It wasn't perfect, it was full of wild and crazy moments and it won't win any awards for cleanest game played, but no one on the Kansas side will care.
The only thing that mattered was the final score: KU 38, No. 6 Oklahoma 33.
With Jason Bean starting at QB for the fifth time this season, the Jayhawks came from behind in the final few minutes — after a Bean interception appeared to have erased their chances — to hand the Sooners their first loss of the season.
Bean ran for a long gain and hit Lawrence Arnold for 37 yards to set up the game-winning score, a 9-yard touchdown run by Devin Neal.
The win moved KU to 6-2 overall, 3-2 in the Big 12 and made the Jayhawks bowl eligible for the second year in a row. More importantly, it kept KU's hopes of contending for a Big 12 title alive and well, as the Sooners fell to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in Big 12 play.
We'll have much, much more from this one. But here's a first glance at a wild win, KU's first top-10 victory since 2008 and just the fifth of its kind in the last 40 years.
LIKES
• Pound the rock: Devin and Hishaw stats, 1/2 Q, standing there staring at each other like that Spiderman meme in the corner of the end zone after Hishaw’s TD early in the 2nd quarter
• First-quarter & 2nd-half defense: The Jayhawks’ 7-0 lead at the end of one quarter on Saturday gave them the distinction of being the first defense this season to hold the Sooners scoreless in the first quarter of a game. After OU appeared to find the weakness in the KU defense during the second quarter — when they scored three touchdowns in a 6-minute span to take the lead into halftime — the Jayhawks found a way to get some big stops in the second half.
• Can you feel the motion: Having had two weeks to prepare for this one because of their bye, Kansas came out with all kinds of shifts and pre-snap movement on offense. It’s a part of their offense anyway, but they were a little extra intentional in this one, especially early.
• Get ‘em, coach: This was one of those bring-everything-you’ve-got games for everyone on the KU sideline… including the coaches. Early in the second quarter, one play before OU QB Dillon Gabriel got the Sooners on the board with a 7-yard touchdown run, the ball came loose and KU’s Kenny Logan Jr. recovered it. On the sideline, members of the KU coaching staff, including head coach Lance Leipold were jumping up and down to try to bring attention to the fumble recovery. As they did, the official ruled that forward progress was stopped before the ball came out. That explanation incited even more emotion and jumping and hollering from the KU coaches. On the next play, Gabriel scored to cut KU’s lead to 14-7. Video replay showed that the ball appeared to come out before the whistle was blown, backing up Leipold and company’s reason for being frustrated.
PHOTO GALLERY: KU 38, No. 6 OU 33
PHOTO GALLERY II: Let the celebration begin
DISLIKES
• Gimmick drops: Understandably, the KU offense tried a little razzle dazzle early on against the Sooners on Saturday. And both of the first-quarter trickery plays that KU called appeared to be there. One problem: Jared Casey and Devin Neal both dropped balls that would’ve led to bigger gains. The crazy looks and extra pitches and handoffs are the kinds of plays you have to try against an unbeaten, top-10 program like OU. You just have to execute them when you do.
• More 2-point woes: The Jayhawks came up empty on three 2-point conversion tries in this one, the first coming when Jason Bean missed a wide-open Trevor Kardell in the end zone and the second, again to Kardell, when the KU tight end was being hugged when Bean threw the ball. Those gaffes allowed the Sooners to maintain touch with the Jayhawks throughout the game. KU also missed a 42-yard field goal try in the fourth quarter that would’ve put the Jayhawks up by 8 with around 10 minutes to play. A few minutes later, OU scored to go up by one and the Sooners followed up that touchdown with their second failed 2-point attempt of the day. Late in the game, after the Jayhawks took a 38-33 lead with 55 seconds to play, Daniel Hishaw Jr. was stuffed on a run to keep KU out of the end zone on a 2-point try for the third time in the game.
• Lightning delay: The game opened under sunny skies, but the clouds moved in and so did the rain and midway through the second quarter lightning in the area caused a delay of almost an hour.
WHAT THE?
• Captain Daniels: He may not have played in this one, but starting quarterback Jalon Daniels was in uniform, did warm up with the team and was at midfield for the game’s opening coin toss. After the toss, which was won by Oklahoma, Daniels took his spot standing on the sideline with his teammates while Jason Bean trotted onto the field with the KU offense for his fifth start of the season. After the hour-long lightning delay, during which both teams went back to their locker room, Daniels spent a little time warming up with some light throws from about 7-10 yards apart. It’s possible that Daniels was serving in some sort of emergency role on Saturday, but it did not appear that he was ever close to coming into the game. KU ran a fair amount of Wildcat snaps with Devin Neal in addition to the snaps taken by starter Jason Bean.
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