Kansas vs.Texas Matchup Breakdown

by Owen Kemp on Nov 17, 2009 5:00 AM CST in Football Comment 6 comments

Why Kansas?	Edge	Scenario	Edge	Why Texas?
Was it better last week? I'm inclined to say yes, but it's still way off of any offense that is going to put up big numbers against the Longhorns. Texas boasts the best defense in the country. For Kansas to win this matchup based on the current state of the offense it's going to take an incredible turnaround. My biggest hope is that since there is really nothing to lose at this point, maybe our players start playing that way and loosen up.		KU Offense vs. Texas Defense	This was never a game circled as winnable on the KU Calendar but I sure thought I had a chance to see Todd put up some numbers and push the Texas D. No longer the case.	The Longhorns are top notch against the run, have some seriously dangerous pass rushers and in general field a top notch defense with athletes all over the field.
The Kansas defense took a small step backwards last week giving a Husker offense that has limped all season a new life. This week it'll take a much stronger effort across the board to compete with the athletes Texas is going to put on the field. Best advice, keep the ball out of their hands and the Kansas defense might be able to compete in small bursts. See: Colorado v Texas 1st half.		KU Defense vs. Texas Offense	Texas returned a Heisman finalist QB and his WR target who in case you missed it likes to fish. They both do...Saturday could be a big day for the pair	Colt McCoy, Jordan Shipley...the only reason this offense doesn't look even better on paper is they've spent chunks of the season on the bench with huge leads. Keep it balanced and the Longhorns shouldn't have any trouble beating up on the Kansas D.
I thought Branstetter couldn't pooch kick? Looked like he did against the Corn. That backfired didn't it? Seriously this area needs to be addressed in the offseason first and foremost. This area made all the difference in '07 and has gone dormant since. Oh, except Alonso Rojas.		Special Teams	By a landslide...	Watch out...Texas might very easily return a kick or two in this one. Texas is borderline great on special teams. Not an optimistic view in this matchup.
What happened? Anybody else find it incredibly easy to key on the reciever in motion who made no effort to hide his intentions of crashing the edge on the sweep that the Corn kept running last week? Coaching...well, we're having this discussion elsewhere in a fanpost so I'll defer to that.		Coaching		Mack Brown has won a National Title and he's in a great position to play for another. Hard to argue with success and the Longhorn staff certainly has that.

Well I have to admit it's been a fun early week on here. Not for the reasons I hoped necessarily but it's good to see all the fanposts, fanshots and discussion going on. I'm not so sure this weeks breakdown is going to set off much discussion so please, by all means...keep your thoughts coming with the fanposts etc. and the good news is that Saturday we get to watch a game with no expectations, no urgency and at this point nothing to lose.

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The mood around Austin is joyful

The Longhorns are excited to be playing the Jayhawks.

A night game. On ABC. Senior Day. There is a lot of excitement building for this game. 99.99998% of Longhorn fans expect them to kick our ass. Hard to disagree.

We did catch one break though: their stud kick returner, D.J. Monroe, has been suspended indefinitely for a DWI Sunday night. Problem is, it sounds like DJ lied about it to the coaches and that’s a no-no. They’re saying it won’t be a distraction this week. We’ll see.

Incidentally, last Thursday I saw Colt McCoy down in the lobby of my office building. Damn that kid is ripped. Not a lot of body fat there. What surprised me the most: not a single burnt orange piece of clothing or longhorn symbol anywhere on the kid. Black shorts, plain red t-shirt (kinda looked like a Red Raider).

Just as I did four years ago, I’ll be heading to DKR to root for my Jayhawks. Games like these are fantastic measuring sticks for the program. You can really gauge talent and depth levels, coaching, etc. when their on the same field as the best. We lost 66-10 last time. However, the game would have been much closer had Charlton Keith caught a tipped ball. We had UT backed up at the 2 and Vince Young threw a quick slant. Someone tipped it striaght up in the air and Vince Young and Charlton Keith both went for it (think jump ball). Unfortunately for us, Vince got it, came down, and scrambled for yardage. If CK catches that, he come down falls forward into the endzone and boom we’re up in the 1Q and inside VY’s mind. But the ball didn’t bounce that way.

Sawin' wood

by Rivethead on Nov 17, 2009 8:14 AM CST reply actions

enjoy...

I am a little bit excited that we’re on primetime. Just hope we can make it a competitive game and avoid getting destroyed as others in the conference have. A whole lot of Texas kids on our roster that probably grew up wanting to be Longhorns, might give a little extra motivation.

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

by Owen Kemp on Nov 17, 2009 8:32 AM CST up reply actions

Well, I don't think we'll lose 66-10, but I don't think we'll cover the 28 point spread either.

Texas is awfully good this year.

Sawin' wood

by Rivethead on Nov 17, 2009 8:46 AM CST up reply actions

KICK RETURNS

We did catch one break though: their stud kick returner, D.J. Monroe, has been suspended indefinitely for a DWI Sunday night. Problem is, it sounds like DJ lied about it to the coaches and that’s a no-no. They’re saying it won’t be a distraction this week. We’ll see.

Shipley will be returning kicks in DJ’s absence.

I honestly can’t say that I am still not worried about this game. In the point made above KU has nothing to lose, and Texas has come out surprisingly flat against teams that are supposed to be blown out. (see UCF, Wyoming).

by LonghorninRaiderland on Nov 18, 2009 1:06 PM CST up reply actions