Kansas Jayhawks vs TCU Horned Frogs: Delayed Reaction
Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
Special Teams: One Bad Play
Alright, two bad plays if you count the blocked extra point on Kansas’ first touchdown of the game. That may sound trivial, but considering the Jayhawks lost by four points, that extra point means a field goal ties the game and a touchdown isn’t absolutely necessary. It’s hard to give the place kicking unit too hard of a time, though, considering the heads up play of sophomore quarterback T.J. Millweard. His 10-yard completion on a botched 4th-and-eight field goal attempt extended the opening drive and lead to the first Jayhawk touchdown on the day.
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All that aside, the Kansas special teams is a hard unit to figure out. Senior wide receiver Nick Harwell leads the conference in punt returns by almost 8 yards a game. Senior punter Trevor Pardula leads the conference in yards per punt and is a legitimate weapon in the field position game. Like most things in life, though, the special teams don’t get much coverage unless they blow theirs.
More specifically, they are perfectly content to march along unheralded, but when they shank a punt, bobble a catch, or blow a lane assignment, then it’s all eyes on them. That’s what happened on Saturday against the Horned Frogs. While you should never point to just one play as something that cost you the game, that one play went a long way toward changing the overall momentum of the game.
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