Here’s the reality: Except for historic outliers, college football teams typically lose at least once every year, if not more.

Since Nick Saban arrived at Alabama in 2007, the Crimson Tide have gone undefeated just twice in 17 seasons. Eight times, they’ve lost two or more games in a season. The Saban era at Alabama is considered, rightfully so, the gold standard of college football dynasties.

Oklahoma, one of the winningest programs in college football history, knows this better than anyone. The Sooners haven’t gone undefeated in a season since 2000. They haven’t gone undefeated in a regular season since 2004. That was 20 seasons ago.

Despite the Sooners’ impressive win over Texas on Oct. 7, it was almost a certainty that they’d drop at least one game, if not more. The question was, how would it happen? For fans, certain losses are more easy to digest than others.

That brings us to the Sooners’ 38-33 loss to Kansas on Saturday. Yes, a loss was bound to happen at some point. But this one was a particularly tough loss for many fans to stomach.

Why? Because the loss is just as much on the Sooners’ coaching staff as it is on the players. It’s a game the Sooners, despite playing poorly for much of the game, had ample opportunities to win, but bad coaching got in the way. That’s likely what makes it so frustrating for some.

Here's a few of the biggest examples:

— After Dillon Gabriel’s pick-six early in the game (admittedly not his best throw), the redshirt quarterback attempted just 10 more passes the rest of the way before the final drive, when the Sooners got the ball back trailing by five with 47 seconds left. That doesn’t exactly scream that OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby and the Sooners had confidence in their quarterback. Yes, the weather was bad. But one quarterback still attempted 32 passes and made plays down the field when it mattered. It wasn’t Gabriel. It was Jason Bean. The lack of aggression was particularly apparent after Ethan Downs’ interception with 2:29 left. The Sooners needed just one first down to seal the win, but instead ran the ball three times and punted it back to Kansas with over two minutes still left in the game.

— The use of Jalil Farooq and Gavin Freeman as running backs has been confusing in recent weeks, and it finally bit them against Kansas. A huge turning point in the game came in the third quarter when Farooq fumbled on a handoff up the middle after he was leveled by a Kansas defender. Bean scored a 38-yard touchdown on the next play, giving the Jayhawks a 26-21 lead. Farooq finished the game with 18 yards on five carries (3.6 yards per carry). It’d be different if utilizing Farooq that way led to significant results for the OU offense. That just hasn’t happened. And the fumble wasn't particularly surprising. Wide receivers just aren't typically built for that type of punishment.

— Early in the third quarter with the Sooners attempting to punt the ball away, they were assessed a delay of game penalty after there was confusion about getting the proper personnel on the field. Despite the penalty there was still confusion, and Brent Venables burned a timeout to avoid a second delay of game penalty. But why couldn’t the Sooners get lined up correctly? And why did Venables burn a valuable timeout, when another penalty would’ve just put the ball at the 42-yard line?

— Jovantae Barnes hadn’t played an offensive snap since Tulsa, and didn’t record a carry the first three quarters against Kansas. He then ran the ball five times for 17 yards in the fourth quarter. Tawee Walker’s injury didn’t help things, but the chances of success were low at best for Barnes. Gavin Sawchuk, who made big plays late in the win over UCF, played 15 snaps to Barnes’ 18, per Pro Football Focus, and had only six carries. Why put a player who hasn’t played in several weeks on the field in critical situations, particularly when he didn't have a chance to establish a rhythm earlier in the game?

— The biggest mistake came early in the fourth quarter. Kansas picked up a first down at its own 46-yard line before a Kendel Dolby unnecessary roughness penalty moved the ball to the OU 39-yard line. Moments later, an Oklahoma coach was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that moved the ball to the 24-yard line. Two penalties that cost the Sooners 30 yards. The Jayhawks scored six plays later to take a 32-27 lead. Coaches simply can’t have those types of mistakes that make things significantly more difficult on their players, particularly in a one-possession game in the fourth quarter.

Those mistakes, both big and little, added up, and it cost the Sooners.

Venables, to his credit, acknowledged a mistake on his part late on the Jayhawks' game-winning drive, when he opted not to call a timeout before a pivotal fourth-and-6. The Jayhawks converted on a 39-yard pass to Lawrence Arnold, which set up the game-winning touchdown by Devin Neal a play later.

“It falls on the fourth down, (I) should’ve called a timeout there and put our guys in, let them get settled down, and I didn’t,” Venables said. “So, I blew it. I really felt it could’ve helped those guys in that situation, but didn’t play with discipline… But again, I let our guys down on that two-minute drill.”

“This one hurts. It stings. We got punished for, again, a lack of details and discipline, just me having our guys not ready to play at a high level.”

That kind of self reflection and self criticism is going to be imperative moving forward. Because the coaches are supposed to make things easier on their players, not harder.

Now, none of this is to take credit away from Kansas or deflect blame from the Sooners’ players. The Jayhawks did a lot of things right. They ran for 225 yards on 41 carries (5.5 yards per carry) and routinely beat the Sooners at the point of attack. Bean led the Jayhawks on a game-winning drive. They made plays when they needed to.

But Saturday was a reminder that winning is hard. It takes a complete effort, and it starts with the coaching staff. The loss was also a reminder that this team is still in the midst of a rebuild under Venables, and the coaches are having to learn and grow just as much as the players. Coaches aren’t perfect. Mistakes will happen. But they can’t pile up like they did against Kansas. And some of those mistakes were simply confusing.

The Sooners can’t afford to panic, and they don’t need to. Beat Oklahoma State this weekend, and all of this washes away. A spot in the Big 12 Championship and the College Football Playoff (if a few things go their way) is still more than attainable for this team if they take care of business.

But if the Sooners lose any more games the rest of the way, the hope for fans is that it’s because the players didn’t execute, or the other team was simply better. But against the Jayhawks, the Sooners were both out-played and out-coached.

For the Sooners to keep building and reach their goals, those kinds of mistakes can’t happen again.