better read by Dillon Gabriel to find Austin Stogner wide open on the crucial fourth-and-3.
Sooners cut the deficit to 14-7 with 10:15 left before halftime.
— RC
11:46 a.m.
Between Houston’s bad spot against Texas last week and that soft unsportsmanlike penalty deep in the OU bench, the Big 12 refs trying to screw the Sooners and the Longhorns conspiracy looks pretty dead.
— RC
11:44 a.m.
Couple of changes as the Sooners start their third drive.
Tawee Walker in at running back, Jacob Sexton in for Walter Rouse at left guard and Cayden Green in for Savion Byrd at left guard.
— RC
11:40 a.m.
Poor tackling strikes again for the Sooners.
Moore High School alum Daniel Hishaw Jr. carries in the 9-yard score to double Kansas’ lead.
Lots of sloppy play by the Oklahoma defense on that drive.
— RC
11:37 a.m.
First quarter stats:
11:37 a.m.
First quarter, and the Sooners are already on the ropes.
11:30 a.m.
That play on fourth-and-3 from the Kansas 20 was chosen instead of a 37-yard field goal. It’s cold and windy and kicker Zach Schmit’s confidence is probably at an all-time low after three misses in his last two games.
I watched him kick a 51-yarder in pregame and it landed just past the goal line.
Tough day for kickers.
— JH
11:30 a.m.
Jeff Lebby has been incredibly cute so far. Sawchuk is averaging 4.3 yards per carry early on just getting north and south, but Lebby goes for a naked bootleg on third down and it looked like a swing pass for Jalil Farooq out of the backfield on fourth down.
Why not just go with Sawchuk out of the backfield and let Farooq try and stretch the field vertically? Puzzling stuff, mirrors the early stages of last week’s contest against UCF.
OU clearly still looking for answers without Andrel Anthony.
— RC
11:27 a.m.
The Sooners’ third-and-short play — a sprint-out trying to get the football to Jalil Farooq (he was completely covered) resulted in a scramble by Gabriel — was only outdone by the fourth-and-short play on which Gabriel had no receivers open and tried to scramble but was taken down for a sack. Turnover on downs, KU ball.
This game is already ugly.
— JH
11:22 a.m.
Gavin Sawchuk is back at running back after wideouts Jalil Farooq gets three straight snaps there, with two receptions and a toss sweep.
Weird.
— JH
11:17 a.m.
Disaster strikes for Oklahoma. After an 8-yard run on second down by Gavin Sawchuk, Jeff Lebby and Dillon Gabriel try a pass on third down (RPO?) and it’s a slow pass in the right flat to Jalil Farooq — picked off by Mello Dotson and returned 37 yards for a Kansas touchdown.
You have to question the call on third-and-2.
Gabriel has a history of poor performances in cold weather/windy weather/wet weather, so a simple power inside zone handoff to Sawchuk (against a light box) looked like it might have worked there.
— JH
11:16 a.m.
Oklahoma’s offensive starters:
Rouse - Byrd - Raym - Mettauer - Guyton
Anderson - Stogner - Stoops - Farooq
Gabriel - Sawchuk
— RC
11:12 a.m.
Despite Kansas’ best efforts to shift, motion and execute trick plays as well as jump in and out of tempo, Oklahoma gets a stop on the opening drive. Nice recognition by Trace Ford on a zone blitz action on fourth down, finding Jason Bean’s passing lane and batting it down. KU converted a 3rd-and-8 and nearly converted a 3rd-and-7 on that drive as four different Jayhawks touched the football.
— JH
11:07 a.m.
Oklahoma’s defensive starters:
Downs - Lacey - Terry - Bothroyd
Stutsman - Kanak - Dolby
Walker - Lawrence - Bowman - Washington
Cornerback Gentry Williams was in street clothes after practice on Tuesday, but dressed out today. Still, Kani Walker gets the start across from Woodi Washington.
— RC
11:03 a.m.
There was indeed a handshake today before the coin flip.
Sooners back to their winning ways, call tails and the flip is tails. OU now 7-1 on the year on coin tosses, only losing the UCF toss.
Oklahoma defers, Jason Bean up first.
— RC
10:56 a.m.
Kansas just pulled off the coolest pregame flyover in history. First two F18As flew from south to north over the stadium, then they banked twice and flew over from east to west — right at the press box. The first jet banked hard left right before he flew over, then pulled up hard. The second jet just came straight at us and then pulled up hard as he got over the stadium.
“Maverick!!!”
— JH
10:45 a.m.
There are still 20 minutes up on the video board but… for a sellout David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is pretty empty.
David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium from the press box at 10:42 a.m.
Ryan Chapman / AllSooners.com
Big Noon Kickoff drew a crowd, but there aren’t that many people on Campanile Hill to fill this thing out.
— RC
10:38 a.m.
Time is a flat circle.
We spent all preseason touting the potential running back duo of Gavin Sawchuk and Jovantae Barnes.
The two backs taking first and second team snaps ahead of the game?
Sawchuk and Barnes.
Tawee Walker just worked in as well in the second slate of snaps from the right hash.
We know nothing about this running back rotation… per usual.
— RC
10:30 a.m.
Internet situation on the field will not let Randall toss this in, but just got this text from our guy on the field.
Andrew Raym and Savion Byrd are working with the first string offensive line in warmups.
There were some rumors that Raym was sick this week, but he’s made it to Lawrence and is going through things as he normally does.
And though Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels isn’t expected to play, he is in pads and throwing.
— RC
10:27 a.m.
CORRECTION: Brenen Thompson has been spotted. He is dressed, but not participating in every single stretch.
Also, backup kicker Gavin Marshall is not dressed.
Zach Schmit was money during pre-game warmups even with a pretty noticeable wind, but has to bang those through during the game for it to count.
— RC
10:24 a.m.
Brenen Thompson joins Marcus Major as guys who are not on the field in warmups. Otherwise, the rest of Oklahoma’s two-deep is suited up.
— RC
10:21 a.m.
Do not have eyes on running back Marcus Major. He’s usually going through warmups with the specialists, but he’s not out on the field. McKade Mettauer is dressed out and present. We will have to see if he's gonna get any action.
— RC
9:01 a.m.
It’s a chilly one in Lawrence. Local temperature is currently 32 degrees with a windchill of 24.
Oklahoma QB and noted Hawaii native Dillon Gabriel has a bit of a history of uneven play in cold weather.
Should be an interesting game.
— JH
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