A mostly non-statistical recap of K-State

I intentionally left myself over 24 hours to cool down before writing or publishing this recap.

No, “cool down” isn’t right. That would imply that I was angry, frustrated, and upset. But when it comes to KU football, those emotions passed several years ago. I don’t even know how to describe it anymore, so I’m going to use the word pathetic.

I expected to lose the game against K-State on Saturday. What I was not expecting was to lose it in that manner. Embarrassing is not a strong enough word at this point. The game on Saturday was pathetic.

I mean, it’s gotta be institutional at this point, right? Even Jeff Long thinks its the fans’ fault. But until the KU administration cares even half as much about football as it does about basketball, this is what we’ll get. Of course, the administration only cares about where the donations come from, so, I guess Jeff Long isn’t really wrong, is he?

I’m sure some of you will take this as me blaming the basketball fans again, and while unintentional this time, it’s probably fair. But that’s not really where I wanted to go with this, though.

Long, for his part, has been rather quiet on social media lately. He hasn’t tweeted about the football program since a few hours before the season opener against Coastal Carolina back on Sept 12. Which makes sense, I suppose, when you’re watching your program lose by an average score of 45-15 every week.

I’m not even sad anymore. I’m just... tired. Frustrated. Fed up. Done. And I’m running out of ways to express it to an administration that Just. Doesn’t. Care.

My first KU football game was in 1993. I went to a few more in the late ‘90s, then had season tickets for a few years in the early 2000s, and then again from 2010-current. (Maybe I’m the curse?) I figured up over the offseason how many KU football games I’ve attended, at home or on the road. Including the one home game this year that allowed fans, I’m up to 96. That number, of course, does not include the number of games watched on TV, or prior to 2007-ish, listening to non-televised games on the radio.

And I just feel like quitting.

I wish I could find a way to support the players without supporting the administration and the coaching staff. It’s not the players fault - they’re college kids, and I know they’re trying. But, dear readers, this program administration just simply does not deserve your support, your time, or your effort at this point. Kansas Football has been the laughing stock of college football since 2010, and no one seems to be able to care enough to get it fixed.

Kansas hasn’t been competitive since Mark Mangino left town. That’s just a fact. The second-winningest coach in program history, who will occasionally comment on Twitter about coaching, recruiting, or even his time at KU, is sitting this one out, saying when asked on Saturday, “It’s best I stay in my lane.”

We couldn’t even get an “I take full responsibility, it’s not my fault” moment out of Miles on Saturday. Just more platitudes like, “this is going to make them work harder.” Miles also said about his special teams in the post-game presser, “I think we’re a very talented team there.”

Wow, really, Les? Cuz I think you’re the only one who thinks that. I don’t care that we were on the backup punter - if you can’t kick it out of bounds or at least sky the punt, then don’t kick it at all - just go for it. I’m sick and tired of coaches at Kansas coaching the game as if it’s a level playing field; it’s not, stop acting like it.

What’s the definition of insane again? Oh yes: “Doing something over and over again and expecting different results.”

Kansas is a program that is worse than schools like Rice, Ohio, Memphis, and Coastal freaking Carolina. The Jayhawks can’t even compete with the top level of FCS, losing games to Nicholls State and South Dakota State over the past few seasons.

And we’ve talked about it before - it just makes no sense. Over the last decade, Kansas has a similar recruiting profile to schools like K-State, Wake Forest, Oregon State, Boston College, Colorado State, and Southern Miss, to name a few. Yet the Jayhawks would be double digit underdogs to all of those schools. Coastal Carolina, who averages 50-ish spots lower in the recruiting rankings than Kansas, has manhandled the Jayhawks in back-to-back years.

Said one Twitter user: “It doesn’t suck that KU football is awful, it sucks that they’ve been awful and there is absolutely no end in sight.” I don’t think he’s wrong - how many hoops do you have to jump through to visualize KU football team that is competitive with the Sun Belt?

It’s embarrassing.

It’s pathetic.

———

Ok fine, some stats.

Kansas has now lost 52-straight conference road games, and 55 away from Memorial Stadium.

In an attempt to not be completely negative, KU’s defense played decently well on Saturday. They were just constantly put in difficult situations due to a stagnant offense and special teams miscues. Kansas had more first downs than K-State, was only outgained by 61 yards, and held the Wildcats to 4-12 on third downs. Yet the Jayhawks lost by 41 points.

Since the start of 2016, Kansas has totaled 191 punt return yards. K-State had 189 on Saturday.

K-State’s special teams outscored KU’s offense. Meaning, if K-State wouldn’t have run a single offensive play, they still would have won the game, 21-14.

If you could have had the K-State D/ST on your fantasy team, they would have scored you 27 points (ESPN standard scoring).

TWENTY SEVEN FANTASY POINTS.

I expected results like this out of a David Beaty coached team. But to have it happen now? When we have a “football AD” and a “national championship coach” in charge?

Pathetic.