Kansas football: Special teams issues are inexcusable

Kansas football got walloped last Saturday by in-state rival Kansas State, and a big reason why had to do with the Jayhawks’ special teams ineptitude.

It’s a universal truth that Kansas football is not a good team, and quite possibly on their way to a winless season. That being said, the Jayhawks got exposed last Saturday against K-State. Kansas allowed two punts to be returned for touchdowns while also muffing a punt return.

Even on punts that weren’t returned for touchdowns, there were multiple instances of the Wildcats having big returns.

Sure, Kansas didn’t have their usual punter Kyle Thompson, who did not play due to injury. That should have nothing to do with the punt team maintaining their lane assignments though. If you want to see for yourself first hand, check out the video below and skip to the “1:03” mark.

This is the moment that K-State returner No. 88 Phillip Brooks catches the ball, and look at where the white jerseys are in relation to the purple ones. There’s no hint of an outside contain man, and the Jayhawks have five players in an area that could be covered by a couple.

Another major special teams mistake came towards the end of the first half. Kansas had just scored to make the game 20-7, and their defense came out and got a stop. Now, the Jayhawks were set to receive a punt with two timeouts and 1:25 left on the clock in the second quarter.

A touchdown here cuts the K-State lead to one possession, but even a field goal keeps Kansas very much in the ball game. Unfortunately, Kansas wasn’t able to handle the punt, leading to a K-State touchdown. There’s more though.

After K-State scored, the Jayhawks got the ball back and were forced to punt after not being able to get a first down. There are just eight seconds left in the half, but the Wildcats made the most of it by returning their second punt of the game for a touchdown.

While the coverage on this punt was better, three missed tackles led to Brooks pushing the K-State lead to 34-7 when the worst-case scenario should have been 20-7.

Of course, there were other bad plays this game like Jalon Daniels‘ pick-six, but Kansas isn’t good enough to be giving up scores on special teams. Mistakes in that part of the game are inexcusable, and the problems need to be addressed and fixed before Kansas takes on Iowa State at home this Saturday.