Can OU cover the spread for the third week in a row?

This weekend, the surging No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners (7-0, 4-0) are headed back to the Sunflower State where the struggling Kansas Jayhawks (1-5, 0-3) await their fate. Normally, there isn’t much hype going into a game between the top and bottom teams of a given conference, and unfortunately for KU that remains true for this contest, as this appears to be an extremely lopsided Big 12 matchup. Nevertheless, let’s go.

It’s official. OU will rock its rough rider alternates on the road this Saturday in Lawrence. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, it would likely take a miracle or two for this team to look bad against this next opponent.

Date, Time & TV: Saturday, Oct. 23 at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN

Line: Oklahoma -38.5 (as of Friday at 1 p.m. CT)

O/U: 66.5

Game Notes:

OU-Kansas Game Primer

Mike Plank’s preview of Oklahoma at KU for Rock Chalk Talk

Allen Kenney looks at where the Sooners can improve going into the back half of the season

Week Eight Gambling Picks from Allen & the Skinny

Friday’s Final Word

Major Storylines

The Caleb Williams Show continues

After accounting for 361 total yards and five total touchdowns in his first collegiate start, true freshman QB Caleb Williams has totally solidified himself as the new leader of Oklahoma’s offense. For his sensational performance last Saturday, he was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. Looking ahead to this weekend, one can only expect his outstanding play to continue against Kansas’ poorly rated defense.

How much does Spencer Rattler play?

If all goes according to plan, and I’m assuming it will, Spencer Rattler will play most of the second half against the Jayhawks once the Sooners are up by five or six scores. Now, the last time anybody saw the former Heisman Trophy favorite on the field in live action was when he connected with Drake Stoops on a two-point conversion to tie things up against Texas. Before that, he was pulled for Caleb Williams after coughing the ball up one too many times. It’ll be interesting to see how he and the offense around him responds when his number is inevitably called.

No more injuries, please

Like many teams around college football, Oklahoma is quite banged up, especially on defense. Some of the players that are working their way back to the field include NB Jeremiah Criddell, CB D.J. Graham, DL Jalen Redmond, S Delarrin Turner-Yell, CB Woodi Washington and offensively, highly experienced and talented WR Theo Wease has yet to play a down this season. Lists like that tend to happen when you’re going on your eighth consecutive game week without a BYE. Fortunately, Lincoln Riley’s team will have a chance to rest some starters and dip into the depth chart as long as they can take care of business from the opening kick-off.

Which Jayhawks should OU be aware of?

Offensively, junior QB Jason Bean has established himself as a capable dual-threat, and with how vulnerable the Sooners’ secondary is right now, he could find some success if the rush isn’t able to get home. On the other side of the ball, KU senior defensive end Kyron Johnson currently leads his team with 2.5 sacks and a pair of forced fumbles on the season, so he’s a guy that Oklahoma will need to stay mindful of whenever he’s on the field.

Prediction

Folks, as much as I want to temper my expectations about this matchup, Kansas simply hasn’t shown me any good reason to believe it can make this a competitive contest for longer than a quarter. I think Caleb Williams picks up where he left off against TCU, both with his arm and his legs, and guys like Marvin Mims and Jadon Haselwood are primed to go to work against the Jayhawks’ hapless secondary. Look for Kennedy Brooks to also continue his midseason surge on the ground, as well as Oklahoma’s rushing attack as a whole. Defensively, KU hasn’t had to protect against the kind of front the Sooners are bringing to Lawrence, and because of that I envision a great many third-and-very-longs for the home squad. In the end, not only do I predict OU to win big in this game, I expect the Crimson & Cream to cover with ease.

Oklahoma 65, Kansas 9

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Ideas about points of emphasis for OU with the Sooners now in the back half of the season.

The Oklahoma Sooners have entered an odd stretch of the 2021 season. In the big picture, the next three weeks – a trip to Kansas on Saturday, a home game against Texas Tech on Oct. 30 and an open date – look like a way station between a few tricky midseason tests and a rough finishing kick. OU is a 38-point favorite over KU, the line will probably be in the range of three touchdowns versus the Red Raiders and the Sooners should kick the hell out of BYE.

In the here and now, however, OU still has plenty of work left to do in the next three weeks. Naturally, that starts with not suffering a catastrophic loss to the Jayhawks and/or Tech. (Bear in mind the Sooners were favored by about 40 points in 2011 when they fell to the Red Raiders in what started a disappointing slide to end the year.) Continuing to tailor the offensive to fit Caleb Williams’ prodigious talents at quarterback also seems like a given.

Consider this a list of other suggested priorities for Oklahoma in the next three weeks. It is by no means exhaustive.

Get healthy.

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This kinda falls outside the team’s control, but you get the drift. This squad is banged up after seven straight games. Rotational players dealing with injuries of varying severity at the moment include:

• Right tackle Tyrese Robinson;
• Utility offensive lineman Erik Swenson;
• Wide receiver Mario Williams;
• WR Theo Wease;
• WR Cody Jackson;
• Defensive lineman Jalen Redmond;
• DL Isaiah Coe;
• Linebacker Danny Stutsman;
• Cornerback Woodi Washington;
• CB D.J. Graham; and
• Safety Delarrin Turner-Yell.

And those are the ones we know about.

A fair number of players on that list will probably sit out in the next two weeks. The open date also should give the walking wounded extra time to heal up.

Don’t be surprised if Lincoln Riley gets his frontline players off the field as early as possible to avoid them taking more punishment than necessary. Should the opportunity present itself, Riley may try to put the games out of reach quickly for that very reason.

Which leads us to…

Build depth.

OU has played so many tight games this season that its reserves haven’t seen many opportunities to build experience on the field. The injury situation is forcing the coaching staff to dip deep down the bench in some cases to prepare backups for action on the fly.

Some of the measures taken in the TCU game to make up for players’ absences set off alarm bells. Most notably, with Washington still sidelined, CBs coach Roy Manning and defensive coordinator Alex Grinch shifted freshman Billy Bowman from first-team nickel to starting CB over a handful of players who were already practicing at the position. Even then, little-used CB Joshua Eaton still got pressed into service when Graham went down in the first quarter.

No better time than the present to get players like Eaton some seasoning. Marcus Major could audition for a bigger share of the snaps down the stretch at running back after missing the first five games of the year. Freshman Savion Byrd may see some extended action at offensive tackle.

Bottom line: It never hurts to have more players ready to contribute late in the season.

Kick the field-goal habit.

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Having a standout placekicker should be a good thing for a football team. For OU, it sometimes feels like a curse. Gabe Brkic may be the best kicker in the country, but you’re hustling backwards if your All-American kicker entices to you to take three points too often when you should be shooting for six.

Perhaps this would be a good time for Riley to go cold turkey on field goals. At the very least, evaluate the team’s approach to managing down and distance in FG range.

Find ways to put the ball in Mario Williams’ hands.

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To be fair, Williams’ departure from last week’s game may put the explosive wideout in the category of players whose health would warrant time to recuperate. Once he is back at full speed, though, he needs more touches. There are only so many opportunities to go around on any football team; nevertheless it still seems as though OU needs to manufacture more chances to let Williams showcase his skills in both the quick passing game and going downfield.

In fact, leveraging the skills of QB Caleb Williams and Mario as runners with concepts such as jet read sounds like something that would terrorize defensive coordinators.