Oklahoma wary of possible upset ahead of Big 12 showdown vs. Kansas

No. 6 Oklahoma has already beaten Texas in what should have been the hardest game on its schedule, yet the Sooners’ great escape last week against UCF served notice that not everything is going to be easy the rest of the way.

Especially with Kansas starting off four consecutive games against teams with winning records — three of them on the road.

“It’s going to help us stay disciplined all week,” Sooners linebacker Dasan McCullough said of the 31-29 win over UCF, when they needed to repel a two-point conversion attempt in the final two minutes to preserve the margin of victory.

“We thought we were disciplined with them during last week,” McCullough said, “and come game day, obviously not.”

The Sooners (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) have plenty of reasons to overlook the Jayhawks. They’ve won 18 straight in the series, with their last loss coming during the 1997 season, and they rolled to a 52-42 victory a year ago in a game that wasn’t that close.

Yet the Jayhawks (5-2, 2-2) are coming off a bye heading into their Homecoming week, and “Big Noon Kickoff” will be in town with host Rob Stone and analysts Urban Meyer, Brady Quinn and Matt Leinart.

All of that attention is proof that these aren’t the same old Jayhawks that were routinely thrashed by Oklahoma over the years, but an ascending program under third-year coach Lance Leipold that has started to gain some national recognition.

“It’s another great opportunity for us to show the progress of our program,” Leipold said. “Show what this group is all about — where we are heading. A lot of wins there, a lot of great opportunities for our program, our athletic department and university.”

A win on the field would cap it all off.

While the Sooners are coming off a humbling win over UCF, the Jayhawks headed into their bye smarting from a 39-32 loss at Oklahoma State, when they led late in the fourth quarter and surrendered nine points in the final 2:33 of regulation. They played that game once again without quarterback Jalon Daniels, who has been ruled as doubtful for this week’s matchup against Oklahoma, giving way for Jason Bean to make his fourth consecutive start under center.

That doesn’t mean Oklahoma is taking it easy. Especially after last week.

“I have a lot of respect for what the Kansas program is today, the transformation that has taken place under Coach Leipold and his staff,” said Sooners coach Brent Venables, who was raised in Salina, Kansas, and has many ties to the state. “What a great example of development, and great schemes to put their people in position to be successful.”

Bean will get the start for Kansas, and he will be facing an Oklahoma defense that allowed UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee to throw for 248 yards and account for three touchdowns last week. Bean threw for 410 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions in the Jayhawks’ loss to Oklahoma State.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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