Kansas’ football team has suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season.
The No. 19-ranked Jayhawks, who were defeated by TCU, 38-31, last week in Lawrence, Kan., fell to old nemesis Oklahoma, 52-42, on Saturday at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla.
Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel completed 29 of 42 passes for 403 yards and two touchdowns (with one interception) and ran for a score. Eric Gray and Jovantae Barnes had two rushing TDs apiece for the Sooners (4-3, 1-3), who in snapping a three-game skid stretched their winning streak against the Jayhawks (5-2, 2-2) to a whopping 18 games.
Marvin Mims had nine catches for 106 yards for the Sooners, who gained 701 yards to KU’s 430.
Gray finished with 176 yards on 20 carries.
KU senior quarterback Jason Bean, who took over for the injured Jalon Daniels this week, threw for four touchdowns but also tossed two interceptions that led to OU scores. His touchdowns included two each to Lawrence Arnold and Mason Fairchild.
Bean completed 16 of 27 passes for 265 yards. He also rushed for 41 yards on 10 carries. But he could not prevent a continuation of OU’s dominance over KU.
The Sooners have won 45 off their last 52 games against Kansas.
OU has also won nine in a row over the Jayhawks in Norman. OU gained 487 yards the first half to KU’s 231 but led by just 14 points (35-21) at the break thanks to a KU goal-line stand to end the second quarter.
It was a costly second quarter for KU, though, as cornerback Cobee Bryant was carted off the field with a cast on his foot after getting injured on a pass play from Gabriel to Mims that moved the ball from the Kansas 15 to the 1-yard line.
KU’s Arnold pulled in an acrobatic 39-yard reception from Bean and Devin Neal raced in from 11 yards for a TD as the Jayhawks kept pace with the Sooners, who also scored two early touchdowns.
OU’s Barnes scored on a 1-yard run and Gray a 2-yard burst to cap long drives and it was 14-14 with 2:39 left in the first.
Arnold scored his TD on a pattern up the middle in which he was hit by two safeties. He bobbled the ball and caught the carom for the score with 9:35 left in the first.
Barnes made it 21-14 early in the second quarter, scoring off a direct snap on a running play from the KU 6.
OU took advantage of a KU turnover and scored on a 24-yard pass from Gabriel to Theo Wease with 5:42 left before halftime. The TD capped a 65-yard, seven play drive. The drive started after C.J. Coldon jumped high to snare an interception of a Bean pass.
OU’s Gray ran 21 yards for a TD to make it 35-14 with 2:40 left in the first quarter. That run capped a seven-play, 54-yard drive. KU immediately responded, cutting the gap to 35-21 on an 18-yard pass from Bean to Mason Fairchild. The score was set up by a 46-yard run by Neal. KU trailed 35-21 with 1:36 left before half.
On OU’s next drive, KU was rocked by the injury to Bryant. The cornerback was hurt on a play that featured a 15-yard throw from Gabriel to Mims that brought the Sooners to KU’s 1-yard line. Bryant was taken off the field on a cart after his foot was placed in an air cast.
KU’s goal-line stand closed out the half after the injury to Bryant. Barnes was stuffed for no gain on a second-down call at the 1. On third down, the final play of the half, OU’s Barnes was stopped by Kenny Logan, who came over from the far side to make the hit.
Bean’s second interception led to a 47-yard, nine-play drive and an OU touchdown with 10:16 left in the third quarter that gave the Sooners a 42-21 lead. Gabriel stretched his arm across the line on a fourth-and-goal call from the 1.
Next, a Logan interception of a Gabriel pass led to a KU TD that cut the deficit from 21 points to 14. Bean connected with Arnold on a 28-yard TD pass to cap a three-play, 47-yard drive. KU trailed 42-28 with 5:56 left in the third.
OU made it 49-28 on a 25 yard pass from Gabriel to Braeden Willis with 2:36 left in the third.
KU took advantage of an OU fumble and marched 28 yards in seven plays to cut the gap to 49-35 with 10:33 to play. OU hit a 37-yard field goal to make it 52-35 at the 5:18 mark.
Fairchild caught his second touchdown pass of the game with 3:31 left. That was Bean’s fourth touchdown throw of the afternoon. He also threw for four TDs last week against TCU, all in the second half of the game.
