The first three weeks of the 2020 college football season were quite tame compared to the usual standard of noon-to-midnight madness every Saturday. But goodness gracious, did we make up for lost time with the SEC joining the fray this week…

Spencer RattlerSue Ogrocki/Associated Press
Two weeks ago, Kansas State’s defense was helpless in a 35-31 loss to the Sun Belt’s Arkansas State, followed a few hours later by current (but soon to change drastically) AP No. 3 Oklahoma moving the ball at will in a 48-0 win over Missouri State.
It seemed like it would be a brutal combination for the Wildcats. And when the Sooners took a 14-0 lead on the first play of the second quarterafter Kansas State had gone three-and-out on its first two possessionsan impending rout looked inevitable.
When Oklahoma went up 28-7 midway through the third quarter on Spencer Rattler’s fourth passing touchdown of the day, I’ll be honest, I turned the game off. Even with three screens running, there was too much going on during the early slate to waste precious real estate on a blowout.
But then Oklahoma’s defense completely imploded.
Kansas State opened its next drive with a 77-yard Deuce Vaughn reception, scoring a touchdown moments later. On the next drive, Wildcats quarterback Skylar Thompson hit Justin Gardner for a 78-yard gain. Another short touchdown ensued. After an Oklahoma turnover, Vaughn had another 35-yard gain to set up yet another K-State touchdown.
In about 10 minutes of real time, this game went from “Not worth watching” to “Wait, where’s the remote for the main screen?!”
Oklahoma still led 35-28 at that point, but let’s just say that a one-possession game in the fourth quarter was not expected for any of the AP Top 5 teams this week.
And that’s when the Oklahoma offense joined its defense in implosion mode.
On its first nine drives of the game, Oklahoma either scored a touchdown (five), committed a turnover (three) or had a turnover on downs (one). The Sooners did not attempt a punt until the fourth quarter, and emphasis on “attempt,” because the first one got blocked by Kansas State and led to a game-tying score two plays later.
The once-unstoppable Sooners offense managed just four yards of total offense on its next two drives and punted two more times. In between those punts, Kansas State took the lead on a 50-yard field goal. The Sooners got the ball back with less than a minute remaining, but Rattler threw his third interception of the day to make it back-to-back seasons of Oklahoma losing to Kansas State.
The Wildcats outscored the Sooners 24-0 in the final 17 minutes of the 38-35 upset.
It didn’t keep the Sooners from reaching the College Football Playoff last year, but they definitely need to win out from here to have any hope this year.