2023 Kansas Football Post Mortem: Defense/Special Teams

Coming into the game, Texas ranked 103rd in the country in time of possession and Kansas was ranked 11th. When the final gun sounded, Texas had held the ball for over 39 minutes while Kansas had it less than half of that, with no Kansas drive lasting more than 2:56. That was their last drive of the game against the Longhorn reserves.

How?

The Longhorn defense dominated money downs against the top 3rd down conversion team in the country, limiting the Jayhawks to 0 of 10 on 3rd and 4th down combined. They completely owned the Jayhawks on 8 of their 11 offensive possessions, limiting them to less than 2 yards per play on 27 total plays.

Texas defenders benefitted from the clarity of 3rd/4th down and short (load up on the run) and 3rd down and 6+ (pass) whereas more ambiguous downs gave Kansas license to run anything and create assignment conflict. Every meaningful KU play happened on 1st or 2nd down.

On 3 other Kansas possessions, the Jayhawks managed a very robust 210 yards on only 19 plays, largely on the strength of a 58 yard easy touchdown throw on space cadet coverage and a 45 yard touchdown on an option run fumble scoop that exposed some major problems defending option football.

Watching Justice Finkley play under a block made my skin crawl, but Jerrin Thompson’s turnstyle tackle wasn’t ideal either. Hill also takes a bad step and gets hypnotized. Catalon almost salvaged it with a savage hit, but balls bounce your way when the call and execution crush the D’s recognition and preparation.

It’s odd for any person Gen X or older to watch college football players struggle with defending basic option principles, but those concepts are as foreign to these players as a team coming out in an empty set hurry up would have been to us. Texas edges, play side linebackers and the support safeties not named Catalon weren’t ready for it.

And here’s the pass play:

The color guy tries to pin this on Barron, but we’re in zone. What is Kitan Crawford looking at? Not his first rodeo doing this and at some point, the mental mistakes are too costly. In the 2nd half, Pete started really playing personnel packages on each down and Kitan was on the 1st down “run down” safety group whereas he seemed to prefer Taaffe, Catalon or Thompson on likely passing downs. KU went hurry up immediately after an unsuccessful run, kept Crawford on the field, and then hit us for the easy score.

Those mistakes aside, the game turned on a key defensive stop in Kansas territory. Deep in the 3rd quarter, while it was still a 20-14 game, KU went for it on 4th and 1 foot on their end of the field. Penetration from Sorrell and Barron helped doom a sloppy exchange between Bean and Hishaw and that Kansas turnove also ended their chances of winning. After Texas went up 26-14, Kansas lost any patience for the running game and the Texas defense got to feast on Bean(s).

While the defense finished the game strong, Kansas was averaging 8.1 yards per play fairly deep into the 3rd quarter. Once Texas got the lead and Kansas got married to the passing game, the Horns limited Kansas to 5 total yards on 10 plays on their next three possessions before KU’s stat padding 10 play, 60 yard game ending garbage drive.

While the Longhorn defense deserves a big pat on the back for their part in limiting Kansas to only 46 plays, they also owe the Texas offense some respect for running 86 plays with no Texas drive yielding less than 32 yards or 5 plays on 10 of 11 possessions (the final game ending drive was 5-28).

Texas got some opponent QB luck again and Jalon Daniels would have certainly helped KU in the passing game, but Daniels is not a 10.4 100 meters guy on the speed option either and the Texas defense clearly decided that they wanted to limit the KU throw game first and foremost, while letting in-game adjustments and a lead take care of KU’s run game. Kansas rushed for 8 yards in the 2nd half after amassing 100+ in the first.

Defensive Line

The edges struggled with option principles early and the need to respect KU’s run game and containment gave Jason Bean a clean pocket until the lead grew to double digits. That’s when Texas cut it loose. The biggest 2nd half star was Jaray Bledsoe, who had 3 pressures (and should’ve drawn a hold) playing inside sprinting past KU OL like a rottweiler got loose at a track meet.

Murphy and Sweat both had some good stuffs, a QB hit and a pressure. Burke had an offsides on a 3rd down.

Linebacker

Not a great game collectively, particularly early, but they played much better when Kansas was in more predictable down and distance. The Jayhawks put a lot of stress on backers, but once Texas got the lead, they were able to cut it loose fully on the run or pass. Ford led the team in tackles and had some good containment plays on Bean when Texas lined him up outside. Hill was slow to recognize on some plays and had a silly personal foul late. If you’re going to do it, at least get your money’s worth, #0.

Defensive Back

Derek Williams didn’t see much time in this game until late as Texas clearly feared his inexperience against the Jayhawks, but that doesn’t explain Crawford whose proven experience against complexity isn’t always positive. Catalon had some terrific hits and a forced fumble. I think he was the only safety out there who clearly had a grip on whatever Kansas was doing. His tackles just sound different.

Ryan Watts went out with an injury and Muhammad, Brooks and Holmes held it down in his stead. They did a good job against a deeply experienced Kansas receiver corps. Jahdae Barron had a great corral on a Bean 3rd down scramble early in the game and played a key role in snuffing the 4th and a foot botched handoff. Jerrin Thompson blew two tackles, but he was intelligent in the pass game. Taaffe had a terrific tackle for loss cleanup in run support after Texas started walking up safeties outside to dissuade the screen/speed options/flats throws that might have helped Bean’s comfort level. Nice move by Pete and good physicality by Taaffe.

Special Teams

Auburn is now 2 of 6 on the year on any field goal attempt greater than 40+. He’s 7 of 8 from less than 40. He missed from 50 and 47 and neither looked good off of the foot. He’s not getting flawless holds or snaps every time, but he’s also not driving the ball with any power and it’s getting pushed wide. Until something changes, Texas needs to start treating 4th and 6 on the opponent 31 as a go-for-it situation unless Will Stone can offer something better from distance.

Texas did not punt.

Once again, a young running back ran down and knocked the crap out of a kick returner. Last week, it was Tre Wisner. This week, Jaydon Blue. Great culture stuff, there.

Final

Opponent scoring rests heavily on the defense, but it’s ultimately a team measure. The Longhorn football team held a very dynamic offense to 14 points (while keeping them largely on the sideline) while rendering them useless during winning time as the Horns offense pounded them with a 20-0 finish.

Time to start Hate Week.

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