Oklahoma is coming off a loss they certainly did not expect. The Sooners planned on going into the Red River Rivalry and taking advantage of the struggling Texas Longhorns. Instead their offense failed to do much of anything as the Longhorns exposed the weaknesses of the defense. Now they prepare to face a Kansas State Wildcats team that came close to getting the upset win over TCU.
The Sooners are not concerned about the one loss. They still have a shot to get into the playoffs as they still face Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma State. Getting wins over those teams will keep Oklahoma at the top of the list to reach the College Football Playoffs despite falling to Texas. However, the Sooners offense has some work to go. Baker Mayfield and company struggled mightly against the Texas defense and must fix the issues against Kansas State.
Mayfield was beat up against the Longhorns. The quarterback was sacked six times. The offensive line was down-right terrible as they got just 67 yards rushing on the day. Mayfield threw for 211 yards and one touchdown in the game. He had been averaging 345.5 yards through the air prior to that game. If the offensive line can hold off the defense of the Wildcats, they stand a chance at getting their efficiency back.
The Wildcats proved they could be a threat as well in the Big 12. Despite being unranked, Kansas State came very close to upsetting the No.2 TCU Horned Frogs as they fell in a heartbreaker. The team led at halftime 35-17, but failed to get the final score and lost 52-45. The Wildcats showed a lot of positive signs in that game and the Sooners cannot afford to overlook them based on their ranking.
Quarterback Joe Hubener looked like a dual-threat option as he rushed for 111 yards and four touchdowns. That made up for the fact that he only completed 13 of 33 passes for 157 yards. He also had two turnovers in the second half that gave the Horn Frogs chances to score. If Hubener can eliminate the mistakes, he has the chance to hand the Sooners two losses which would knock them out of playoff contention.
