The No. 19 Kansas Football team is leaving the comfy confines of "The Booth" and hitting the road for the first time in 28 days as the Jayhawks travel to Norman for a meeting with the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday, October 15 at 11 a.m. CT.
The Big 12 contest featuring KU at OU will air nationally on ESPN2 with Dave Fleming, Rod Gilmore and Tiffany Blackmon on the call.
Look, it's no secret that so far in 2022, Kansas has been one of the biggest surprises at 5-1 overall, and 2-1 in Big 12 play. The Jayhawks enter the game following three-straight home games, in which Kansas defeated Duke, 35-27, on Sept. 24 and Iowa State, 14-11, on Oct. 1. Then KU hit a speed bump (in the form of Big 12 officiating crews - depending on who you ask) as Kansas Football fell to TCU, 31-38, on Oct. 8. Even with last week's hiccup, 5-1 has Kansas off to its best start since 2009.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma is sitting at .500 overall with a 3-3 record. Perhaps more surprising, the Sooners are 0-3 against Big 12 foes, losing to Kansas State (34-41, Sept. 24), TCU (24-55, Oct. 1) and Texas (0-49, Oct. 8 Ouch!). Last year, when Oklahoma and Kansas met, the Sooners pulled out a 35-23 win after some late game heroics from then-quarterback Caleb Williams.
Kansas enters Saturday’s matchup with Oklahoma ranked in the top-20 nationally in several statistical categories, ranking sixth in passing efficiency (178.72), fourth in third-down conversion percentage (55.1%), 16th in rushing offense (215.2 ypg) and fourth in sacks allowed (3).
Kansas has also totaled 500+ yards of offense in three games this season, most recently compiling 540 against TCU, its most in a game since totaling 569 at Texas in 2019.
Unfortunately for KU, that offense has relied heavily on the talents of quarterback Jalon Daniels, who it seems won't be playing against the Sooners this Saturday.
Daniels was injured during the first-half of KU's loss to TCU when the QB was scrambling and got sacked by Horned Frogs defender Jamoi Hodge. Following evaluations at halftime, Daniels returned to the sidelines in sweats. And after an update from KU head coach Lance Leipold, Daniels' chances of appearing against Oklahoma seem even slimmer.
"Jalon did not practice today and would probably be put in the doubtful area," said Jayhawks head football coach Lance Leipold on Tuesday. "Again, looking at it day to day, but hasn't done anything yet and that's probably the extent I will comment at this time."
Defensively, the Jayhawks have been living in opponents' backfields, totaling 34 tackles-for-loss, including 16 sacks through the first six games. Kansas’ 16 sacks through six games are the most since the 2009 season when the team had 19 sacks at the midway point. Senior defensive end Lonnie Phelps Jr. ranks fifth in the country with six sacks this season, the most through the first six games of the season since Dorance Armstrong also had six in 2016.
Kansas has fared well on the road entering Saturday’s game at Oklahoma, with wins at West Virginia, 55-42, on Sept. 10 and Houston, 48-30, on Sept. 17.
Saturday's matchup between the Jayhawks and Sooners will be the 113th meeting between the two teams, which dates to 1903. Oklahoma holds the series advantage, 79-27-6, including a 41-13-3 advantage in games played in Norman.
Next Up
Kansas Football will continue its two-game road stretch with a trip to Waco to challenge Baylor on Oct. 22 at 11 a.m. CT. As for the Sooners, Oklahoma will get a bye week following this Saturday's game with Kansas, and will next be in action on Oct. 29 when the Sooners travel to Iowa State to play Matt Campbell's Cyclones.
