Sunflower Screwjob: A (Semi) Statistical Recap of K-State

Leave it to a David Beaty-coached team to be trailing 7-3 early in the third quarter when they should have been ahead 21-0.

Full disclosure: The officiating did NOT lose this game for Kansas. The Jayhawks did that all by themselves. Exhibit A:

I don’t know how many drops KU actually had; officially, they were only credited with two if you read through the play-by-play.

Exhibit B: Running NINE plays inside the KSU 25-yard line (second quarter) before settling for a field goal.

Exhibit C: Getting a gift “onsides kick” of sorts when K-State didn’t field the opening kickoff of the second half. KU of course went four-and-out from the K-State 29-yard line.

Exhibit D: Three (out of five) punts from near midfield. You’ve already been fired, Beaty, and your defense is shutting them down. Why not be aggressive?

And who can forget Exhibit E, KU’s final offensive play of the game:

If Bender holds on to the ball and gets that screen pass off, Pooka only has to beat one K-State player for the touchdown.

One.

Oh, AND, he had a blocker in front of him:

These five exhibits are hallmarks of the David Beaty era at Kansas, and if you’re one of the clueless folks wondering why he’s been fired, you don’t have to look any further.

Begin Rant

But let’s talk about the elephant zebra that I brought into the room. From the recap:

Khalil Herbert broke free for a big gain before getting knocked out of bounds inside the K-State 10.

Unfortunately, it was called back for a pretty weak hold. Then, on 1st and 19, they were flagged for a false start. Fortunately, the offense came roaring back with a 60 yard run by Pooka!

Wait, what’s that? Another hold? Sure, why not.

Color me shocked. I was purple with rage, you might say.

Kansas had the lead and the ball with under nine minutes to play, and both of those runs had the potential to be backbreakers (especially Herbert’s). At least they were good calls by the officials, right?

Huh.

Surely if we’re gonna get ticky-tack officiating late in the game, it will go both ways, right? RIGHT?

LOL nope. Three plays later, K-State has 4th-and-2 near midfield. Time winding down, gotta go for it. Nice hold by #36 on the edge that wasn’t called. Neither was the pushoff on Dalton Schoen on the very next play. Instead, defensive holding on Kansas! And the play after that, K-State scored the winning touchdown on a dispirited Kansas defense, because how would you feel when its 19v11?

“But Svi traveled!!”

Shut up. Officials don’t win or lose ballgames. Wade, Brown, and Stokes combined to go 2-11 from three that game, including a pretty wide open look by Wade with about 10 seconds to play if I remember correctly. KU won the league by 4 games that year and finished 8 games ahead of K-State. K-State wasn’t winning that one in overtime and you know it.

/End Rant

Back to the stats. Kansas ran 69 plays (nice) at just over 5.0 yards per play. KSU ran 58 plays for just under 5.2 yards per carry. Pretty even, right?

Oh I forgot about the holding calls! Silly me. KU had 134 yards called back on holding calls late in the fourth quarter.

K-State had eight yards called back on holding ALL GAME.

Why Peyton Bender threw the ball 34 times, I don’t know. At least he averaged almost 7 yards per pass, which is, well, average. Early in the first quarter, Bender was 5-5 for 13 yards, and I honestly can’t think of a more Bender-esque stat than that.

The Jayhawks were, once again, awful on third down, converting just 5-15 (33.3%). However, K-State was somehow even worse, at just 3-11 (27.2%).

Each team converted one fourth down, with KU going 1-2 and K-State going 1-3.

The Good

I can’t choose between Joe Dineen and Steven Sims. Those guys are both ballers and it really pisses me off that they’ve had David Beaty as their coach for the last four years.

The Bad

Why did David Beaty coach this game like he still has a job? Dude, you’ve got nothing to lose. Get the ball to your best players (Herbert, Pooka, Sims), be aggressive on fourth downs, and don’t settle for field goals. Let’s see some trickeration! You’re not beating anyone straight up; it didn’t happen the first three years, it’s not gonna happen this year (especially in either of the next two games).

The Ugly

Whoa, those dropped passes. If you add a couple more completions along with 40-ish yards and a TD to Bender’s line, you’ve got a candidate for game MVP.

The Stats

Peyton Bender went 21-34 for 232 yards and 2 TDs, which as we already discussed should have been well over 250 yards and 3 TDs, but alas, too many drops.

Pooka Williams had 15 carries for 119 yards... oops, nope, HOLDING! He had just 14 carries for 59 yards, a 4.2 average. The Jayhawks couldn’t get him going in the passing game, as he had two receptions but zero yards. Pooka also had two fumbles, one of which was on a kickoff return and was recovered by K-State.

Khalil Herbert aka KU’s best running back had 127 yards on just 11 carries... wait... wait... HOLDING! Nope, he had just 53 yards on 10 carries, a 5.3 average.

Dom Williams had 34 yards on 8 carries, including KU’s first two rushing attempts of the game for some reason.

Steven Sims had 113 yards on 5 receptions, one for a touchdown.

Jeremiah Booker had 4 catches for 35 yards and a TD.

Daylon Charlot got some action, hauling in 3 passes for 32 yards.

Kerr Johnson also had 3 receptions; his went for 22 yards.

Mike Lee led all defenders with 10 tackles.

Joe Dineen had 9 tackles, including 2.5 TFL and a sack.

Keith Loneker added 7 tackles, including 1 TFL.

Gabriel Rui hit his only field goal attempt, a 21-yarder.

Kyle Thompson hit 5 punts for just a 36.2 average, but to be fair, he punted from midfield three times. Also, there was a pretty stiff breeze that affected two of his punts.