Numbers Sooner Football Fans Can Feast on Before Jayhawk Joust
By Chip Rouse
When Oklahoma and the Kansas Jayhawks clash in football on Saturday, it will be the 106th all-time meeting between the two longtime conference opponents. That is the third longest active series in Sooner football history, behind only Texas and Oklahoma State (110 games in both all-time series through 2015).
The Jayhawks are still looking for their first win under new head coach David Beaty, who is in his first season at Kansas and first year as a college football head coach. The Jayhawks are 0-7 overall and 0-4 in the Big 12 this season.
On the other sideline, Bob Stoops is in his 17th season at Oklahoma. Since becoming the Sooners’ head coach in 1999, Stoops and OU have the most conference wins (107) of any school, eight more than the next best team (Texas). Ten of Stoops’ 107 conference victories have come at the expense of Kansas, one of just two conference teams (Iowa State is the other) who have not beaten the Sooners on Stoops’ watch.
Nov 15, 2014; Lubbock, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops before the game with the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Jones AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Statistically speaking, Oklahoma’s 13th ranked offense will be going against a Kansas defense that comes into the game ranked 127th out of 127 FBS teams. On the flip side, the 30th-ranked Sooner defense will be matched up against a Kansas offense that ranks 97th in the nation.
All of that translates to an overwhelming advantage for the Sooners on Saturday over the hapless Jayhawks, possibly the second team from the state of Kansas to bear the dubious title of the worst team in college football.
Here are a few more intriguing numbers to feast on as an appetizer before Saturday’s kickoff at Kansas:
2 – Oklahoma true freshman Austin Seibert is one of just two kickers on the country to have at least 10 made field goals and 39 extra points this season.
3 – Number of ranked teams the Sooners have played so far this season – the most in the Big 12 so far in 2015 – with games remaining on the schedule against three other teams currently ranked in the top 25. The latter three games (against Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma State) all fall on successive weekends in November.
Oct 24, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners cornerback Dakota Austin (27) intercepts a pass intended for Texas Tech Red Raiders wide receiver Reginald Davis (2) during the second quarter at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
4 – Interceptions by the Oklahoma defense last weekend against Texas Tech. Red Raider’s quarterback Patrick Mahomes had thrown only six picks this season in 307 pass attempts prior to the OU game. The four interceptions against Texas Tech were the most in a game by the Sooners since 2003.
6 – Number of defensive categories in which OU ranks No. 1 in the nation through games of Oct. 24: total defense (318.1 yards per game), pass defense (131.5 ypg), scoring defense (18.8 points per game), pass efficiency defense (87.7 rating), sacks per game (4.8) and interceptions per game (2.5).
10 – Interceptions recorded by the Oklahoma defense in the current calendar month (October), best in the country over that time span.
15-2 – Oklahoma’s road record in football since 2012, when West Virginia and TCU came into the conference replacing Missouri and Texas A&M.
34 – Texas Tech has had 34 offensive plays of 30 or more yards this season. The Red Raiders’ longest play against OU was 20 yards.
39-12 – Average score in Oklahoma’s 10 consecutive wins over Kansas under Bob Stoops.
97 – Points by which OU has outscored its opponents (148-51) in the second half this season.
104 – Scoring margin (179-75) in OU wins against four conference opponents in the month of October. The average score in those four previous games, including a 24-17 loss to Texas, was 45-19 in favor of the Sooners.