The Postgame: Kansas Jayhawks Just Can’t Compete With The Baylor Bears

The Kansas Jayhawks (2-5, 0-4) lost to the Baylor Bears (7-0, 4-0) by a score of 59-14 Saturday night in Lawrence, Kansas.

Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

THE GAME WAS OVER WHEN: At the 7:19 mark in the first quarter, the Baylor Bears capped a 4-play, 76-yard drive with a 62-yard touchdown Tevin Reese. It was just a matter of time at that point.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ummm…Well, if there can be a player of the game in an absolute blow out, let’s go with freshman Montell Cozart. For a guy who should still be wearing a red shirt, he had his moments. He is still is very raw but he did some nice things here and there.

FUN STAT:  The Baylor Bears racked up 743 yards on the night.

THREE POSITIVES

1. The First Two Baylor Drives: The Kansas defense forced Baylor to punt after just three plays, and no yards, on their first drive. Their second drive covered just 15 yards in 6 plays and ended in another punt. Things went downhill in a hurry after that.

2. Montell Cozart: Despite being inserted into the offense in the middle of a lost season, wasting a year of eligibility, Montell Cozart shows some incredible athleticism at times. He throws a pretty ball, although he has no idea where it is going most of the time, and he looked much more comfortable this week than he did a week ago. You can see glimpses of potential but not nearly enough for him to have had his red shirt removed for a team that may not win another game, with or without him.

3. Hard Play: The Jayhawks never gave up, although the score may not reflect that fact. Baylor is really that much better than Kansas, but the Jayhawks kept playing their hearts out long after the game was way out of reach.

THREE WORRIES

1. Defensive Scheme: Kansas left their corner backs in single coverage way too often. The speedy Baylor wide outs were able to get past the corners too easily, and there was seldom any safety help. It is understandable that the Jayhawks wanted to try to apply some pressure on the quarterback, Bryce Petty, but they should have chosen to help the corners and not worried so much about pressure and trying to contain the run. It probably would not have mattered much.

2. The Tackling: The lack of sound tackling has been more evident as Big 12 play has progresses. The Jayhawks defenders continue to fail to tackle cleanly. Opposing offensive players are breaking arm tackles too easily and missing too many players in open field. This needs to be fixed. Kansas isn’t good enough not to be fundamentally sound.

3. The Passing Game: No matter who is in the game at quarterback for the Jayhawks, the passing game is abysmal. Heaps is immobile in the pocket, both are inaccurate more often than not, the offensive line is providing much time to throw, and the receivers are still having issues dropping the ball. If the quarterbacks had more time, they would probably deliver the ball on target more often, but there are still way too many problems this deep into the season.

This game proved to be as lopsided as feared because the Baylor Bears were superior at just about every position on the field. The Jayhawks still have a lot of work to do if they want to win another game, and end this 25-game conference losing streak.

UP NEXT

The Jayhawks take to the road next week as the play the Texas Longhorns in Austin, Texas. The game will be broadcast on The Longhorn Network at 2:30 p.m. CT.