It is only fair to start off with Ryan Willis who had a big game in only his second start. He completed 19 passes in the first half which is the most since Reesing in 2009. He also set freshman records in completions and yards. I said this last week he just has natural QB instincts. He feels the pocket well. Now there were a few blind side pressures he didn't feel. Tech really brought pressure on top of Shelley-Smith.
They didn't take a lot of deep throws which I think they will have to just to show they can. Defenses will keep creeping up. I thought the Tech defense wasn't very well schemed.
Willis threw two picks but I don't think he throws either one if it isn't that part of the game. He threw the last one up for grabs and he doesn't do that unless it is a desperation time trailing by 10 with 4:00 left. The last pick was called back due to off setting penalties. He will keep getting better.
The guy that makes plays that never seems to get a lot of love is Parmalee. He has been very solid.
Mann ran the hardest by far of all the runners and was tough to bring down.
Jacob Bragg now becomes a key player. Against Texas Tech he got a lot of time at left and right guard. But with Gibson status in doubt I think he has to also focus on getting snaps at center this week. Hughes never played yesterday. That is a concern. The hope is it isn't a bad injury if that is the case.
With guys like Crawley, Booker, Patrick, Sims and even adding Gonzales along with the rest of the group there are receivers that can make plays. Booker got hurt and missed a couple series.
Kinner lacked his burst yesterday. He had a couple plays where he would usually have more acceleration.
The defense did well despite giving up some big yards and big plays. They held Tech to their lowest point total of the year. I will say Kingsbury is right when the left tackle LeRaven Clark went down at LT it was a different game for their OL.
I thought Wise really played well. He has some bull rush ability and can also move for an inside DT. It was good to see DJ Williams get some snaps.
Bowen really mixed up his defenses. He went with a lot of three man fronts. He also blitzed out of some and dropped on some. I thought it was interesting in the 4th quarter on passing situations they went with three man fronts and Duckworth was in acting as a spy on Mahomes.
Dineen played well. From sideline to sideline he has the speed to play like Big 12 LBs need to. Duckworth also has the speed.
I thought Olobia played well at DE and was more physical than I thought he would be. They will miss Goodman. He is definitely the onfield leader of the D.
Texas Tech is a tough match-up for the defense. They make the safeties and nickel become coverage players and they just aren't great at coverage. That's why Tech averages 53 points a game. Shaw, Glatczak, and Fish hung in there as well as they could. That is a tough deal for them to be in pass coverage in space that much.
Tyrone Miller could be an All Big 12 safety. He plays physical and would have good ball skills for a safety. His top end speed makes it tough to keep up with Big 12 WR going on deep routes and he is tight in the hips for a corner.
Texas Tech had the ball six times in the second half and had three punts, a field goal, a missed field goal, and a fumble. The defense played as well as they could. They held Tech to 220 yards in the second half.
KU has the second-best red zone defense in the Big 12.
One thing that stood out on special teams was holding Grant to 19 yards a return. They are second in the Big 12 in kickoff return coverage. You have to give Hyman some credit on putting Wyman into punt. He averaged 42 yards a punt. If everything is broke you look to every answer to fix it. I have heard the walk on punter isn't close and does not punt it as well as Kahn.
The bad part of the day was place-kicking. That just kills momentum. The bad part is there might not be an answer. I know Hyman has a contact in Kansas City that works the Rubio camps. Chris Sailer was at the summer KU kicking camp. Hyman is dialed into those people.
But finding a place-kicker isn't as some on this board make it seem. That might be the least inexact science of them all. Some high school kids still kick off a tee. Some have great camps and then get on campus and kick it sideways. It is very tough to determine what will make a good kicker.
I have always been told a good kicker is 80% or above. A decent kicker is a little below and anything below 60% isn't very good.
Teams that have kickers in the 70% are Georgia, Nebraska, West Virginia, Va Tech, Cal, Pitt, Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas.
Teams with kickers under 60% are Louisville, Wisconsin, Iowa State, Alabama, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, and NC State. Those are just the Power Five teams.
It almost really takes some luck to find kickers that are good. This is something that fans just don't see if they don't study what some of the top prospects have done.
In 2013 two of the top three kickers in the nation were Geiger for Michigan State and Matt Anderson from Cal. Both are struggling. Geiger has missed four field goals this year under 39 yards. He was the unanimous #1 kicker in the nation.
In 2012 one of the elite kickers was Adam Griffith. Bama gave him a scholie. He has missed three field goals inside of 39 yards and also missed his first four FG attempts. A lot of good programs miss on kickers. KU just isn't in position to give a scholarship to a kicker. Not with their numbers. The only way I think they could justify if there is a juco kid who is kicking 90% and has been kicking without a tee and shows on film he can nail it from 45 and in almost all the time. The problem is if that kicker exists he is probably going to Bama or Michigan State and not KU.
KU is least penalized team in the Big 12 and third in least penalty yardage.
