A (Semi) Statistical Recap of Oklahoma State

Pictured above: definitely not offsides. (According to the officials.)

I probably should wait to write this until after I’ve calmed down, but that may take a few days, so here we go.

Kansas got cold feet and absolutely melted down in 4th quarter in Stillwater, suffering a 39-32 come from ahead defeat to the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Give OSU credit, because they certainly came out and took what Kansas offered to them.

After taking a 32-24 lead with 11:13 to play in the third quarter, the Jayhawks completely came off the rails as Oklahoma State scored 15 unanswered points. KU’s last four possessions: INT, INT, turnover on downs, turnover on downs. KU had just 20 offensive snaps in the entire second half.

For the game, Kansas averaged 7.9 yards per play, which is great! However, Oklahoma State averaged 7.0 yards per play themselves (which is not great if you’re a KU fan). Also, KU turned the ball over twice - or four times, if you count turnovers on downs. Related, Oklahoma State won the battle in the trenches, as they were credited with 7 TFL and 4 sacks compared to KU’s 4 TFL and 1 sack.

Kansas converted 7-13 (53.8%) third downs, while OSU hit on 6-15 (40.0%). Kansas was also 0-2 on fourth down, and 0-2 on two-point conversion attempts. How you go 0-fer on four consecutive short-yardage plays like that I honestly have no idea.

Look. KU hasn’t won multiple road games in the Big 12 since 2007. Winning on the road in the Big 12 is hard, although I don’t think it’s as hard as KU made it look from 2008-2021 (56 conference road losses in a row).

Between these two squads, Kansas is the better team. Everything had to go wrong for KU to lose this game today, and it certainly did. If these teams played 10 times, I think KU wins 7 or 8 of them. Yes, even with Jason Bean at quarterback. Because this loss wasn’t on Bean. Yeah the INT at the goal line was bad, but overall, this wasn’t on Bean.

When you can’t convert on short yardage throughout the contest and are minus-two in turnovers, you’re already behind the 8-ball. Then, on a potential game-ending drive late in the fourth quarter, you have a phantom personal foul called and get an unfortunate missed call (pictured above) on a high-leverage play just a few minutes later? Well, it’s just too much to overcome.

Kansas has a rough stretch coming up. After the upcoming bye week, Oklahoma will be in town in two weeks, followed by a road trip to Ames against an Iowa State team that has seemingly found its stride. Texas Tech doesn’t look great, although they did hang with Oregon earlier this year, and then K-State comes calling - and I don’t have to remind you all how the last 13 matchups against them have gone.

Dropping this game puts KU in a situation of potentially being 5-6 going into the regular season finale on the road at Cincinnati, who again, doesn’t look great, but could still pose issues given their showings against Pitt, Oklahoma, and BYU.

Get your hotel rooms booked in Shreveport, folks. (Or maybe not.)

The Good

Well at least the receivers had fun out there, picking up yards at 17.8 per completion with 5 TDs.

The Bad

Going for it on 4th-and-5 on OSU’s 40-yard line with 6 minutes to play and a two-point lead was absolutely the right call. We’ll never know if the playcall was good or not because of the blown non-call as seen in the lead photo. It was also the right call to go for it on 4th-and-1 in your own territory on the following drive. Here’s the problem - if that is the best play you have in the playbook when you need one yard, which is the play you should be calling in that situation - then KU is in trouble.

The Ugly

It’s time to admit - this defense is not good. Sure, they have some statistical standouts. Austin Booker looks good. We know about Kenny Logan. Cornell Wheeler is making plays. Overall, KU leads the Big 12 in sacks. The Jayhawks are surprisingly 4th in the conference in INTs. But today, they dropped two pick-6s, either of which probably swings the outcome of this particular game. And, I would hate to see what their missed tackle count was.

It’s just not a good defense. They’ve given up the most first downs in the Big 12, and opponents convert on third down 44.4% of the time, the third-worst mark in the conference. Additionally, opponents pick up yards at a 6.0 per play clip, again, the third-worst rank in the conference.

Today, they made Alan Bowman and Ollie Gordon look like Heisman contenders. Oklahoma State lost to South Alabama 33-7 on this same field just a few weeks ago. (South Alabama is now 3-3 on the year.)

Just awful.

The Stats

Jason Bean was great until he wasn’t, completing 23-34 passes for 410 yards (!) and 5 TDs. However, Bean also had two pretty bad INTs, and at least one more thrown into coverage that should’ve been intercepted. He also missed Trevor Wilson behind the OSU secondary early in the 4th quarter on a bomb, which admittedly, had a high degree of difficulty. Still, Bean posted what I assume is his high-mark in yardage and TDs, at least as a Jayhawk.

Devin Neal got just 13 carries, turning them into 66 yards. Neal added 15 more yards on 3 receptions.

Daniel Hishaw had 24 yards on just 8 carries.

TE Mason Fairchild led the Jayhawks with 95 receiving yards on 5 receptions, including 2 TDs.

Lawrence Arnold also had 5 catches, turning them into 68 yards.

Quentin Skinner had just 2 receptions, but both went for TDs as he totaled 91 yards.

Trevor Wilson had a nice game, hauling in 4 passes for 86 yards.

Luke Grimm was fairly quiet, with just 2 receptions for 26 yards.

JB Brown and Austin Booker were each credited with 9 tackles to lead the Jayhawks.

Kenny Logan had 7 tackles, including 1.5 TFL.

Cornell Wheeler had 4 tackles and KU’s only sack.

Seth Keller did not have a field goal attempt, and went 1-2 on PATs, with Oklahoma State getting a block on one attempt.

Owen Piepergerdes was 1-1 on PATs. I haven’t figured out what KU is doing with kickers yet.

Damon Greaves booted 3 punts for a 40.7-yard average.