3 Areas Kansas Football Must Improve Upon During the Bye Week

Everyone in the stadium knew that Texas Tech was the more talented and physical team heading into the matchup between the two Big 12 schools last week.

However, several of the Jayhawks' flaws were exposed in the 42-17 defeat. It was a loss that showed KU still has plenty to work on during its much-needed bye week.

Lance Leipold's group will have nearly two weeks to make adjustments, but these three areas must be cleaned up before the Jayhawks take the field against Kansas State in the Sunflower Showdown.

3. Rushing Defense

The Jayhawks surrendered an abysmal 372 rushing yards, including over 70% of them to running back Cameron Dickey, who finished with 263 yards and two long touchdown runs.

The Red Raiders were running rampant all night on the Jayhawks' defense, marking the third time this season that a team has posted over 500 total yards against KU.

Performances like this cannot afford to happen again, especially against a much less potent Kansas State offense next time out.

2. Rushing Offense

While the KU defense was giving up big chunk plays to Texas Tech's run game all night, it continued its concerning trend of struggling on the ground offensively.

The Jayhawks finished with just 74 rushing yards on 38 carries (less than two yards per attempt). Even with the return of Daniel Hishaw Jr. from injury, the rushing attack has taken a major step back due to the loss of Devin Neal.

This is something that has been an issue throughout the season, but it may never truly turn around. The lack of a consistent ground game continues to be a glaring weakness for this offense and limits what Jalon Daniels can do with the ball in his hands.

1. Offensive Line Play

Kansas was absolutely dominated in the trenches by David Bailey and the rest of Texas Tech's defensive line.

The Jayhawks' front five had no answers to stop the Red Raiders, surrendering a season-high nine sacks and allowing pass rushers to blow past them all game.

The offensive line as a whole finished with a 10.0 out of 100 Pro Football Focus grade, which was the worst since the Oklahoma game in 2020, per 247 Sports analyst Michael Swain.

KU will not face another pass rush equivalent to TTU's the rest of the way, but there is still no excuse for how badly they struggled last game. It was truly equivalent to that of a David Beaty team performance from a decade ago.