The Texas Longhorns moved to 6-2 overall and 5-0 in the Big 12 with a 35-13 win over the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday afternoon in front of a smaller than usual crowd at Darryl K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium. With the win, Texas became bowl eligible for the 15th time in the last 16 years.
Those were the positives in the game, and should not be overlooked as Mack Brown continues his run to try and save his job after several years of under peformance. However, the offense continued to sputter and Case McCoy continued to make the mistakes which will kill Texas against the better teams left to play.
McCoy’s third pass of the game was intercepted by Kansas SS Isaiah Johnson, which led to a missed field goal for the Jayhawks. The teams traded punts, then Texas went on a long 15 play, 92 yard drive capped off by a two yard Malcolm Brown touchdown run to put Texas ahead for good 7-0.
Kansas then punted on its next drive, and Texas had great field position at the Kansas 49. The Longhorns drove to the KU 19 but were stopped on 4th down and turned it over to the Jawhawks, who again punted after a three and out.
Texas then marched 56 yards in seven plays, capped off by Malcolm Brown’s second rushing touchdown of the day to go ahead 14-0. From there, the teams again traded punts before Kansas drove down and kicked a field goal as time expired in the first half to close to within 14-3. The first half was a credit to the Texas defense, as they kept Kansas off the board for 29:59 while the offense sputtered its way to points.
The third quarter opened with a Kansas field goal to close to within 8. The teams went punt, punt, punt on the following three series, and field position began to work for the Jayhawks as they took over 1st and 10 at the Texas 46 yard line. Then, as it has to so many Kansas teams, disaster struck. On 1st down, Kansas QB Jake Heaps went back to pass and was strip sacked by Cedric Reed. Defensive tackle Chris Whaley had broken through and began to pursue the ball, which bounced off a referee and into his hands. Whaley rumbled 40 yards for a touchdown to break the Jayhawks backs at 21-6.
After a Kansas punt on the next possession, the Horns went 57 yards on nine plays, again capped off by a Macolm Brown touchdown run, his 3rd of the game. Kansas then turned the ball over on downs on the following drive, but got the ball back three plays later on another Case McCoy interception. The turnover proved futile as the Jayhawks punted. Texas took the drive 63 yards in five plays, all Macolm Brown. McCoy tripped and fell on his 4th and 1 handoff to Brown, who somehow got the ball and ran 30 yards for his 4th touchdown of the game. Kansas added a garbage time touchdown, and Tyrone Swoopes again got minimal action.
Not much to take away from this game past McCoy needing to quell his inner gunslinger. The real tests begin from here on out, starting next Saturday, November 9th, live from Morgantown.
