Jayhawks to Face Sooners in Arrowhead Stadium
Oct. 12, 2005
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas (3-2, 0-2 Big 12) and Oklahoma (2-3, 1-1 Big 12) will meet for the 99th time in series history and for the first time at a neutral site as the two teams travel to Kansas City, Mo., for a prime-time contest in Arrowhead Stadium. TBS will televise the game (play-by-play announcer Ron Thulin, analyst Charles Davis and sideline reporter Craig Sager call the action) which is scheduled to kickoff at 6:10 p.m. The Sooners have won the last three meetings between the two teams, dating back to a 20-17 Kansas victory during the 1997 season.
“We’re going to play a good Oklahoma football team,” said KU head coach Mark Mangino at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “If you look at them on defense, they are fast and athletic. On the offensive side of the ball, they have one of — if not the best — running backs in the country in Adrian Peterson. Oklahoma will be a good challenge for us. We’re looking forward to it.”
The Jayhawks enter the contest — the third of four-straight games away from Memorial Stadium — after losing a 12-3 defensive struggle against Kansas State on Saturday afternoon in Manhattan. The KU defense was stellar against the Wildcats, allowing a season-low 35 rushing yards and holding KSU to its lowest point total in the Sunflower Showdown since 1993. Senior linebackers Kevin Kane and Banks Floodman had their best games of the season, racking up 14 and 11 total tackles, respectively.
The Sooners enter the game against the Jayhawks after a 45-12 setback in the Red River Shootout against No. 2 Texas. Star running back Adrian Peterson, who gained 225 yards against the Longhorns last year, was limited to three early carries for 10 yards because of a sprained ankle. The Sooners didn’t have a play longer than nine yards until 12:04 left in the game with the team trailing 38-6.
Kansas – Oklahoma Series Notes
The two teams played each other for 95 consecutive years — from 1903 through 1997 — until the Big 12 Conference’s alternating scheduling cycle resulted in a two-year interruption in the series.
KU won the first meeting between the two teams 17-5 in 1903.
Oklahoma leads the all-time series against the Jayhawks 65-27-6. Oklahoma has won the last three meetings (38-10 in 2001, 34-16 in 2000 and 41-10 in 2004).
Prior to OU’s last three wins, the Jayhawks owned a three-game win streak, winning all three contests from 1995 to 1997.
KU’s Eric Vann tied an NCAA record in the 1997 game with a 99-yard touchdown run. Two of KU’s three longest runs in school history have come against the Sooners (Vann and Gale Sayers, 96 yards in 1962).
