Inexperience tells the tale
Tech stuns 'Hawks, 38-22
It's known as doing it the hardaway!
Danny Hardaway, Texas Tech's hard running sophomore halfback is swamped by Larry Brown (70), Emery Hicks (60) and Kenny Page (50), but not until he picks up valuable yardage through the KU line
Photo by John Burke
By JAY THOMAS
Kansas Sports Editor
Maybe Pepper said it best, "When I say we don't have a strong team, people think I'm lying. Look, if I say we're good then we're good. If I say we're not that good, then we're not that good. I don't lie."
No, he does not. At this stage of the season, Kansas is not a strong team. Either that or Texas Tech belongs in the NFL, which seems to be an implausibility for anyone who saw the Red Raiders hibernate the first half.
When Teach linebacker Dennis Lane ran back Jimmy Ettinger's deflected pass for a touchdown, the entire team awoke to cram a day's work into the final thirty minutes. And K ans s s—bigger, slower, tireder—did all the sweating.
Off and Running
Then senior Joe Matulich replaced starter Tom Sawyer at quarterback and both the crowd and the Raiders' offense took an about face. Matulich and Co. only produced a field goal by half time (making it 16-3) but sparked by the realization that they could move the ball and Lane's huff-and-puff scoring scamper, Tech came to life and dominated the remainder of the ball game.
For the first twenty minutes, the Jayhawks never looked better. KU, a three-point favorite going in, forged a 16-0 lead that completely numbed 42,000 red-decked Techsons who sat in silent disbelief.
KU did come back from a 17-16 deficit to go ahead 22-17 with 8:46 remaining but two touchdown passes (one by Matulich, the other by Ettinger) put it away for the 'underdogs.'
were the 250 or so Kansans in the crowd who had to sit through the 'Score, Score' cries of the delirious Tech backers hoping to run up the margin. Their only casualty was pride.
If there is one word that could best explain the Kansas' loss, it would have to be inexperience, a label that Coach Rodgers has hung upon his squad since the opening of spring practice.
marked Rodgers in the otherwise quiet KU dressing room following the game, "we're starting the season with an inexperienced backfield, except for John Riggins, a relatively inexperienced offensive line and several (again) inexperienced players in the secondary. We still have a good football team but it will take some time to learn from the mistakes an inexperienced team makes."
Not Ettinger's Fault
That theme was etched on practically every face in the Jayhawk locker room but was no more in
evidence than on Jim Ettinger. "We were doing all right until I started making mistakes," offered a dejected Ettinger referring to the interceptions. But that was hardly a satisfactory interpretation.
"You can't blame this one on Jimny," said Rodgers. "Everybody was to blame tonight. We hurt ourselves with penalties and interceptions but don't forget, Tech hurt us too. Ettinger played a fine ball game and showed that he can do the job for us this year. Heck, anybody can have interceptions and anyway you look at it, that first one was a fluke."
Pepper hit the mark there. Etinger seldom had the necessary time to throw and the pass Lane picked off was 'any way you look at it' a fluke. But that was the only one. Where Tech was able to keep its cool and come back, Kansas, down by only two with still more than four minutes remaining, simply seemed to collapse.
The poise that experience breeds awaits another Saturday.
Scoring Summary
Kansas 0 7 0 7-22
Texas Tech 0 7 0 -38
Texas Tech 1 ton Boll kick
KU—Ettinger 1 run, (Bell kick)
KU—Safety, (blocked punt)
pout from Ettinger,
KU—Amison 15 pass.
(Bell kick).
(Ben Rick)
TT—Sanders 42 FG
TT- Lane 55 interception return,
(Sanders kiek)
Bararday 1 run (Sanders)
KU—Hawley 7 pass from Ettinger.
(run failed)
TT-May 57 pass from Matulich,
TT-May 57
(TT-Fox 55 interception return,
TT-Fox 55
TT—Fox $S interception return,
(Sanders kick)
(Sanders kick)
TT--Young 3 run. (Sanders kiek)
Attendance: 42,250