Hawking Points: Without Daniels, Texas Rolls Past Kansas 40-14
The massive anticipation leading up to the Kansas Jayhawks’ 2:30 p.m. kickoff in Austin against Texas turned to panic when it was announced that Jalon Daniels had re-aggrevated his back and would not be starting. At halftime, he was ruled out for the rest of the game. And while Kansas kept it close, it quickly got away from the Jayhawks as Texas rolled 40-14.
Key Plays
Kansas stayed close thanks to a bit of luck in the first quarter. Bean took off on an option run and was hit hard at the Texas 20, fumbling the ball, which was picked up by Daniel Hishaw and taken into the endzone for a touchdown to make it 10-7.
The end of the half really went KU’s way. Texas kicker Bert Auburn missed a 50-yard field goal attempt and then KU’s Cornell Wheeler picked off Ewers with eight seconds left in the half, which was Ewers’ first interception of the year.
After Texas opened the second half with a touchdown, the Jayhawks immediately answered with Bean finding Wilson for a 58-yard touchdown pass. Auburn would again miss a long field goal attempt, this time a 47-yarder, on the next possession to keep the Texas lead at 20-14. The Longhorns had to settle for an attempt after a snap hit Ewers in the facemask and pushed Texas back 15 yards. It all went downhill from there…
Eye-Catching Stat Lines
Kansas was as bad as you could be when it mattered most. KU was 0-8 on third down and 0-2 on fourth down, while Texas was 9-15 on third down and 2-2 on fourth.
Bean couldn’t get anything going, only completing nine of 21 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Kansas was effective with the run in the first half, but didn’t do much with it. Devin Neal only had eight carries for the game for 45 yards, and only touched the ball once in the second quarter.
Jonathan Brooks is the latest Texas running back to absolutely gash the Jayhawks. Brooks ran for 203 yards on 18 carries and found the endzone twice.
Ewers was an efficient 21-29 for 272 yards, a passing TD, rushing TD, and a pick. Adonai Mitchell and Xavier Worthy were Ewers’ top targets. Mitchell grabbed eight balls for 113 yards and a TD while Worthy caught six for 83 yards.
Eye-Covering Moments
After Texas scored on a Quinn Ewers scramble from 30 yards out to get on the board first, Kansas had to punt after Trevor Wilson dropped a first-down pass on third and eight, forcing a second punt. This was after another long run by Devin Neal was called back due to holding.
Then it was the big run plays that killed Kansas early. Jonathan Brooks went 67 yards to the Kansas eight before Kansas held the Longhorns to a field goal. Brooks then broke off a 54-yard touchdown run to start the second half for Texas and give it a 20-7 lead.
With the ball and trailing by six, Hishaw was stopped on third and one but Kansas went for it on fourth down from their own 39 but fumbled and was recovered by Texas. The Longhorns immediately score on another Brooks rushing touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good, so the lead was still just 12.
Takeaways
Daniels not playing in this game was clearly a major differentiator. The Kansas offense couldn’t move the ball with Bean throwing the ball and the defense had to be on the field – in the Texas heat – seemingly all day.
A few other aspects were head-scratching. One being Neal only having eight carries despite having a 25-yard run on the first play of the game and being one of the best backs in the country. Another is trying to run the read option on fourth and one from the shotgun instead of just running a QB sneak under center.
Kansas was going to struggle with this matchup no matter what. And it doesn’t end the season. But Daniels’ health certainly sets the bar for how high KU can go this year.
