The hard pill to take is that game was there for the taking.
That isn't the Oklahoma State team of the past and not much better than the team the Jayhawks beat in Lawrence last year. They have guys banged up on the offensive line, a QB who is just okay and finally won the job two weeks ago, and a defense that went into Saturday ranked 12th in total defense in the conference.
Almost four weeks ago a South Alabama team went into Stillwater and held them under 100 yards rushing and dominated the game. I get it that things change and team's make adjustments. And Gundy did that, but the point is Oklahoma State is not an upper tier Big 12 team. And by the way South Alabama lost their next two games to Central Michigan and James Madison.
There were two plays I felt the game hinged on in the second half. The pick at the end zone and the sack on fourth and five.
This is just my take but it felt like the team lost some momentum on the pick Bean when tried to connect with Tanaka Scott at the goal line. The pass was under thrown and Daniels from Oklahoma State picked it off. At that point the Jayhawks were leading 32-27 and could have gone up two scores. That play happened on second down at the OSU 17-yard line.
OSU then went on a drive that resulted in a field goal that made it a tighter game and they were back into it. It got the crowd back in the game that Gundy credited for two straight weeks.
"The crowd was unbelievable again. The support, the crowd, students, the game day atmosphere here is better now than it ever has been, since I came here in 1986. This is three or four games in a row where it's been fantastic out there. Really loud. In the fourth quarter, when the defense is on the field, they're loud. Paddle people are working. And it looks good. Very impressed with the support of the people."
Everything seemed to change after the interception. The OSU team picked up some confidence.
The Jayhawks still had the lead and the ball with under 7:00 and had a good drive going. Leipold went for it on fourth and five and they brought their pass rusher Oliver off the edge who sacked Bean. This came at the Oklahoma State 40-yard line and I have no problem going for it. They could have punted it and tried to pin OSU deep with the lead. But I like the call to stay aggressive. It just didn't work out. There will be a lot of talk about the offsides. Watching it live I thought the DE and the DT (was close) were both offsides, but there was no flag.
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Leipold said something in the post-game that is 100% true. There is a lot of ball to play. That was his message to the team. There are still winnable games on the schedule.
I watched Texas Tech last night and if they are down to the freshman QB for the season they will struggle. He made some bad throws and it will be tougher going on the road. They will have a bye week before playing KU but KU will be favored.
Going to Ames isn't going to be as easy as it looked a few weeks ago. But Iowa State doesn't over match KU. The Clones are playing better football and that 3-3-5 under Heacock has given them trouble.
The KSU matchup changes every week based on how both teams play. Two weeks ago KU fans loved the matchup and then after yesterday that thinking probably shifts. It will be a tough game because KSU can line up and be more physical.
The last game of the year against Cincinnati is too far off to try and project.
OU will be a tough game but I want to wait and see who the QB will be for the Jayhawks.
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I said going into the OSU game they will do everything they can to take away the KU run game. And they did. They really limited Neal and Hishaw on several carries. Sure, they gave up some passing yards but they wanted to make Bean beat them instead of the the running game.
In the end although KU piled a lot of passing yards it was the interceptions that turned the game.
"For the most part, we wanted to take away their ability to run the football," Gundy said. "That's what they do best. And we did, right. 30 carries for 90 yards. So we held them to three yards-a-carry, and they had one pretty long run, which -- I know they all count -- but overall, if you take the number of attempts without that one and the yards-per-gain, we got them in good situations the majority of the game."
Speaking of interceptions the Jayhawks defense MUST come up with a pick or two when they had the chance. To me, one big difference in the game is OSU made their picks and KU did not.
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The bye week comes at a great time. Need to get some guys healthy and others are starting to develop bumps and bruises.
They will practice three days and several staff members will be on the road recruiting for four days. They will also start on the OU prep this coming week. They will get a couple days off and practice Tues-Thurs and will do weight days on Thursday and Friday.
That isn't the Oklahoma State team of the past and not much better than the team the Jayhawks beat in Lawrence last year. They have guys banged up on the offensive line, a QB who is just okay and finally won the job two weeks ago, and a defense that went into Saturday ranked 12th in total defense in the conference.
Almost four weeks ago a South Alabama team went into Stillwater and held them under 100 yards rushing and dominated the game. I get it that things change and team's make adjustments. And Gundy did that, but the point is Oklahoma State is not an upper tier Big 12 team. And by the way South Alabama lost their next two games to Central Michigan and James Madison.
There were two plays I felt the game hinged on in the second half. The pick at the end zone and the sack on fourth and five.
This is just my take but it felt like the team lost some momentum on the pick Bean when tried to connect with Tanaka Scott at the goal line. The pass was under thrown and Daniels from Oklahoma State picked it off. At that point the Jayhawks were leading 32-27 and could have gone up two scores. That play happened on second down at the OSU 17-yard line.
OSU then went on a drive that resulted in a field goal that made it a tighter game and they were back into it. It got the crowd back in the game that Gundy credited for two straight weeks.
"The crowd was unbelievable again. The support, the crowd, students, the game day atmosphere here is better now than it ever has been, since I came here in 1986. This is three or four games in a row where it's been fantastic out there. Really loud. In the fourth quarter, when the defense is on the field, they're loud. Paddle people are working. And it looks good. Very impressed with the support of the people."
Everything seemed to change after the interception. The OSU team picked up some confidence.
The Jayhawks still had the lead and the ball with under 7:00 and had a good drive going. Leipold went for it on fourth and five and they brought their pass rusher Oliver off the edge who sacked Bean. This came at the Oklahoma State 40-yard line and I have no problem going for it. They could have punted it and tried to pin OSU deep with the lead. But I like the call to stay aggressive. It just didn't work out. There will be a lot of talk about the offsides. Watching it live I thought the DE and the DT (was close) were both offsides, but there was no flag.
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Leipold said something in the post-game that is 100% true. There is a lot of ball to play. That was his message to the team. There are still winnable games on the schedule.
I watched Texas Tech last night and if they are down to the freshman QB for the season they will struggle. He made some bad throws and it will be tougher going on the road. They will have a bye week before playing KU but KU will be favored.
Going to Ames isn't going to be as easy as it looked a few weeks ago. But Iowa State doesn't over match KU. The Clones are playing better football and that 3-3-5 under Heacock has given them trouble.
The KSU matchup changes every week based on how both teams play. Two weeks ago KU fans loved the matchup and then after yesterday that thinking probably shifts. It will be a tough game because KSU can line up and be more physical.
The last game of the year against Cincinnati is too far off to try and project.
OU will be a tough game but I want to wait and see who the QB will be for the Jayhawks.
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I said going into the OSU game they will do everything they can to take away the KU run game. And they did. They really limited Neal and Hishaw on several carries. Sure, they gave up some passing yards but they wanted to make Bean beat them instead of the the running game.
In the end although KU piled a lot of passing yards it was the interceptions that turned the game.
"For the most part, we wanted to take away their ability to run the football," Gundy said. "That's what they do best. And we did, right. 30 carries for 90 yards. So we held them to three yards-a-carry, and they had one pretty long run, which -- I know they all count -- but overall, if you take the number of attempts without that one and the yards-per-gain, we got them in good situations the majority of the game."
Speaking of interceptions the Jayhawks defense MUST come up with a pick or two when they had the chance. To me, one big difference in the game is OSU made their picks and KU did not.
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The bye week comes at a great time. Need to get some guys healthy and others are starting to develop bumps and bruises.
They will practice three days and several staff members will be on the road recruiting for four days. They will also start on the OU prep this coming week. They will get a couple days off and practice Tues-Thurs and will do weight days on Thursday and Friday.
