Moments That Popped: No. 9 Texas Tech 42, Kansas 17

If you asked for just one stat to describe how Saturday’s game went for the Kansas football team at No. 9 Texas Tech, you’d do well to point to total yards in the first quarter.

Texas Tech 176. Kansas 36.

And based on how that first quarter went, that might as well have been the score.

• Notes & Numbers from KU's loss in Lubbock

Coming off of a tough and resilient road win at UCF last week, the Jayhawks were rocked by the Red Raiders, twice, in a 42-17 defeat that sent Kansas into an off week licking its wounds.

The loss dropped KU to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in Big 12 play, while Texas Tech moved to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in Big 12 play.

After falling behind 21-0 — and it could've been much, much worse, if the KU defense didn't hold Tech, which played more than half of this game with backup QB Will Hammond at QB, in for injured starter Behren Morton, to a couple of field goals during its first-half surge — the Jayhawks ripped off 17 straight points to climb back into it and even wrestled away a huge chunk of the momentum away from Texas Tech while quieting the building at the same time.

But the 21-17 halftime deficit quickly faded into the distance when the Jayhawks delivered a 3rd-quarter performance that was similar to what they showed in the first, keeping them from ever climbing all the way over the hump and giving Texas Tech time to regain control and keep Kansas quiet the rest of the night.

One week after pitching a shutout in the second half in the win over UCF, KU itself was shutout in the second half against Texas Tech, outscored 21-0 in the final two quarters.

The Jayhawks are off next week, enjoying their second of three byes this season, before returning to action on Oct. 25, when they play host to Kansas State at The Booth.

Kickoff time for this year’s Sunflower Showdown has not yet been announced.

Here’s a look back at some of Saturday’s action at Texas Tech.

LIKES

• There’s that word again… – Resilience. We’ve talked about it a ton during the Lance Leipold era. We wrote about it right here at R1S1 Sports after last week’s comeback road win. But Saturday night’s edition of KU showing big-time resilience was arguably the most impressive dose yet. The Jayhawks were resilient on the scoreboard, crawling out of a 21-0 hole that felt like a hundred haymakers. They were resilient in the run game and with their play-calling. And they were resilient on defense, where they just kept lining up and fighting to find a way to make a play. It wasn't perfect. They didn't hit all the time, but they never laid down either. We might've reached the point where we no longer have to celebrate the resilience within this program. It's clearly a staple and something they bring with them to ever game and every day.

• Jalon Daniels – He wasn't great in every way, but he was damn good in some of the most important ways, and his first-half numbers were lights out – 18 for 21 — with 2 drops — for 176 yards and 2 TDs. Now, there's still some decision-making stuff and ball security stuff and other areas where he could've been better. But as a passer and, more importantly, a leader, JD6 gave all he had to this fight. The exhausted KU QB, who spent most of the night running for his life and fighting for his footing, finished with 27-for-33 passing with 228 yards and 2 TDs before giving way to Cole Ballard for the Jayhawks' final drive with the game decided. Twelve of those 27 completions went to tight end Boden Groen, who became the first tight end in KU football history to catch 12 passes in a single game, a small but significant footnote in an otherwise disappointing night.

• Laith Marjan, bang! – It’s one thing to go 9-for-9 on a bunch of makeable kicks. And impressive all the same. It’s another thing entirely to keep your perfect stretch alive with a 55-yard bomb just before halftime at No. 9 to pull your team within four and deliver a wave of momentum to the visiting locker room. The 55-yard boot is tied for the 6^th longest field goal in KU football history. So far this season, Marjan has been great, not just good, and proven to be one of the most important transfer portal pickups in the Leipold era.

• Hishaw’s return – Regardless of the outcome or even how he played or the numbers he put up, simply seeing injured KU running back Daniel Hishaw Jr. back out the field was a major positive. Remember, this is a guy who has been dogged by injuries his entire career, a guy who some people feared might be done for the season with this latest injury. He wasn’t. He isn’t. And he looked good with the limited touches he got in this one. Now, he gets two more weeks to be ready for his final crack at Kansas State.

• Those uniforms, though – The blue helmet with the warhawk Jayhawk and the yellow and rid popping off of it really stood out. Add to that the blue pants, with the white tops and glimmering crimson numbers, and you’re talking about one of the best-looking road uniforms I’ve seen KU wear in a while. That helmet absolutely should be mixed into the rotation way more often.

DISLIKES

• Another slooooow start – Not only did the Jayhawks do very little with their opening possession — one first down and then backwards 16 yards before punting — but the defense also started slow, giving up a 71-yard touchdown run, right up the gut, on Texas Tech’s very first offensive play of the night. Cameron Dickey out-ran the entire KU defense to pay dirt, without coming anywhere close to being touched. Add to that a fumble by Cole Ballard on the first snap of the Jayhawks’ second offensive series and you’re looking at about as bad a start as you could’ve drawn up. Last week, the Jayhawks dug themselves a 14-0 hole on the road at UCF and were tough enough — and disciplined enough — to climb out of it for the win. Doing that two weeks in a row, with the second one coming at the No. 9 team in the country is a tough task and KU could not deliver.

• KU run D – It was a problem from the first play of the night all the way to the end, and the Jayhawks’ inability to slow Texas Tech’s rushing attack really cost them a chance to win this game. Especially when back-up QB Will Hammond was in the game and looked suspect throwing the ball while seeming to severely lack confidence at the same time. For the night, the Red Raiders ran for 372 yards on 40 carries, good for 9.3 yards per rush. To put that number in even more perspective, Tech's 372 yards on the ground (of 505 total) were more than KU had in total offense (319) all night. One more: KU finished with just 74 yards rushing.

• O-Line play – There were some good moments, where KU ran the ball effectively or allowed the offense to get into enough of a rhythm to move down the field. But in the biggest moments, Jalon Daniels was harassed by the ridiculously talented Texas Tech front way too often and way too easily to give KU a real shot to win this game. In fact, JD6 (and Cole Ballard) were sacked more in this game (9) than KU allowed in the six games combined (5) leading up to Saturday night. Ouch. That's as much about the pieces in place as the fire and fight the teams possess. And KU's still building in that department, with a little ways to go still before it can handle big, physical, fast and athletic fronts like Texas Tech's and Missouri's earlier in the year.

• Self-inflicted wounds – In order to pull off a win/upset like the one the Jayhawks were gunning for on Saturday night, you’ve got to deliver in just about every way and with as much consistency as possible. KU dropped the ball on that right away, sometimes literally, and it put them in a major hole. Dropped passes, bad decisions and missed assignments created an early implosion that just killed them. It’s a big ask to be sharp in all areas. Football is an unforgiving game. But to pull off an upset on the road against a Top 10 team, you’ve gotta find a way to be as close to perfect as possible.

WHAT THE?

• Texas Tech’s 2-point conversion – After marching down the field for their second touchdown in less than 7 minutes of game time to take a two-score lead, the Red Raiders went for 2 and easily converted, pushing their lead to 15-0 instead of just 14. You don’t see teams do that very often, especially that early, but it’s worth noting that the Jayhawks actually did it earlier in the season in one of their home victories. Still sort of a head-scratching move, but I suppose if you don’t feel like the other team can stop you, why not just do whatever you want, whenever you want to?

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