Cowboys maul Jayhawks, 48-28

It was Homecoming in Lawrence, and that meant that, well, there still wasn’t anybody in the stands as Oklahoma State mollywhopped Kansas Saturday morning in Lawrence.

RECAP

It took OSU less than five minutes to take the opening possession of the game into the KU end zone. KU would respond with a drive of its own, but miss the field goal. OSU’s potent offense shredded Kansas again, and before you could blink it was 14-0 and most Jayhawk fans were probably headed out the door to get some yard work done.

But, Carter Stanley would hit Kwamie Lassiter over the middle on the first play of the second quarter to bring the Jayhawks within seven. That lasted all of 1:11 on the game clock, when OSU burned the KU secondary with a 64-yard bomb. The Cowboys would tack on another field goal before half to make it 24-7, and the second quarter would end after the two teams exchanged punts several times.

KU got the ball first in the third quarter, and on the fourth play of the drive, Pooka Williams exploded up the middle for KU’s second touchdown. As you might expect, OSU once again quickly responded, set up by a 56-yard completion that burned KU’s secondary again. By the end of the third quarter, the Cowboys had built a 34-14 lead.

Kansas would close to 34-21 on a Stanley to Sims 31-yard bomb early in the fourth quarter, but unfortunately, Oklahoma State was not done. The Cowboys tacked on two more touchdowns in the final frame, cruising to a 48-28 final score.

OSU outgained KU by 200 yards, 568 to 368. The Cowboys averaged 15.6 yards per pass attempt, which is insane.

ANALYSIS

Where to start? At least we don’t have timeout usage to complain about this week. Oklahoma State completely exposed the Kansas secondary, repeatedly getting behind them for big gains, but KU also had absolutely no answer for Justice Hill, who piled up 189 rushing yards on 31 carries.

The offensive line was absolutely atrocious, but Carter Stanley managed to still be serviceable. The defensive line was ineffective, getting zero sacks and rarely putting pressure on QB Taylor Cornelius. And when he was forced to scramble, he easily got away from the pressure. Big 12 quarterbacks are going to have a field day with this Kansas defense the rest of the year.

There was yet another punt on 4th-and-1, and aside from one WR reverse sweep, it seemed like Oklahoma State knew when to stack the box to stuff a KU rush attempt.

I am sad.

UP NEXT

Kansas will head to Morgantown to take on a red-hot West Virginia club on Saturday, October 6, at 11:00 AM.