A (Semi) Statistical Recap of Oklahoma State

Holy beatdown, Batman.

A week after beating* #3 Oklahoma, Kansas didn’t even look like a D1 team on Saturday night against OSU. It’s the weirdest thing about KU football. Every year, Kansas has one or maybe even two games like the OU game. They bait you in with, hey, they’re figuring it out, it looks like they’re getting better, I saw some progress, and then

WHAMMO!!!!

All that progress goes right back out the window with a 52-point beatdown.

Some fans are already tired of it. And hey, I get the frustration. I’ve literally attended 100 KU football games in person since 1993 (yes I’ve kept track). Over ²⁄₃ of the games that I’ve attended have been since the end of the 2009 season. But Leipold has been on campus less than 7 months. This was always going to be year zero. And frankly, it might even be year negative one. If you really expected to see tangible, consistent progress this season, you, my friend, had waaaaaaaay too much kool-aid.

Back to the game at hand. The Jayhawks, as the scoreboard indicates, really struggled in this one. Consider that, before the game got really out of control, at one point early in the second quarter: Jason Bean had more INTs than completions, and, OSU had more points than KU had offensive yards.

Additionally:

- OSU had 21 first downs before KU had one

- Halftime saw KU with 49 yards of total offense, OSU with 331

- OSU had its backup quarterback in (and probably other reserves) before halftime

Dare I say, it was an absolute mauling.

There’s absolutely no way to describe or justify the difference between this game and the one against OU. It simply makes no sense. Kansas averaged just 2.8 yards per play and was 0-13 on third down. Addtionally, Kansas was -3 in turnover margin. When you can’t move the ball, can’t hold on to the ball, can’t run the clock, and can’t take the ball away, well, that’s how the other teams backups come in before halftime.

The Good

It wasn’t 77-3. That’s really all I got here.

The Bad

Once again, Kansas Football as a program failed to capitalize on the interest and buzz generated by a good showing one week prior. It’s still the same old Jayhawks, but that said, reminder once again: Leipold has been on campus just over six months. They’re still installing offense, installing defense, instilling a culture, trying to develop the players they inherited all while attempting to sell a rebuild to recruits. I’m as tired as any fan out there, but we must. be. patient.

The Ugly

I am sad.

The Stats

Sigh.

Jason Bean started and completed just 3-10 passes for 10 yards and 2 INTs. Just a brutal outing. Bean added 24 rush yards on 9 carries.

Miles Kendrick played significant time but didn’t fare much better, goin 6-8 for just 34 yards with an INT. Kendrick added 32 rush yards on 9 carries.

Devin Neal never got on track, picking up just 25 yards on 9 carries.

Amauri Pesek-Hickson added 14 yards on 4 carries.

Trevor Kardell, Kwamie Lassiter, and Trevor Wilson all had 2 receptions each. No other Jayhawk had more than one catch, and no one had more than 15 receiving yards.

Rich Miller led the KU defense with 9 tackles, including a TFL.

Kenny Logan had 7 tackles, one of which was a huge stop on fourth down in the red zone on OSU’s first drive of the game.

Jacob Borcila was 1-1 on field goal attempts, hitting a 45-yarder late in the third quarter.

Reis Vernon booted 7 punts with a respectable 44.3 average.