PAGE 8
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FOOTBALL
Junior nickelback Victor Simmons (27) dives to get the ball during the football game against Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, where the Jayhawks lost 27-17.
Kansas fails to capitalize on TCU turnovers
CHRIS HYBL
chybl@kansan.com
It's an understatement to say that Kansas football had its chances against TCU Saturday at Amon G. Carter Stadium. TCU turned the ball over five times — three times in its own territory — but was still able to trump Kansas 27-17.
Of TCU's five turnovers, all of them were recovered inside of its own 40-yard line, but Kansas could only capitalize on three of them. Two interceptions, two fumbles and a punt made up the collection of TCU blunders, among them a 32-yard pick six interception from JaCorey Shepherd to tie the game at 10 in the second quarter.
"JaCorey was standing right in front of me and if he didn't intercept it, I might have tackled him," Weis said.
ball and TCU recovered at their own 47. In just over four minutes' time, TCU would add another touchdown to the score, bringing any momentum Kansas may have had to a screeching halt.
But Kansas didn't let things get "Texas Tech bad." After what looked to be another stint drive, TCU muffed a Trevor Pardula punt that Kansas recovered at the TCU 27.
Kansas' second play of its ensuing drive looked promising, when James Sims broke upfield off a pass from Jake Heaps. Sims had made it 30 yards before TCU defenders were in his area, but when he made an extra move, