The Kansas football team received a rude awakening Saturday at the hands of the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The Jayhawks were crushed in every way by Texas Tech, 42-17, but the score isn’t indicative of how bad it was.
KU was down 21-0 before fans had time to settle down. Tech scored on its first four possessions, including two touchdowns (one two-point conversion) and two field goals. The Red Raiders’ starting quarterback, Behren Morton, was injured, and it took most of the second quarter for the Red Raiders to adjust.
During that second quarter, Kansas scored 17 unanswered points, including a 55-yard field goal by Laith Marjan at the end of the half, giving the Jayhawks momentum heading into the intermission.
It did little good in the long run.
Texas Tech dominated Kansas football in the trenches
Texas Tech shone a bright, blinding light on how Kansas still isn’t where it needs to be to be a true contender in the Big 12. The Jayhawks lacked the strength, speed, quickness, and overall talent to compete with the Red Raiders in the trenches.
Quarterback Jalon Daniels managed to hide some of the warts for a while, but ultimately, the coaching staff removed him from the game to protect him from injury. The offensive line couldn’t contain the Tech pressure as the Raiders notched nine sacks.
Daniel Hishaw Jr. made his return from injury and had some success, carrying the ball eight times for 53 yards. The rest of the non-quarterbacks were totally ineffective, with 12 carries for 25 yards.
Daniels had some success on scrambles and called quarterback carries, but the sacks wiped those successes. Because college (inexplicably) counts sacks as minus yards rushing, Daniels officially had -13 yards on 15 carries, despite one of those being a run for 38 yards.
The Kansas offensive linemen had no answers for the relentless Tech pass rush, often resorting to blatant holding.
The defensive line was no better, giving up 372 yards rushing, including 263 yards to Cameron Dickey on 21 carries. Dickey had never rushed for more than 100 yards in his career, and it was the most by any Red Raider since 1996. The Tech offensive line bulldozed the KU defense, opening gigantic holes that led to big runs.
Kansas football head coach Lance Leipold has made tremendous strides toward making KU competitive after a decade and a half of utter futility. This game against Texas Tech was a perfect example of while the Jayhawks are much better than they were five years ago, they are not talented enough to be a contender for a Big 12 championship.
Texas Tech is good. In the new AP Poll, they are ranked seventh after the win against Kansas, a ranking that might be too low. They have three defenders - Jacob Rodriquez, David Bailey, and Romello Height - who are just downright scary. These three combined for 26 tackles and six sacks. The Jayhawks have no one on their roster who is even close to the talent and athleticism of these players.
It is undoubtedly possible for Leipold to find these types of players. NIL money can level the playing field. Tech is not a perennial powerhouse; that program is solid, not great. The Red Raiders were 8-5 last year (6-3) and are now undefeated. Now, they look unbeatable.
In this age, a program like Kansas can improve even more and emerge from the middle of the pack. They need to find better talent, especially along the offensive and defensive lines. Jalon Daniels won’t be around forever to save them.