This team is getting better. Nine of the top 11 tacklers from yesterday return next year. A lot of freshmen and sophomores are getting meaningful snaps. That doesn't mean they still won't get beat up in a game this year. Heck it might come next week at Oklahoma State. I don't know. But they are certainly showing progress and the young kids getting playing time will pay off a lot next year and the year after.
They didn't take a lot of deep throws which I think they will have to just to show they can. Defenses will keep creeping up. I thought the Tech defense wasn't very well schemed.
Willis threw two picks but I don't think he throws either one if it isn't that part of the game. He threw the last one up for grabs and he doesn't do that unless it is a desperation time trailing by 10 with 4:00 left. The last pick was called back due to off setting penalties. He will keep getting better.
The guy that makes plays that never seems to get a lot of love is Parmalee. He has been very solid.
Mann ran the hardest by far of all the runners and was tough to bring down.
Jacob Bragg now becomes a key player. Against Texas Tech he got a lot of time at left and right guard. But with Gibson status in doubt I think he has to also focus on getting snaps at center this week. Hughes never played yesterday. That is a concern. The hope is it isn't a bad injury if that is the case.
With guys like Crawley, Booker, Patrick, Sims and even adding Gonzales along with the rest of the group there are receivers that can make plays. Booker got hurt and missed a couple series.
Kinner lacked his burst yesterday. He had a couple plays where he would usually have more acceleration.
The defense did well despite giving up some big yards and big plays. They held Tech to their lowest point total of the year. I will say Kingsbury is right when the left tackle LeRaven Clark went down at LT it was a different game for their OL.
I thought Wise really played well. He has some bull rush ability and can also move for an inside DT. It was good to see DJ Williams get some snaps.
Bowen really mixed up his defenses. He went with a lot of three man fronts. He also blitzed out of some and dropped on some. I thought it was interesting in the 4th quarter on passing situations they went with three man fronts and Duckworth was in acting as a spy on Mahomes.
Dineen played well. From sideline to sideline he has the speed to play like Big 12 LBs need to. Duckworth also has the speed.
I thought Olobia played well at DE and was more physical than I thought he would be. They will miss Goodman. He is definitely the onfield leader of the D.
Texas Tech is a tough match-up for the defense. They make the safeties and nickel become coverage players and they just aren't great at coverage. That's why Tech averages 53 points a game. Shaw, Glatczak, and Fish hung in there as well as they could. That is a tough deal for them to be in pass coverage in space that much.
Tyrone Miller could be an All Big 12 safety. He plays physical and would have good ball skills for a safety. His top end speed makes it tough to keep up with Big 12 WR going on deep routes and he is tight in the hips for a corner.
Texas Tech had the ball six times in the second half and had three punts, a field goal, a missed field goal, and a fumble. The defense played as well as they could. They held Tech to 220 yards in the second half.
KU has the second-best red zone defense in the Big 12.
One thing that stood out on special teams was holding Grant to 19 yards a return. They are second in the Big 12 in kickoff return coverage. You have to give Hyman some credit on putting Wyman into punt. He averaged 42 yards a punt. If everything is broke you look to every answer to fix it. I have heard the walk on punter isn't close and does not punt it as well as Kahn.
The bad part of the day was place-kicking. That just kills momentum. The bad part is there might not be an answer. I know Hyman has a contact in Kansas City that works the Rubio camps. Chris Sailer was at the summer KU kicking camp. Hyman is dialed into those people.
But finding a place-kicker isn't as some on this board make it seem. That might be the least inexact science of them all. Some high school kids still kick off a tee. Some have great camps and then get on campus and kick it sideways. It is very tough to determine what will make a good kicker.
I have always been told a good kicker is 80% or above. A decent kicker is a little below and anything below 60% isn't very good.
Teams that have kickers in the 70% are Georgia, Nebraska, West Virginia, Va Tech, Cal, Pitt, Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas.
Teams with kickers under 60% are Louisville, Wisconsin, Iowa State, Alabama, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, and NC State. Those are just the Power Five teams.
It almost really takes some luck to find kickers that are good. This is something that fans just don't see if they don't study what some of the top prospects have done.
In 2013 two of the top three kickers in the nation were Geiger for Michigan State and Matt Anderson from Cal. Both are struggling. Geiger has missed four field goals this year under 39 yards. He was the unanimous #1 kicker in the nation.
In 2012 one of the elite kickers was Adam Griffith. Bama gave him a scholie. He has missed three field goals inside of 39 yards and also missed his first four FG attempts. A lot of good programs miss on kickers. KU just isn't in position to give a scholarship to a kicker. Not with their numbers. The only way I think they could justify if there is a juco kid who is kicking 90% and has been kicking without a tee and shows on film he can nail it from 45 and in almost all the time. The problem is if that kicker exists he is probably going to Bama or Michigan State and not KU.
KU is least penalized team in the Big 12 and third in least penalty yardage.
This team is getting better. Nine of the top 11 tacklers from yesterday return next year. A lot of freshmen and sophomores are getting meaningful snaps. That doesn't mean they still won't get beat up in a game this year. Heck it might come next week at Oklahoma State. I don't know. But they are certainly showing progress and the young kids getting playing time will pay off a lot next year and the year after.
