NORMAN, Okla. — Jake Sharp had just rushed four times for 58 yards and scored on a 17-yard touchdown run to cut the Oklahoma lead to seven at 31-24.

It was early in the third quarter, the Kansas defense got a big stop, and it was time for Sharp and the offense to take the field with a chance to tie the game.

But when the Jayhawks’ offensive unit trotted out to take its position, it was Jocques Crawford — not Sharp — who stood behind Todd Reesing at the tailback spot.

To that point, Sharp had rushed for 98 yards on only nine carries — an average of 10.9 yards per rush. He had just crafted his way right through the Oklahoma defense to bring Kansas within seven points and appeared almost unstoppable.

But despite being down by only one touchdown with still more than nine minutes remaining in the third quarter, Mangino and the coaching staff decided that they had to switch from the ground attack to the air.

That meant Sharp, who ignited the Kansas comeback at Iowa State and appeared on his way to possibly do it again, was forced to the bench for Crawford.

“We needed a bigger body for pass protection,” Mangino said. “We didn’t have much of a choice. We were behind and had to throw the ball so we needed a bigger guy there to protect.”

Reesing had passed for 258 yards at that point, but trailing just 31-24 with almost 25 minutes remaining in the game seemed like an odd time to give up on what just scored them a touchdown on the previous drive.

The Jayhawks punted on three-straight possessions before Sharp saw the field again and ended up punting on five-straight possessions following the touchdown. The Hawks eventually scored late in the game to make the final margin 45-31 in favor of the No. 4. Sooners.

“We had some opportunities,” Sharp said. “But at the end of the day, we came up short.”

Kansas scored a first-quarter touchdown on a one-yard run by Crawford, the first touchdown a team has scored in the first quarter against Oklahoma all season. In fact, Oklahoma had outscored its opponents 110-6 in the opening quarter minutes before the Jayhawks matched the team at 7-7 going into the second quarter on Saturday. Kansas was close to tying the game at 14 in the second quarter before Reesing was intercepted at the two-yard line to end a potential scoring drive. It was Reesing’s second interception of the game and meant that — along with a Jacob Branstetter field goal on their next drive — the Jayhawks scored only three points on two trips to the red zone in the first half.

“When you’re playing a really good football team like Oklahoma, you can’t make many mistakes,” Mangino said.

Still, Kansas trailed 24-17 at the half despite the two turnovers and allowing 419 yards to quarterback Sam Bradford and the Sooner offense. Bradford passed for a school-record 468 yards, with 313 of those yards coming in the 30 minutes of the game.

“With all the turnovers we had and the big difference in yards they had, we were only down seven,” said Dezmon Briscoe, who had a school-record 12 catches for 269 yards and two touchdowns. “We were like, ‘Hey, we’re still in this.’ We never once doubted ourselves or hung our heads.”

Mangino stressed all week that his team would need to play smart football to compete with the vaunted Sooners in Norman. After having just one penalty in the first half, Kansas had six penalties for 62 yards in the second half.

“Any time you’re playing in a big game against a good opponent, any penalty and turnover is going to be magnified,” Reesing said.

Reesing was 24-41 for 342 yards but was sacked a season-high five times and had the two key interceptions in the first half.

The Kansas defense struggled to even slow down Bradford and the Oklahoma offense. The Sooner’s leading receiver Manuel Johnson left with a broken arm in the first quarter, but Oklahoma didn’t miss a beat. Oklahoma had 674 yards of offense.

In the end, it was a shootout and Kansas just couldn’t keep up.

“We gave it our best shot,” Mangino said. “Our kids played their tails off. A couple plays here, a couple plays there and you give yourself a chance.”

Kansas fell to 5-2 on the season but remained the only team in the Big 12 North with a winning record at 2-1. Four teams — Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas State — are all 1-2 and Iowa State is 0-3.

“It’s not like we came out and got upset,” Reesing said. “People thought we were going to lose by 20 points so we did better than most people expected. We’re still in the thick of things in the Big 12 North. We have to learn from it and come out ready to play next week.”