Oklahoma & Kansas Meet at Arrowhead

October 14th, 2005

Oklahoma and Kansas will make a little history this Saturday when they meet at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. For the first time in their 99 meetings these long-time foes will play on a neutral field.

They met for the first time in 1903 when KU hosted at Lawrence. For every game since then have played either there or in OU’s hometown, Norman.

Both OU and KU are looking to rebound from losses last Saturday in rivalry games. The Sooners lost the 100th renewal of the Red River Rivalry to Texas, 45-12, in the Cotton Bowl at Dallas, while the Jayhawks succumbed at Kansas State, 12-3, in the 103rd staging of the Sunflower State Showdown.

OU is away from home for the second consecutive week, while KU is out of its home stadium for a third straight week.

Including two straight appearances in the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship game in Arrowhead, this marks the third consecutive season in which the Sooners will play in this venue. Throw in the 2000 Big 12 title tilt and this is OU’s fourth appearance in Arrowhead over the last six seasons.

The Series
Overall: Oklahoma leads, 65-27-6; At Norman: Oklahoma leads, 34-12-2; At Lawrence: Oklahoma leads, 31-15-4; OU’s Widest Margin of Victory: 65-0 in 1956; Kansas’ Widest Margin of Victory: 34-0 in 1905. Oklahoma’s Highest Point Total: 71 in 1987; Kansas’ Highest Point Total: 52, 1996. Shutouts by Oklahoma: 18; Shutouts by Kansas: 13; Oklahoma’s Longest Series Winning Streak: 12 games, 1948-1959; Kansas’ Longest Series Winning Streak: 8 games, 1903-10.

Series Notes
Oklahoma has won the last three meetings between the two … prior to that time, the Jayhawks had reeled off three straight victories … eight of Kansas’ wins in the series came in the first eight meetings between the schools from 1903-1910 … for the third time in the last seven meetings, Oklahoma and Kansas are playing at night.

Another Neutral Field
Oklahoma is playing back-to-back games on neutral fields with last week’s game at the Cotton Bowl and this week’s contest at Arrowhead Stadium. The last time OU played back-to-back neutral field games was 1944 when it played Texas A&M at Taft Stadium in Oklahoma City one week before taking on Texas at Dallas.

The Coaches
Oklahoma: Bob Stoops (Iowa ‘83), now in his seventh season with the Sooners, is 69-15 overall. He is 3-3 in bowls, 3-2 in January bowls, 2-2 in BCS games, 45-9 vs. the Big 12, 25-6 vs. the Big 12 South, 20-3 vs. the Big 12 North, 3-1 in the Big 12 title game, 25-6 vs. non-conference opponents, 38-2 at home, 20-7 on the road, 11-6 on neutral fields, 21-6 vs. ranked opponents and 3-0 vs. Kansas.

Kansas: Mark Mangino (Youngstown State ‘87) is 15-26 in his fourth season at Kansas, 160-93-1 in his 22nd year overall. He is 0-1 against Oklahoma.

The Program
Oklahoma owns one of the most storied and accomplished traditions in all of college football …
• OU’s all-time record is 751-288-53.
• Seven national championships (1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000).
• Thirty-eight bowl appearances (No. 7 nationally) with 23 victories (No. 3 nationally).
• Since WWII, Oklahoma is the most successful college football program with 506 victories.
• OU’s all-time winning percentage of .711 ranks No. 4 among Division I-A members.
• From 2000 forward, OU leads the nation in victories with 62.

This Week’s Opponent
• Kansas won its first three games, all against non-conference opponents, but has since dropped its first two Big 12 games — 30-17 at Texas Tech and 12-3 at Kansas State.
• KU is a balanced offense — gaining an average of 135.0 yards per game on the ground (3.8/carry) and 184.4 through the air. Jayhawk opponents have found tough-sledding in the rushing department gaining just 64.6 yards per game and only 1.9 yards per carry. The Kansas foes have thrown for an average of 242.8 yards per game and completed 62.9% of their passes.
• Oklahoma and Kansas have one common opponent in Kansas State. The Sooners downed the Wildcats in Norman on Oct. 1, 43-21. Kansas lost to K-State, 12-3, last Saturday in Manhattan.
• Kansas has a solid kicking game. Scott Webb has made 7-of-8 field goals, while Kyle Tucker has fashioned a 43.6-yard punting average.
• LB Nick Reid has 54 tackles, 19 more than any other player on the team.

