FINAL SCORE: Texas 23 – Kansas 0
First half: Texas 13 – Kansas 0
Second half: Texas 10 – Kansas 0
1st Half Thoughts:‘”
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[*]2 TE look to open the game and the Horns ran play action to Shipley. That should be an effective look for the rest of the season – especially if the running game gets productive.
[*]On the first 3rd and long, KU stacked 7 men along the LOS and only rushed 5 in an effort to confuse Swoopes & the OL.
[*]Nice aggressive statement to go for 4th down, but an unimaginative playcall results in a turnover on downs. The Horns miss an opportunity to pin the Jayhawks deep.
[*]Dylan Haines & Jason Hall are shifting big-time pre-snap.
[*]Tipped ball and INT saves the defense after they gave up the long completion on KU’s first drive. Great effort from Steve Edmond to tip Cozart’s throw.
[*]Armanti Foreman does a great job of following down field blocks on the 1st quarter reverse. The fumble was a freshman mistake that didn’t cost the Horns.
[*]Texas fumbles the exchange and returns the favor (of KU’s previous turnover), giving KU the ball deep in their own territory.
[*]After the turnover, the entire D buckled down. Great penetration from the DL and good coverage by the DB’s. That’s the quick change defense that Strong requires.
[*]Swaim & McFarland bumped into each other right before McFarland caught his TD. Terrible spacing/routes that ended up not hurting the play.
[*]Shipley’s return set up the TD. Texas is moving the ball reasonably well – the short field doesn’t give them a chance to shoot themselves in the foot.
[*]The first quarter was the TE show – Templin, McFarland & Swaim all making their presence felt.
[*]Cobbs knifed through the line and overshot a chance to make a negative play at the beginning of the 2nd quarter.
[*]Ced Reed’s sack and a QB hurry by Hicks stalled KU’s best drive of the half.
[*]KU takes a page from Texas, pinning them deep, playing good D and then getting a favorable punt to lead to a shortened field.
[*]Texas using a 3-man front on 1st and 2nd down without Tank.
[*]The shot taken downfield on 1st down was a nice playcall. Swoopes had to step forward in the pocket & rushed the throw a bit.
[*]Nice special teams tackle by Adrian Colbert makes Russ’ punt a weapon.
[*]Duke Thomas redeems himself after giving up a long completion early in the drive with an INT created by pressure from the DL. Cozart had no time to throw or to let the play develop.
[*]Swoopes isn’t fast or quick, but he dwarfs KU’s defensive backs.
[*]Missed PAT and a blocked FG continue the special teams miscues. The problems rotate between blockers and kickers, making it hard to pin them on any specific unit.
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Second half‘”
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[*]Lots of nickel today with Haines & Hall as the safeties and Thompson lined up out wide at CB. KU/Cozart finally took advantage of Thompson trying to cover Pierson in the 3rd quarter.
[*]Nice pursuit and sack by Diggs ultimately leads to Kansas punting on their first drive of the half. KU was moving the ball well with a nice run/pass mix up until the sack.
[*]Duke Thomas with a PBU in the end zone keeps KU off the scoreboard. KU has run 25+ plays in the red zone without scoring.
[*]Gray’s 3rd quarter fumble was recovered, but that’s twice now that fumbles haven’t cost Texas anything. That won’t fly in Manhattan or even Lubbock.
[*]Naashon Hughes lined up at DE out wide (with his hand in the dirt) was a nice substitution. Hughes’ speed down the line is a plus.
[*]Swoopes on designed keepers to the wide side are not effective – he doesn’t get to the edge quickly enough.
[*]Armanti Foreman has more burst after the catch than any veteran receiver.
[*]Nice INT by Hicks who dropped back in coverage in a zone look.
[*]Nick Rose nails his 42-yard FG attempt. He’s money on his 2nd attempt this year.
[*]Shiro Davis doesn’t get to the quarterback quickly, but his push is big-time. His 4Q sack was a great example.
[*]Never can be sure about option assignments but Blueitt misplayed the option on consecutive plays.
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Two takeaways‘”
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[*]The Horns don’t seal the edge or get to the 2nd level well enough to run outside. The insistence on running wide is perplexing.
[*]Between missed points and penalties negating return yardage, special teams was costly today. Especially with this offense, the Horns must do a better job at ST.
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Notable Stat’s‘”
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[*]3 more sacks in the first half for the defense. It could be more but they’re maintaining discipline on Cozart.
[*]Cozart completed 8 passes in the 1st half. Three were to Longhorns.
[*]DL & LB make up the top 4 tacklers at halftime. Nice to not see a safety on the list.
[*]Cobbs darts through the line and misses another play, allowing KU to convert on 3rd down.
[*]Texas recorded 4 more sacks today – that’s 17 on the year.
[*]Roderick Bernard, Poona Ford & Dorian Leonard all saw the first game action today.
[*]Hall’s start at Safety is the first one by a true freshman since 2008.
[*]The Texas defense limited KU to one first down and just 31 total yards in the 4th quarter (after KU had their best offensive quarter in the 3rd).
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Choice Quotes
Charlie Strong “I tell them anytime you play on the road you’ve got to pack your defense and special teams. Those two units played well.”
Charlie Strong “The thing about Duke is that he has a lot of confidence. Sometimes he plays with too much of it.”
Charlie Strong “In the second half, we had to find a way to run the football because if we can establish the run game, then the passing game is going to open up for us.”
Jaxon Shipley “This week we probably should have scored more points than we did but the defense played a great game so we are just happy to get a win.”
Jordan Hicks “If you can’t get yourself pumped up to play one of the 12 guaranteed games, you shouldn’t be out here.”
Charlie Weis “Hey, stats are for losers. There’s a lot of stats out there that I could say were positive. The bottom line is when you lose the turnover ratio like that, you’re going to lost most games.â€
Nick Harwell “We need to do something different to win. Having lost doesn’t feel too good.”