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Oklahoma-Kansas GameDay: X-Factor

Who is this team? ... Watch out for the weather ... Hostile road environment ... Mental fortitude ... Turnovers

John E. Hoover

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Who is this team?

Did Oklahoma fall in love with its own publicity after beating Texas? Cinematic highlight videos and national talk-show appearances sure seemed to take a lot of this team's attention. For a squad that built its success on taking a blue-collar approach, tuning out the noise, taking one game at a time and maintaining a singular focus, their performance against lowly UCF was concerning. It's hard to peak 12 times over the course of a college football season, but that big a drop-off from one game to the next should not have happened. Can the Sooners get back to their blue-collar roots against a Kansas team that, to put it bluntly, isn't on Oklahoma's level? Was the UCF game a wake-up call? Or has this team started believing the hype?

— John Hoover

Weather conditions

Fall is in full swing, bringing with it the challenge of playing through less than ideal weather. Currently, the weather forecast is projected to be a high of 43 degrees with a high chance of rain. If the skies open up and the conditions are sloppy and wet on Saturday, taking care of the football and the running game will be even more important. Keeping the ball on the ground plays to the strength of Kansas’ offense, as well as the Oklahoma defense. Ensuring that the Sooners keep the Jayhawks behind the chains will be essential if Jason Bean isn’t able to air the ball out on third downs. On the other side of the ball, OU’s run game will have to be in sync. Poor weather conditions could hamper an Oklahoma passing attack that has often been locked in late in games, as the Sooners will need to find more consistency across all four quarters to stay unbeaten.

— Ryan Chapman 

Road environment, Kansas sellout

On Thursday, Kansas announced a sellout crowd for Saturday’s game against the Sooners. It’s unclear how many Oklahoma fans will be in attendance, but the Jayhawk community is fired up about this football team. The Red River Rivalry was certainly a hostile environment for Oklahoma, but it wasn’t a full-on road game like it will be on Saturday. The Sooners will need to handle the pressure of being a good team, getting Kansas’s best shot, and battling through the crowd noise. Turnovers will be costly in game like this, as the Jayhawks can’t be allowed to pick up momentum at home. The Sooners need to play steady, consistent, complimentary football in order to keep the crowd out of it.

— Ross Lovelace

Mental fortitude 

After nearly going to overtime with a UCF team in the midst of a four-game losing streak, the Sooners should have a different mentality coming into their matchup against Kansas. If OU is able to avoid the "eye crimes" that plagued them against the Golden Knights and come out of the gate swinging, they should be able to separate themselves far enough from the Jayhawks to feel safe the rest of the way. Oklahoma should come into this road contest fired up after a near-loss last week almost altered the season's trajectory.

—Randall Sweet

Turnovers

Oklahoma's defense did not record a turnover against UCF, the first time that's happened this season. The Sooners' offense had one turnover against the Knights but OU still holds a plus-10 turnover margin to rank second nationally. Turnovers could determine the outcome of Saturday's game in Lawrence, where rain and temperatures in the low 40s are predicted. Expect the football to be slick and hard to hold on to. The less-than-favorable weather conditions could play right into the hands of OU's ball-hawking defense, which intercepted 12 passes and recovered three fumbles in the team's first six games.

— Tim Willert

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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