The Postgame: Kansas Jayhawks Continue To Commit Errors Against Texas Longhorns

Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas Jayhawks traveled to Austin, TX to take on the Texas Longhorns Saturday. The Jayhawks didn’t get blown out, but still lost 35-13 to the Longhorns. Again, Kansas struggled the move the ball and put points on the board.

THE GAME WAS OVER WHEN: With six and a half minutes to go, Kansas quarterback was sacked and he fumbled the ball. Texas Longhorn lineman Chris Whaley scooped up the ball and rumbled 40 yards for a defensive touchdown, making the score, 21-6.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Isiah Johnson picked off two Chase McCoy passes and was a bright spot for the Jayhawks in this rough loss. Johnson has been a solid performer on a defense that has struggled all season.

FUN STAT: The Kansas Jayhawks have now lost 26 Big 12 Conference games in a row. It will be three years on the 6th since the Jayhawks last won a conference game.

THREE POSITIVES

1 – DEFENSIVE LINE PLAY: The Jayhawks defensive line played pretty well for most of the games. They contained the rugged Longhorn running game as well as could be expected until they finally just wore out in the second half.

2 – JaCOREY SHEPHERD AND ISIAH JOHNSON: JaCorey Shepherd did a good job blanketing wide receiver Mike Davis, especially in the first half. Isiah Johnson made two interceptions and now has four on the season.

3 – COMPETITIVENESS: Despite their lack of success, the Jayhawks play hard the whole game. They are still competing long after the scoreboard shows the games are over for all practical purposes. The talent level is higher under Weis than it was under Turner Gill, and so is the competitive effort.

THREE WORRIES

Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports

1 – MISCUES: The Jayhawks continue to make mistakes that just cripple the teams’ efforts. One of the key plays of the game happened in the first quarter. Kansas stopped Texas deep their own territory. The Longhorns punted but Billy Owens just ran right into the punter. The 5-yard penalty, giving Texas a first down. The Longhorns promptly matched down the field and scored the first touchdown of the game.

Heaps fumble also led directly to a touchdown for the Longhorns, and KU offense continues to halt and stall drives with silly penalties. Kansas just isn’t good enough to overcome these types of errors.

2 – FORGETTING JAMES SIMS: In the first drive of the game, the Kansas offense moved the ball by getting the pigskin into James Sims hands. Sims accounted for 51 yards on that drive, Sims only compiled 48 yards the rest of the game.

Over the past few games, Sims disappears from the games at times. With Tony Pierson out, Sims is the best offensive weapon. He needs to be involved in more plays.

3 – CHANGING QUARTERBACKS HURTS OFFENSIVE CONTINUITY: There is still little indication that playing Montell Cozart is helping this team in any way. Kansas actually enjoyed some successes early in the game, although those didn’t translate into points. Cozart replaced Jake Heaps for no apparent reason and the offense sputtered to a stop.

Cozart did lead a late drive that resulted in a 20-yard touchdown scamper by the freshman, but he isn’t adding enough positives  to have surrendered a year of eligibility.

Kansas is trying hard as a team, and they show flashes of of success but they just can’t sustain anything positive because of all of the preventable errors they make. They lack the talent of most other teams in this conference, so they can ill afford to play sloppy ball.

UP NEXT

The schedule doesn’t let up for the Jayhawks as they head to to Stillwater, OK next Saturday to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Game time is at 3:00 p.m. CT and will broadcast on Fox Sports 1.