Kansas Falls to Oklahoma 31-45

by rockchalk on Oct 18, 2008 10:59 PM CDT in Football

It wasn't a terrible game. It wasn't a poor showing byo ur Jayhawks. In fact, I would imagine that we played better than most expected, particularly in the first three quarters.

But if I had a nickel for every missed tackle by a guy in white, I could pay off the federal debt. We tried arm-tackling. We tried lunging. None of it worked. And that, combined with the bafflingly poor officiating and the idiots calling the game*, was enough to make the game frustrating as hell. I screamed from start to finish. Screamed about the refs, screamed about Ron Franklin, screamed about the offense and screamed about the defense. It was one of those games that, while watching, is incredibly frustrating and gets your blood pumping a million-miles-an-hour.

In retrospect, however, it wasn't nearly as bad. We fought blow-for-blow with what is arguably the nation's best team for three-and-a-half quarters. We consistently threatened to score against their defense, and scored more often than not. And while we gave up more yards than I can count, we managed to make enough stops to keep it close.

Overall, I think we can look back and say that this was a positive performance. Not the best we could have hoped for, and certainly proof that we aren't quite at the level of the Oklahomas and Texases of the world, but an overall solid performance. Our defense isn't good enough and doesn't possess enough athletes, yet, to seriously threaten these incredibly dangerous offenses, which forces our offense to have to keep up. And while our offense is amazing, we make too many mistakes to keep up with the elite offenses in this conference.

More thoughts on the game tomorrow. For now, just accept that we are still a game up on Missouri in the Big 12 North, thanks to the beatdown they took at the hands of Texas, and, therefore, effectively two games up on where we need to be entering Arrowhead for a chance to win the Big 12 North.

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I know this may sound stupid from me but

What exactly did you guys see as bad calls? I thought the refs were pretty inconsequential. I do agree that the announcers were awful.

Boomer Sooner!

Come check out FanIQ for your one stop spot for all sports

by Jubanator14 on Oct 19, 2008 12:20 AM CDT 0 recs

Both sides.

The intentional grounding was pretty brutal at the beginning of the game. It hit Jake Sharp’s foot, not really sure how that can be intentional grounding.

They also had some of the worst spots I’ve ever seen. They gifted both sides a couple of first downs that, according to the yellow line, weren’t even close.

We had a couple of PI’s that weren’t called. Same with you guys and holding. They didn’t explain the personal foul on Dakota Lewis, although that has as much, if not more, to do with ESPN’s cameras than it does with the ref. The first INT from Lendy Holmes, where he went up and fought with Dez Briscoe for it, sure looked like Briscoe came down with it, had full possession with his knee touching and then it was ripped out.

Overall, you guys win regardless. I wasn’t saying that the refs are why we lost. And, as far as the outcome goes, it probably stays the same, give-or-take a TD. It was just hard to watch.

by rockchalk on Oct 19, 2008 10:23 AM CDT up 0 recs

Yeah

That first INT really shouldn’t have been, but it would have been 3rd and really long, and based on how “well” you guys were converting 3rd downs, you can look at that like a punt.

Boomer Sooner!

Come check out FanIQ for your one stop spot for all sports

by Jubanator14 on Oct 19, 2008 1:50 PM CDT up 0 recs

Again, I don't think it made too big of an impact.

Just that the officials were pretty awful, for the most part. It was painfully obvious you were the significantly better team, and I still think you guys might be the best team in college football.

I absolutely love Sam Bradford; as a Chiefs fan, I seriously hope we draft him whenever he comes out.

Congratulations on the awesome win; honestly, I’m happy that we could just fight blow-for-blow the first three quarters. Hopefully in another couple of years we can get up to your level…

by rockchalk on Oct 19, 2008 1:56 PM CDT up 0 recs

Could be worse...

We could’ve pulled a Mizzou-like performance. Heh.

This game kind of reminded me of the Jayhawk teams from a couple of years ago, where we seemed to always be a couple of plays away from winning. While last year, the program was able to turn that tide against most competition, it is clear that there is another step that needs to be taken before we can consistently compete on an elite level.

Luckily for us, we still have at least three more big games this year to try and learn what it takes to take the next step.

Specifically, third downs absolutely killed us. Not only did our failure to convert any of them while the game was still close stall out the offense, but it also prevented the defense from getting more rest. In a game in which both teams are flying down the field in no-huddle attacks, the lack of rest for the defense became critical. I think a lot of the missed tackles came from a defense that was physically spent, especially when having to deal with the massive size and elite speed of OU’s offense.

Gotta tip your hat to OU for shutting down Meier, our main 3rd down weapon. But the play calling on first and second down was suspect at times, creating third and long situations in which Reesing simply didn’t have the time to make a play to keep the chains moving.

On the plus side, we can officially check off “running game” from the list of early season issues for this team. Even with OU missing Reynolds, having Sharp hang a hundie on them was quite the accomplishment—especially when the team was down almost the whole game, and it could have been easy to abandon the run altogether. Special teams also seemed a lot better (although perhaps some of that was due to OU’s struggles in kick coverage).

After tonight, I now feel confident that KU can beat Tech and Mizzou. Texas seems to just keep getting better, which is a scary proposition when they’re already the #1 team in the country. But, it’s not who you play, it’s when you play them. So I’ll keep out of the predictions business for now.

Onward and upward. Oh yeah, and to the Sooners fans reading this: the Big 12 hoops title still runs through us, no matter what the press might say.

by KennyGregoryRockThaCradle on Oct 19, 2008 2:58 AM CDT 0 recs

I think you bring up a good point Kenny....

it takes a little time to clear the hurdle so to speak…because football is the ultimate team sport it is a process and reaching the level a top tier team takes time and consistency…look at Missouri for instance, even they believed they had reached that level and clearly still have not. Trust in the program, trust in the progress and support the heck out of these guys and it will continue to develop…I spoke to one of our other recruits recently and he made the comment to me that in Texas when you are a football player everyone knows you in Kansas they only know the basketball players…he seemed a little discouraged that he wasn’t going to be the “big fish” anymore per se…I assured him that Kansas is changing and I will tell all of you it’s going to take everyone’s support to continue this and make guys like him feel like Kansas is as much a football school as a basketball.

Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.

by Denverjhawk on Oct 19, 2008 8:38 PM CDT up 0 recs