Jayhawks stumble to open Big 12
The slight uptick in football fortunes for Kansas created some optimism the Jayhawks could compete favorably in the Big 12.
After all, their conference opener was at Baylor, which had not shown much promise in nonconference play and looked to be a rival Kansas might take down on the road.
No dice.
The Jayhawks were outplayed at the outset and though they stiffened in the second half, the Bears claimed a 26-7 victory to extend the road losing streak for Kansas in Big 12 play to 41 games. Counting a seven-game losing streak to close Mark Mangino’s eight-year tenure coaching the Jayhawks, they have won four of their last 75 conference games under four different coaches — Turner Gill, Charlie Weis, Clint Bowen (interim) and David Beaty.
“We just didn’t do a good enough job at all offensively,” Beaty said after Kansas generated 271 yards against Baylor. “I don’t think we played well enough, and I certainly don’t think we coached ’em well enough. I think we got outcoached on that side of the ball, starting with me. That’s not acceptable.”
No, it’s not. Particularly for a coach believed to be on the outs after Kansas hired a new athletic director, Jeff Long, with the intention of turning around a football program that has tanked over the last decade.
The enthusiasm created by Pooka Williams, a true freshman running back coming off 100-yard rushing performances in his first two games, was not completely destroyed. Williams averaged 6.4 yards per carry and gained 89 yards, but most of his production came on a 72-yard gain. The Jayhawks executed only 55 plays and surrendered 35 minutes of possession time to Baylor.
Kansas (2-2, 0-1 Big 12) returns home Saturday but will face an irritable opponent in Oklahoma State (3-1, 0-1), which was toppled at home by Texas Tech after recording one of the best nonconference wins of any Big 12 member when it thrashed Boise State.
If coaching was indeed the biggest issue for the Jayhawks in the Baylor defeat, time is running short for Beaty to correct that deficiency.
Long has never volunteered any terms required for the fourth-year coach to keep his job, but the presumption is Kansas must do more than simply become more competitive. Even if that was the improvement stipulated by the new AD, the Jayhawks failed against a Baylor team that previously struggled.
“I just felt like we didn’t get a great push up front, and you know, we didn’t really throw the ball that well, so they didn’t have a reason to lighten the box,” said senior quarterback Peyton Bender, who has started for the Jayhawks in all four games but alternated with other QBs.
Bender passed for just 105 yards, going 10 of 17 with one touchdown.
“They played harder than us,” he said.
Frankly, it is difficult to comprehend why that was so with Kansas seemingly enthused by back-to-back wins, its first win streak of any kind since 2011.
Clearly, the Jayhawks’ offensive identity is Williams, but bigger plays through the air will be needed against Big 12 defenses capable of shutting down rushers but susceptible to spread systems so prevalent throughout the league.
Oklahoma State showed its vulnerability, allowing 621 yards and 35 first downs to Texas Tech, which established effective balance against the Cowboys and their new system installed by a first-year defensive coordinator. Whether Kansas makes the corrections necessary to expose those weaknesses will be an issue Beaty must address after pinning blame on himself and his staff for offensive inefficiency at Baylor.
