At the risk of being a day late and a dollar short, let’s ride the roller coaster that was KU’s 27-20 victory in Orlando over the Florida Technological University Citronauts (which for some reason is abbreviated UCF).
Anyway, this matchup was pretty ridiculous. As bad as KU was in the first half, that’s how good they were in the second half.
Let’s look at the game as a whole first. Kansas ran 58 offensive plays compared to UCF’s 76 (!!!). However, the Jayhawks averaged 6.1 yards per play compared to UCF’s 4.9
ypp. In the more traditional stat line, UCF outgained KU with 375 yards of total offense compared to 356 for the Jayhawks.
There was only one turnover in the game, a sack/strip of UCF QB Tayven Jackson that KU recovered on the Knight’s 2-yard line. KU would punch it in on the next play.
Kansas had a disastrous first half on defense, with UCF scoring on all four drives while racking up 248 yards of total offense at a 6.7 yards per play clip. KU’s offense managed to keep it close, however, with two long TD drives of their own on their way to 203 yards of total offense before the half.
But then the third quarter hit. UCF had four possessions in the third quarter and gained a measly 4 yards of total offense (on 12 plays). Kansas took advantage by posting a 27-20 lead going into the final frame. The home team’s offense sparked back to life again in the 4th quarter, but turned the ball over on downs twice, as the much-maligned Kansas defense finally stood up and said with one voice:
KU’s special teams played well again, which considering the past 15 years, is finally a welcome relief. Both the place kicking and the punting units are having solid seasons.
HOWEVER. Two weeks ago, I noted the following: “Third downs are officially a problem.” It has gotten even worse since then. The KU offense is now in the bottom 10 in the FBS (134 teams) at a 31.2% conversion rate on third downs after converting just 4 of 16 chances against UCF. The defense is faring better, hanging around in the top 50 and only letting opposing offenses convert 35.1% of the time.
The Jayhawks also got a pair of 4th down stops, which brought their defensive 4th down percentage down to 64.7% (11-17) on the season after UCF went “just” 2-4 on 4th down. So, that could stand some improvement as well. The thing is, I have no idea how you fix something like that. Fortunately, that’s not my job. Maybe the highest-paid (active) coach in the Big 12 should figure that out, though.
The Good
The offensive line continues to perform well, only allowing one sack while paving the way for Leshon Williams and Harry Stewart III to run for 5 ypc.
The Bad
UCF’s RBs averaged 6.1 ypc, which is a lot. The defense as a whole took an entire quarter to settle in, but we’ll give them some props here; they did hold UCF to two 2nd quarter field goals, and zero points after halftime.
The Ugly
Third downs. (I’m probably going to just leave this here as a placeholder for the rest of the season.)
The Highlights
Here are the game highlights from the Big 12 on YouTube.
The Stats
Jalon Daniels had zero touchdowns, which seriously hampers my #JD64Heisman campaign. However, he still had a solid evening, completing 18-26 pass attempts for 235 yards while adding 30 rush yards on 5 carries. Most importantly, JD also had zero turnovers.
Leshon Williams was incredible again, picking up 60 yards on 12 carries, three of which ended up in the end zone.
Harry Stewart III added 26 yards on 5 attempts, plus 2 receptions for 12 yards.
Cam Picket led KU in receiving with 64 yards on 5 receptions.
TE Boden Groen picked up 63 yards on just 2 receptions.
Emmanuel Henderson Jr added 53 yards on 5 receptions.
TE Carson Bruhn and WR Keaton Kubecka each had two receptions as well.
LB Trey Lathan led the Jayhawks with 9 tackles, a TFL, and a fumble recovery that set up KU’s offense in the red zone.
Lyrik Rawls added six tackles.
Jalen Dye had 3 tackles including a TFL and forced the fumble that was recovered by Lathan.
Bangally Kamara missed the first half due to a targeting/ejection during the Cincinatti game, but KU’s entire defense came alive when Kamara returned for the third quarter. He was credited with 4 tackles.
PK Laith Marjan went 3-3 on extra points and 2-2 on field goals, hitting from 24 and 44 yards out.
P Finn Lappin booted four punts for a 45.0 average, with a long of 49 yards.
