Five quick thoughts after Texas Tech loss
The Jayhawks showed signs of playing well in spurts and even more than that on defense. The Red Raiders eventually pulled away for a 55-19 win.
The game just ended and here are five quick thoughts as we still get stats and final comments in.
Beaty said he will continue to evaluate the QB spot like he does every day
The quarterback job will get a lot of discussion as the team gets ready for TCU. Ryan Willis was 14-of-26 for 142 yards and Montell Cozart was 9-of-20 for 97 yards. Both threw a touchdown.
Beaty said after the game they will judge who starts based off game performance and what they see on a consistent basis.
“I’m sure everybody has their idea who should be playing quarterback for us,” Beaty said. “We are with them every day and I evaluate them every day. And we make decisions based off what we see.”
The defense had their moments against a high-powered offense
The defense played well for spurts against what might be the best offense on paper in the country. When Patrick Mahomes was taken out of the game with 6:32 left in the third quarter it was a 28-19 game.
They held the Texas Tech offense in check during a span between the first and third quarter where Texas Tech only scored 14 points over eight drives.
But there was also the beginning and the end of the game where Texas Tech did damage. However Texas Tech has done that to just about every team they played especially at home over the last two seasons.
Mike Lee, Ben Johnson get post-game Slant mentions
Looking at two players, one on offense, and one on defense from the game we are going with Mike Lee and Ben Johnson. Lee, a true freshman, had nine tackles. He also left a few on the field as well.
“Hey he’s supposed to be in high school right now,” Beaty said. “But he will learn and get better.”
Lee has a bright future ahead of him. He also delivered the biggest blow of the night knocking down a Texas Tech receiver who had to be helped to the sideline.
Johnson had five receptions and a game-high 86 yards receiving.
Depth could quickly become a concern
One concern already after four games is depth. It has improved under Beaty but several players left the game. Isaiah Bean was injured returned and was injured again. Both Daniel Wise and Dorance Armstrong left and didn’t return.
It is part of football but injuries like that will be hard to overcome in certain spots.
Others players went down as well. There was no immediate update after the game.
The key series of the game
The biggest series in the game came in the third quarter. The defense had just held Texas Tech to a three and out and sacked Mahomes for a 21-yard loss. Texas Tech punted and the Jayhawks took over at the Red Raider 35-yard line.
Ryan Willis took the offense down to the 4-yard line and had first and goal. But a false start, followed by a sack and intentional grounding took the Jayhawks out of scoring a touchdown. They settled for a Matt Wyman field goal which made it 28-19.
At that point the Jayhawks were out-playing Texas Tech. They had momentum and if they could have punched it in the end zone it would have been a 28-23 game midway through the third quarter.
Texas Tech answered with two touchdowns and that put the game out of reach.