Kansas Football Coach Lance Leipold Slams Quote Of The Year After 'Huge' Win Over Former No. 6 Oklahoma

A milestone win is not only about sound, like crowd noise. It's not only about an unforgettable picture, like storming the field.

Sometimes, it just smells like victory.

Such was the case after the 8.5-point underdog Kansas Jayhawks upset No. 6 Oklahoma 38-33, at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas, on Saturday.

"I got caught in a whole bunch of students," Kansas coach Lance Leipold said after escaping the chaotic scene on the field to the postgame press conference as goal posts collapsed. "I hope nobody gives me a breathalyzer just off the fumes out there."

Kansas Jayhawks Beat Oklahoma For 1st Time Since 1997

Kansas drank in its first win over a ranked opponent since No. 5 Virginia Tech, 24-21, in the Orange Bowl to wrap the 2007 season. The Jayhawks beat the Sooners for the first time since a 20-17 win in Lawrence on Oct. 14, 1997. They had lost 18 straight to Oklahoma. There were home losses of 41-3 in 2017 and 62-7 in 2015 in that dry run. Road destructions included 62-9 in 2020, 56-3 in 2016 and 52-17 in 2012.

"Historic and epic," beamed the Kansas Radio Network announcers as the game ended.

Kansas coach Lance Leipold inherited a disaster from former coach Les Miles (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

"This is a huge moment for this team," Kansas quarterback Jason Beam said, who played for injured starter Jalon Daniels.

The win proved significant enough to propel the Jayhawks (6-2, 3-2 Big 12) into the Associated Press poll on Sunday at No. 22.

Kansas Coach Lance Leipold Makes Major Strides

"It's time for me to start talking about how far we've come," Leipold said.

Yes, just three seasons ago, Kansas went 0-9 and 0-8 in the Big 12 under coach Les Miles. Leipold went 2-10 and 1-8 in his first season in 2021 before a respectable finish of 6-7 and 3-6 in 2022.

The Sooners (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) dropped four spots to No. 10 in the poll.

"As I told them, we're not going to be defined by any one win or any one loss," Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said.

Actually, though, the loss may well define the Sooners' season. It happened just in time for Oklahoma not to be close to the top four spots in the first College Football Rankings of the season. The CFP's opening rankings come out Tuesday (7 p.m., ESPN) in the last year of the four-team playoff. The CFP will expand to 12 teams in 2024.

Expected to be in the top four Tuesday will be something similar to the top four in Sunday's A.P. poll. Georgia (8-0) checked in at No. 1 for the 20th straight week and distanced itself from No. 2 Michigan (8-0). The Wolverines were open, but it didn't seem like it. Coach Jim Harbaugh's program seemed to lose daily last week as the illegal scouting and sign stealing story continued to unravel.

Ohio State (8-0) is No. 3, followed by Florida State (8-0).

Washington (8-0) is fifth. Oregon (7-1) has the one loss, but it destroyed No. 13 Utah, 35-6, and snapped the Utes' 18-game winning streak at home, which was the nation's third longest.

Texas, Alabama, Penn State and Oklahoma finished the top 10.