Kansas Football’s Rally Fails vs. Texas Tech: The Good and the Bad

The Kansas Jayhawks gave the people of Lawrence an hour or so of hope during Saturday night's Big 12 showdown against Texas Tech, but it ultimately wasn't enough. Lance Leipold's group fell short in a 42-17 loss to the nation's No. 9-ranked team.

It was a game that started as a disaster, swung in KU's favor, and eventually ended in disappointment. However, the final score doesn't tell the full story, as not everything that came out of this matchup was negative.

What Went Right?

For one, Kansas showed resilience. The Jayhawks stayed in the game and clawed their way back into the contest in a way nobody could have predicted after the opening minutes.

The start couldn't have gone much worse. The defense surrendered a 71-yard touchdown on its first play from scrimmage, and the offense immediately followed with a fumble on a questionable playcall during its second drive.

Down 21 points midway through the first half, it looked like the Red Raiders might hang 60 points on the board.

However, the Jayhawks' defense found its footing once backup quarterback Will Hammond entered the game for TTU. The unit forced several stops, giving the offense a chance to climb back into it and at least make things competitive.

What Went Wrong?

The offense continued its troublesome trend of starting games slowly. It took the Jayhawks nearly 20 minutes to put their first points on the board last week against UCF, and nothing changed this week.

The first four drives led by Jalon Daniels resulted in three punts and the aforementioned fumble. While KU began to figure things out late in the first half, those sluggish starts continue to haunt the team.

KU had an opportunity to take the lead trailing 21–17 in the third quarter, but it could never get over the hump.

That leads to the next issue — third-down play-calling, which has been nothing short of atrocious under new offensive coordinator Jim Zebrowski.

There were two crucial third-and-1 opportunities while the game was still within reach, and both calls were baffling.

The first was a Leshon Williams run directly up the middle into a sea of Texas Tech defenders. The next was a questionable play-action call that resulted in a sack, knocking KU out of field goal range and effectively sealing the game at the end of the third quarter.

In total, the Jayhawks finished 7-for-18 on third downs, a vast improvement from last week's 3-for-11 mark, but they still failed to gain just one yard on two pivotal plays.

The defense isn't without blame after surrendering 42 points, though it did have moments where it kept KU in the game.

Still, it allowed over 500 total yards, including 372 rushing yards at 9.3 yards per attempt. The defensive line had no answers for Cameron Dickey, who ran all over them for 263 yards and two long touchdowns on 21 carries.

Football is a game of momentum, and KU's inability to capitalize when it had it ultimately decided the contest.