A (Semi) Statistical Recap of Texas Tech

After competing for 3+ quarters against Oklahoma State and West Virginia, the Jayhawks found themselves unable to hang very long with Texas Tech on Saturday afternoon in Lubbock.

10 days after firing its offensive coordinator, Kansas scored a whopping 3 points in the first half.

Once again, offensive ineptitude cost Kansas any shot at keeping the score respectable. When KU’s defense gave the offense the ball at the Tech two-yard line, Beaty settled for a field goal - from the three-yard line.

Tech ran 84 offensive plays to KU’s 70. The Red Raiders averaged 6.5 yards per play compared to KU’s 4.5.

The Jayhawks (once again) struggled on third down, converting just 4-15 (26.7%) including 0-6 (that’s good for 0.0% in case you were wondering) in the first half. Meanwhile, Tech converted 8-14 (57.1%) throughout the game.

Each team suffered multiple turnovers, with Kansas giving it away twice (including Pooka’s first lost fumble on the year) and Tech doing so three times.

The Good

Oh boy.

Hmm.

Well - Daylon Charlot finally showed up in Lawrence. He led the Jayhawks in receiving on Saturday, so, there’s that.

The Bad

Davd Beaty was absolutely horrendous on Saturday. There were the usual timeouts before punts (two in the first half), but what really got to me was the conservative gameplan. Everything was so conservative, from the above-mentioned kicking the field goal from the three-yard line to continually running plays short of the sticks on third-downs.

Should I mention play-calling too? I know that everyone for every team complains about play-calling, but I doubt they’ve ever watched two running backs combine to average 7.0 yards per carry in the first half, and then see those same two backs get just 11 combined carries in the second half.

Obviously, the run/pass ratio for this team is a major issue. By my count, Kansas has a 44/56 run/pass ratio on the season. (I’m trying to not count sacks as rushing attempts, which means fudging with the numbers a bit.) Against Tech, KU was 39/61. This may bear further analysis in another article later this week, but with the talent available at RB, that number really should be flipped, and at this point, it’s just another fireable offense for a head football coach that already has a quiver full of fireable offenses.

The Ugly

As awful as Beaty was, he wasn’t as bad as his quarterback. How much more evidence do we need for the head coach to see that Peyton Bender isn’t the best option behind center? After a first half that saw Bender go 7-20 for 58 yards, he finished 18-41 for 221 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT (in the end zone, because of course it was).

And Halleluljah that he only had one INT, because by my count there were three passes in the first half alone that should have been intercepted by Texas Tech. Bender also had a fumble that was recovered by the Jayhawks.

David Beaty is seriously just trolling the KU fanbase now, right?

The Stats

Peyton Bender started and played the entire game for some reason. See “The Ugly” above. FML.

Pooka Williams rushed for 80 yards on 16 carries. He added 3 receptions for 26 yards. Pooka also lost a fumble inside the Tech 5-yard line.

Khalil Herbert had just 8 carries for 39 yards.

Daylon Charlot led the team in receiving with 4 receptions for 67 yards.

Kwamie Lassiter also had 4 receptions, but for 41 yards.

Steven Sims had just two catches for 38 yards, but one was a beautiful 30-yarder for a touchdown. I feel so bad for Steven Sims.

Stephon Robinson had KU’s other touchdown on one of two receptions for 31 yards.

Bryce Torneden led all players in tackles with 10.

Mike Lee had 9 tackles, all in the first half, before being ejected on a pretty bogus targeting call (that didn’t even draw a flag).

Keith Loneker added 9 tackles as well.

Joe Dineen had just 7 tackles, but that included 2 TFL and a sack.

Hasan Defense had 4 tackles and an INT.

Gabriel Rui made his only two kicks on the day, a 20-yard field goal and an extra point.

Kyle Thompson hit 9 punts (!!!!) for an average of 42.2 yards. However, during a back-to-back stretch in the first half he had one shank that went for just 12 yards, and also had a 38-yarder that turned into a touchback (so it netted just 18 yards).