🏈 Maybe it's not just OU
🏈 Maybe it's not just OU
Sooners not playing to expectations, but who in college football is?
✌🏽 Happy Monday, friends. Let’s ride.
🤔 Trivia: When was the last time West Virginia held Oklahoma to less than 40 points? [Answer in footnotes]
💭 Final thoughts
Oklahoma is in a weird place at the moment.
Leaving Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday, a 23-16 victory over Nebraska didn’t leave a buzz in the air. It was more a sigh of relief.
For the second time in three weeks, the Sooners played down to their competition. And in this bizzaro world, OU’s defense bailed out a lackluster performance from its offense.
So, yes. Oklahoma is in a weird place. But so is the rest of college football.
There’s not a team. that doesn’t look beatable. Alabama blew a big lead to Florida before hanging on in the end. Clemson barely got by Georgia Tech. Ohio State let Tulsa hang around. Truthfully, it’s refreshing to see a college football season that feels completely wide open.
Still, the Sooners have plenty of questions to answer. And before flipping the chapter to West Virginia, I put together 10 takeaways from Saturday’s game. Feel free to read and start a discussion, because I’d love your thoughts on what happened (If you’re not yet a paid subscriber, grab a free trial for seven days by clicking here).
🔋 Big 12 power rankings
Oklahoma (3-0, Last week: 1): This team undoubtedly has a high ceiling when everything is clicking. Not the prettiest of victories, but I’m not sure there’s a defense better than OU’s in the conference.
Kansas State (3-0, Last week: 3): The team that has a reasonable claim to that title? K-State. Kept a good Nevada team in check and scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to run away with a 38-17 win.
TCU (2-0, Last week: 2): Bye week for the Frogs. A home tilt with rival SMU this Saturday, however, should be a blast.
West Virginia (2-1, Last week: 6): The Mountaineers quickly jumped on No. 15 Virginia Tech, went quiet in the second half and held on long enough to win. Sound familiar, OU fans?
Iowa State (2-1, Last week: 4): The Cyclones secured a 48-3 win over UNLV in a nice bounce-back game for Brock Purdy (21/24, 288 yards, 3 TDs). Next up, at Baylor on Saturday.
Texas Tech (3-0, Last week: 5): Texas Tech is 3-0 after a 54-21 win over Florida International. I’m not betting on the Red Raiders to be undefeated next week with a trip to Texas on deck.
Oklahoma State (3-0, Last week: 8): What on earth is this team? A 21-20 win over Boise State on the road seemed unlikely after uninspired efforts against Missouri State and Tulsa. The Cowboys’ defense deserves a lot of credit for how it’s shown up the first three games.
Texas (2-1, Last week: 7): The Longhorns beat Rice 58-0 following their loss to Arkansas the week prior. A nice start for the Casey Thompson era, but the Owls were never going to be much of a challenge.
Baylor (3-0, Last week: 9): Another week, another Baylor win over an inferior opponent.
Kansas (1-2, Last week: 10): Is it basketball season yet?
📉 Sooners fall in AP Top 25
OU dropped one spot to No. 4 in the latest AP Top 25.
Top 10: 1. Alabama, 2. Georgia, 3. Oregon, 4. Oklahoma, 5. Iowa, 6. Penn State, 7. Texas A&M, 8. Cincinnati, 9. Clemson, 10. Ohio State
Opponent watch: West Virginia received votes but wasn’t anywhere close to cracking this week’s poll.
🎓 Sooners in the NFL
QB Baker Mayfield, Browns: The Cleveland Browns earned their first win of the season Sunday, but not without Mayfield leaving the game briefly with an injury. [Click here for more from Cleveland.com]
QB Kyler Murray, Cardinals: The Arizona Cardinals put on a show against the Minnesota Vikings. How Kyler Murray is emerging as an MVP candidate. [Click here to read]
WR Marquise Brown, Ravens: Hollywood met Sunday Night Football with an incredible touchdown reception that sent Twitter on fire. Baltimore ultimately rallied to beat Kansas City. [Click here to watch the play]
Sooners reunited: Dallas receiver CeeDee Lamb and LA Chargers linebacker Kenneth Murray faced each other on Sunday. The Cowboys won 20-17 on a last-second field goal.
🎞 Must watch
If you know, you know.
⏰ On this day
Seven years ago today, OU beat West Virginia 45-33 in Morgantown. Samaje Perine rushed for 242 yards and four touchdowns.
2013 — The Mountaineers held the Sooners to 16 points but still lost.
Place your bets on the Crimson Tide now.