Three Takeaways from the Kansas Loss to Texas Tech
The Kansas Jayhawks were not able to improve their record with a road win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and there were some really big questions that have to be asked with that performance.
We will have a TON of coverage throughout the week. Make sure to check out the full recap, but here are some quick thoughts from watching this team pick up this huge win.
The run defense is a HUGE liability
The defense has made enough plays over the course of the season to give lots of fans an overall favorable impression, but there is something that is a huge problem: the running defense. And it has been getting worse, with 3 out of the last four games seeing the opponent rack up over 250 rushing yards. And those have started early in the game, making it difficult for the Jayhawks to catch their breath and keep games under control.
And that has caused the Jayhawks to fall behind quickly in their games, especially on the road. This team has shown remarkable resiliency, coming back from double digit deficits to get big wins and/or make games very competitive. But as we've seen in their five games on the road this year, the team they are playing has to be pretty bad for them to come all the way back.
The home environment matters
After the Oklahoma State game, Leipold was asked about how the team prepares differently for road games compared to home games, especially given the discrepancy in the performances in each location. His response was that they just didn't really look at that, because they prepare the same way regardless.
After this game, I'm starting to think that they may need to pay attention to it more closely. Especially on defense, the output has been much different at home compared to on the road. In the big counting stats, the home numbers are much better. In sacks, there are 14 at home and 8 on the road. Fumbles are interestingly better on the road, 5 to 3. Interceptions show a slight edge at home, 6-5. But 12 of 17 quarterback hits came at home, and 17 of the 32 pass breakups happened at home, and 32 of the 49 tackles for loss were at home.
All that seems to show that the Jayhawks play better with more big plays at home while on defense, and they really need to figure something out to avoid more road woes.
Devin Neal is still THAT GUY, but he needs more help.
Kansas got a huge output from Devin Neal for the second game in a row, as he totaled 190 yards rushing. But it wasn't enough as the rest of the team totaled 52 yards rushing on the day, with 40 of those coming on a single run by Ky Thomas in garbage time. And while Bean was able to total 270 yards passing for 3 touchdowns and ran for another touchdown, the offensive output wasn't consistent enough to take the pressure off of Neal throughout the game.
Bean has been remarkable filling in for the injured Jalon Daniels, but this offense has been missing a spark the last few weeks, and getting him back will allow the receivers to be used more creatively and in multiple ways, and it should allow for a much better overall performance.
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