The Last Meeting
Oklahoma won last year’s game by a 41-10 count in Norman …
• No. 2 Oklahoma led just 14-10 at halftime, but reeled off 27 unanswered points in the second half to pull away for a comfortable win in its annual homecoming game.
• KU’s defense was geared to stop the run, so Jason White completed 27-of-44 passes for 389 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Eventually, the Sooners also got the running game untracked too as Adrian Peterson rushed 22 times for 122 yards and one score.
• Kansas had the game’s longest score, a 78-yard touchdown pass from Adam Barmann to Brandon Rideau. OU had long scoring plays too — White had TD throws of 69, 61 and 41 to three different receivers.
• Lance Mitchell scored for the OU defense when the linebacker returned a fumble 28 yards for a touchdown. Mitchell tacked on a team-high 11 tackles.
• KU had three turnovers to none by the Sooners.

Goin’ to Kansas City
This marks Oklahoma’s fourth game in Kansas City. The previous three were for the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship game.
• 2004 — OU defeated Colorado for the Big 12 Championship, 42-3.
• 2003 — OU lost to Kansas State for the Big 12 title, 35-7.
• 2000 — OU defeated Kansas State for the league crown, 27-24, en route to its seventh national championship.

Ties With This Week’s Opponent
•KU head coach Mark Mangino spent three seasons at Oklahoma. He was assistant head coach and offensive line coach in 1999, then added the title of offensive coordinator for his final two seasons in Norman.
• Kansas associate head coach Nick Quartaro was on the KSU staff from 1989-93, which overlapped with Bob Stoops’ stint on the Wildcat coaching staff and with the KSU playing career and one graduate assistant season for current OU associate head coach Brent Venables.
• Kansas defensive coordinator Bill Young held the same title at Oklahoma from 1995-96.
• Former OU fullback Seth Littrell, who played on OU’s 2000 national championship squad, is a graduate assistant in the KU program.
• KU director of football operations George Matsakis was a member of the Kansas State coaching staff during the time that Stoops and Venables were in Manhattan.
• KU TE coach Brandon Blaney was a football graduate assistant at OU from 1000-2000.
• KU director of strength and conditioning Chris Dawson holds two degrees from Oklahoma and played for the Sooners from 1992-94.
• Oklahomans on the Kansas roster include DL Chris Brant (Edmond), DE Russell Brorsen (Stillwater), TE Derek Fine (Sallisaw), WR Marcus Henry (Lawton), S James Holt (Altus), OL Matt Mann (Norman) and K Scott Webb (Tulsa). The lone Kansan on the Oklahoma roster is DE Brody Eldridge from La Cygne (Prairie View HS). OU DB/RB Allen Patrick is a native South Carolinian, but played attended Independence (Kan.) Community College before transferring to OU.

Oklahoma’s Most Recent Game
Oklahoma’s five-game winning streak over Texas came to an end when the Longhorns defeated the Sooners, 45-12, in Dallas …
• Big plays victimized the Sooners as UT got touchdowns that covered 80, 64 and 67 yards. The 67-yarder was the final score of the game and it came when DL Rodrique Wright scooped up a fumble at the Texas 23 and ran the distance.
• RB Adrian Peterson, hampered by an ankle injury, did not start the game. He logged three rushes for 10 yards, the lowest output of his career. Three other Sooner running backs saw action in the game and Kejuan Jones drew the start.
• Garrett Hartley made 2-of-3 field goals, including a 52-yarder. That was the longest ever by a Sooner in the series. Hartley’s miss came on a 41-yarder and resulted after a low snap.
• OU mounted just 171 total yards and completed only 12-of-33 passes. Texas finished with 444 total yards.
• Oklahoma sacked Texas QB Vince Young three times and limited him to just 45 yards on 17 carries, but gave up 241 passing yards (14-of-27) and three TD throws.
• Joe Jon Finley scored the Oklahoma touchdown and now has both TD receptions registered by a Sooner this season.
• QB Rhett Bomar saw his consecutive passing attempts with no INT stopped at 73 when one of his tossed bounced off WR Manuel Johnson and was picked off.

Oklahoma Picks Up Win. No. 750
The win over Tulsa in the second game of this season was the 750th all-time for Oklahoma. The Sooners’ all-time record now stands 751-288-53. OU is one of just eight schools with 750 victories. With 1,092 games played, the Sooners are just eight away from 1,100. Nineteen other schools have played 1,100 games.

Sooners Eclipse Three Million in Attendance Under Stoops
Oklahoma has sold out all 40 home games of Bob Stoops’ tenure and during the Tulsa game the total number of fans during that period exceeded three million. The total stands at 3,144,409 for an average of 78,610. That figure is misleading because recent expansion moved the capacity to 82,112. That figure has been exceeded in 15 straight games.

Entry Filed under: Oklahoma Sports