Kansas Football Falls at Oklahoma, 45-31
NORMAN, Okla. – Despite a record-breaking performance by wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe, the No. 16 Kansas football team was defeated by the fourth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, 45-31, Saturday at the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The loss dropped Kansas to 5-2 on the season, 2-1 in Big 12 play. The Sooners improved to 6-1, 2-1 in the Big 12.
Briscoe caught 12 Todd Reesing passes for 269 yards, both school records, and two touchdowns to lead the Jayhawks in a losing effort.
Reesing finished the game 24-of-41 for 342 yards and two touchdowns passing. It was the fifth 300-yard game of the season for the junior from Austin, Texas, tying his own school single-season record that he set last year.
Junior running back Jake Sharp was also impressive in defeat, carrying the ball 12 times for 103 yards and a touchdown. It marked the second consecutive game that the Salina, Kan., product eclipsed the 100-yard barrier.
Kansas trailed just 24-17 at halftime, and were still within seven at 31-24 after junior running back Jake Sharp waltzed in for a 17-yard touchdown run with 11:21 to play in the third quarter.
The first half for the Jayhawks was highlighted by a 69-yard Reesing to Briscoe touchdown connection that cut the Sooner lead to 21-17 with 2:35 to go in the half. Oklahoma added a field goal before the break, and Kansas was behind just 24-17 with the second half to play.Briscoe finished the first half with nine catches for 193 yards, which was already a career-high with a whole half to play. The sophomore from Dallas, Texas, also had a key 40-yard reception late in the second to quarter to set up a 23-yard field goal by Jacob Branstetter.
Oklahoma racked up 252 yards in the first quarter, but managed only seven points in the quarter thanks to a stingy performance by the KU defense. The Sooners’ opening drive resulted in a missed field goal, marking the first time this season that OU hasn’t scored on its first possession.
Jocques Crawford had his first career kickoff return in the first quarter, taking it 42 yards before finishing the drive off with a 2-yard touchdown run. Crawford’s score made it the first time all season that OU has allowed a touchdown in the first quarter.
Homecoming awaits Kansas next weekend in Lawrence, as the Jayhawks welcome the unbeaten, No. 5 Texas Tech Red Raiders to Kivisto Field at Memorial Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN and is scheduled to kickoff at 11 a.m. CT.
The Kansas loss…
–Was just its fourth loss in its last 24 games.
–Marked KU’s second loss in its last 11 Big 12 games.
–Stopped a five-game Big 12 road victory streak.
–Extended a five-game losing streak to Oklahoma.
Kansas Game Notes
–Kansas picked up a first down on each of its first three plays of the game on a 15-yard reception by Dezmon Briscoe, a 24-yard run by Jake Sharp and an 11-yard reception by Briscoe.
–Sophomore DT Jamal Greene made his second career start (also at South Florida). He recorded his first career forced fumble in the first quarter.
–The game duration was four hours, which is the longest game of the season. The previous long game was 3:31 at South Florida.
–Oklahoma’s first scoring drive of 10 plays, 84 yards in 3:03 was the longest drive against KU of the season in terms of yards. The previous long drive was a 79-yard touchdown scoring drive by Sam Houston State.
–Junior RB Jocques Crawford returned his first career kickoff for a KU season-long 42 yards. The previous long was a 26-yard return by Marcus Herford.
–Crawford then punched in a two-yard touchdown run to cap off a six-play, 57-yard drive in 1:34 to quickly tie the score at seven. The TD was Crawford’s third of the season on the ground. On the ensuing kickoff, Crawford was in on the tackle.
–Kansas’ first quarter touchdown was the first TD given up in a first quarter by Oklahoma all season. Previously OU had only allowed its opponents a total of six points (two field goals).
–Additionally, when OU missed its field goal on its opening drive, it snapped a streak of the Sooners scoring on their first drive every game.
–Junior QB/WR Kerry Meier attempted and completed his first pass of the season on a double-reverse pass for 15 yards to Dexton Fields in the second quarter.
–When Kansas was intercepted on the goal line midway through the second quarter, it snapped a streak of seven straight trips to the red zone in which Kansas had scored a touchdown.
–Briscoe hauled in a 69-yard touchdown reception to mark Kansas’ longest play of the season. It marked the third time in the last four games a KU player recorded a touchdown catch of 67 yards or more. Sharp had a 67-yarder against Sam Houston State and Meier posted a 68-yarder at Iowa State.
–The 69-yard touchdown for Briscoe was a career-long catch. Briscoe finished the game with 12 catches for 269 yards, both career highs. It marked the first time since 1989 that a KU receiver had over 200 yards (221 by Quentin Smith vs. Louisville on Sept. 9, 1989).
–Briscoe’s 12 catches broke the school record. The previous record was 11 held by several players including Kerry Meier against South Florida earlier this season.
–Briscoe’s 269 yards also set the KU school record for receiving yards in a game (221 by Quentin Smith vs. Louisville in 1989). He became just the fifth player in KU history to rack up over 200 yards.
–All five of Kansas’ scoring drives against Oklahoma lasted less than two minutes. Going back to the last two of the Colorado game, KU has seven straight scoring drives that were less than two minutes, including six touchdowns and one field goal. The drive times were 1:54, 1:33, 1:34, :25, 1:52, and 1:41.
–Junior QB Todd Reesing broke the KU all-time career record for pass completions. His 24 completions against OU increased his career total to 486 and moved him past Frank Seurer (467 from 1980-83).
–Reesing also broke the KU all-time career record for total offense with 6,425 yards (Frank Seurer, 6,112).
–Reesing extended his streak to 12 straight games with over 200 yards passing and at least one touchdown pass.
–Sharp ended the game with 103 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown run. It marked his second-straight game with over 100 yards on the ground.
–Senior CB Kendrick Harper led KU with a career high 13 tackles. His previous high was seven, done two times.
–Junior SS Darrell Stuckey tackles also recorded a career-high with 12 tackles.
–Kansas has scored at least 28 points in seven of its last nine losses, dating back through the 2006 season.
