The Oklahoma Sooners dropped their home opener to the Kansas State Wildcats with a final score of 41-34.
The loss was unexpected for many Sooner fans. However, Kansas State has actually beaten the Sooners in three out of their last four matchups. The Wildcats have been a thorn in Oklahoma’s side for the past few years.
It is always a bummer to start conference play 0-1, but here is a fun fact from soonersports.com: Going back to 2006, Oklahoma has lost their conference opener just five times. On each of the previous four occasions (2006, 2007, 2012 and 2020) they went on to win the Big 12 Championship. Ironically, their first conference loss in 2020 was at home against Kansas State.
There is no doubt that the Sooners’ game against the TCU Horned Frogs is a big one. Oklahoma has only lost back-to-back games twice in 23 years. Once in 1999 in Bob Stoops’ first season, and the other in 2020 under Lincoln Riley.
This game will not only show us how this Oklahoma team responds when facing adversity, but there is also a big possibility that this game will show us how the rest of the season might look for the Sooners.
If Oklahoma can make adjustments from last week and beat the undefeated Horned Frogs in dominating fashion, it gives this Sooner team a lot of momentum going into the Red River Showdown with all of their goals still right in front of them.
If Oklahoma comes out flat against TCU and tacks on another loss to start conference play 0-2, Sooner fans might need to reevaluate their goals for Team 128.
The Sooners travel to Fort Worth to take on the Horned Frogs Saturday at 11:00 a.m. CT.