It wasn’t always pretty, it wasn’t without its mishaps, but, in the end, it was a pretty comfortable home win for a Kansas football team that badly needed one.
After losing its two games in the three previous weeks by identical 42-17 scores, the Jayhawks rolled over Oklahoma State with a big second half to knock off the Cowboys, 38-21, at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The teams combined for just three penalties all afternoon and the game was played in under 3 hours (2:56) in front of an announced crowd of 39,511 fans.
After falling into an early 7-0 hole, KU led 10-7 at halftime after KU’s Leroy Harris III blocked an Oklahoma State field goal attempt on the final play of the first half.
That momentum helped propel the Jayhawks to 14 straight points to open the second half to open up a comfortable 24-7 lead that kept them from being threatened the rest of the way.
The win moved KU to 5-4 on the season and 3-3 in Big 12 play.
Here’s a look back at some of the highlights from Saturday afternoon’s win by the Jayhawks.
LIKES
• Just win, baby – To borrow a phrase from late Raiders owner Al Davis, “Just win, baby.” That’s the name of the game for the Jayhawks now, as KU charges hard toward getting back to bowl eligibility and now is just one win away from the magic 6-win mark. The Jayhawks still have some work to do and it won’t be easy. But they now need just one win in their final three regular season games to become bowl eligible. They’re likely to be underdogs in all three games — next week at Arizona, then at Iowa State on Nov. 22 before finishing at home with No. 23 Utah, but none of the three are what you’d call unwinnable, even if the Utah matchup is one that doesn’t seem to favor Kansas in very many ways. One win gets ‘em in. That’s the mantra now.
• Hishaw doing Hishaw things – He’s looked terrific ever since returning from injury and did again on Saturday, especially on the Jayhawks’ second scoring drive, a touchdown run by Hishaw that gave the Jayhawks their first lead of the day, 10-7. Hishaw had two vintage Daniel Hishaw runs on the drive, including the touchdown, which started out with him looking to be stuck behind the line of scrimmage for a 3- or 4-yard loss before he bulled his way out of trouble and powered himself into the end zone for the big score. Hishaw added another TD in the fourth quarter and finished the game with 65 yards and 2 TDs on 14 carries. He paired with Leshon Williams Jr. (14 for 77 and 1 TD) to combine for 232 yards rushing and 5.9 yards per rush against an OSU defense that has been pretty solid against the run during recent weeks.
• Jalen Todd’s strong season continues – You might not have read or heard too much about Todd this year, and, by KU defensive standards, that’s a good thing. Because not only has he usually been in the right spots but he also has made the plays when they’ve come to him. Another such moment popped up late in the 1st half on Saturday, when OSU’s third-down pass right to the sticks came to Todd and he not only hit the receiver on the catch but also took him down immediately, bringing up a 4th down for the Cowboys. OSU converted the fourth-down try but did not score on the drive, as KU blocked a field goal on the final play of the first half to keep KU ahead 10-7 at the break.
• Jacoby Davis penalty aftermath – It wasn’t very significant in the outcome of the game but it was one of those signs of discipline that fans like to see. Moments after Davis came off the field celebrating his tag team block on a punt with Levi Wentz, Davis was flagged for being offsides on the play. Rather than let it go, KU coach Lance Leipold found Davis on the sideline after the flag and appeared to have a few words for Davis about the sequence. What was said is anybody’s guess and likely stays between them. But the exchange was certainly in line with the type of attention to detail and discipline that Leipold’s always tried to make his programs about.
DISLIKES
• Slow start by the defense – After deferring after winning the opening coin toss, the Jayhawks’ defense provided little resistance on the Cowboys’ first offensive drive of the day. OSU marched 75 yards on 10 plays in 4:20 to score the game’s opening touchdown on a 12-yard pass to a wide-open Shamar Rigby in the corner of the end zone on 3rd-and-goal from the 12-yard line. Given the KU defense’s struggles of late — 42 points allowed in back to back games — and the fact that Oklahoma State has struggled against pretty much everyone they’ve played this season, it wasn’t exactly what Kansas fans wanted to see.
• Jalon still a little off? – It wasn’t that he had a bad day — not by any means — but his passes weren’t as crisp as we’re used to seeing and his reads were a little slow on a couple of occasions. Such is life as a quarterback. But it’s notable given the fact that Daniels’ struggling to find much of a rhythm last week in a 42-17 home loss to Kansas State was such a big part of that storyline. Daniels finished with modest and decent numbers — 13-of-19 for 110 yards and 2 TDs — before giving way to Cole Ballard to close out the game with a couple of kneel-downs late. It was good to see Marshall get a little work, especially after the 43-yard QB run he had earlier in the game. And Daniels could sit on the bench and watch his teammates close out the game knowing he had done enough to put this one in the bag.
• Another targeting penalty — It’s been a tough season of targeting calls against the Jayhawks, and another one popped up late in this one. Junior cornerback Syeed Gibbs drilled OSU QB Banks Bowen late in the game for what looked like a drive-ending stop. But replay ruled the hit by Gibbs to be targeting. That gave OSU the ball back, but that’s hardly the part that mattered for KU. Gibbs will now miss the first half of next week’s road game at Arizona as a result of the call.
WHAT THE?
• KU had just two 1st half possessions – All five possessions in the first half of this game went for double-digit plays, which was obviously good for both offenses, a little rough for both defenses and limited the team’s opportunities to score. Give KU credit for capitalizing both times it touched the ball, scoring a field goal on its opening drive and adding the touchdown by Hishaw on Drive No. 2 to take the lead into the half. In today’s world of football, with wide-open offenses, defenses that fly around and a ton of scoring, it was wild to see just five possessions in a half and both teams have success on offense without putting up too many points. For the game, KU had just six real possessions and seven total, with the last one being a kneel-down series to run out the clock.
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