Oklahoma runs away from Kansas 62-7

Another explosive offense meant another difficult challenge for Kansas to even compete with No. 13 Oklahoma on Saturday.

The Sooners started out fast and did not look back as they took down the Jayhawks 62-7 at Memorial Stadium.

At the moment, the Jayhawks are not producing enough offense to be competitive and not making enough stops on defense. KU coach David Beaty sees the offense as a big problem. Especially in a league that puts up so many points each week.

“We’ve got to be able to score more, it’s probably one of my most disappointing things is that our production is not what I expect,” Beaty said.

Oklahoma did not waste time getting its first score. In a 26-second drive, the Sooners sprinted to a touchdown, with quarterback Baker Mayfield’s 68-yard touchdown throw to Joe Mixon coming out of the backfield.

Mayfield and the Sooners continued to carve up the Jayhawks’ defense, completing 27 of 32 passes for 383 yards and three touchdowns. Backup Trevor Knight came in for Mayfield about 9 minutes into the the third quarter after the Sooners went up 45-7.

“He’s a slippery guy, no doubt about that,” Beaty said of Mayfield. “I think he found some efficiency in the passing game today that he had not enjoyed up to that point, at least to that rate.”

One of the most impressive players for Oklahoma was receiver Sterling Shepard, who had 11 catches for 183 yards and a touchdown.

Samaje Perine, who rushed for a NCAA-record 427 yards against KU last year, ran for 90 yards and two touchdowns. He was a force in the middle, running over and around Jayhawk defenders.

With most of their backups in the game in the second half, the Sooners still succeeded in moving the ball into the end zone. Oklahoma not only dominated on the scoreboard, they also dominated in yardage. The Sooners put up 710 yards to Kansas’ 216 yards.

KU’s defense understands that getting off the field and letting the offense attack has to turn around in the last four games of the season.

“We’ve got to get off the field better defensively, period,” Beaty said.

Safety Fish Smithson, the Jayhawks’ leader in tackles with 10, agreed about the defense’s responsibility.

“Tomorrow we’ve got to keep this taste in our mouth, but watch film of the good plays that we did and the bad plays and why they were bad plays,” Smithson said. “Not just say they were bad plays, but see the mistakes.”

After giving up 21 points in the first quarter, KU finally countered with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Willis to Tyler Patrick at the beginning of the second quarter. Patrick finished the game with five catches for 46 yards.

“That kid has just steadily improved,” Beaty said. “He just made some good plays today.”

For Beaty, the main thing for him is tying all this stuff together. After an 0-8 start to the season, he wants to see improvements in all areas as the Jayhawks prepare to face Texas in Austin at 7 p.m. Saturday.

“You’ve just got to make sure that you do a good job of continuing to look to see how you can help guys be in a better position to execute,” Beaty said.

This story was originally published October 31, 2015 at 7:23 PM with the headline "Oklahoma runs away from Kansas 62-7."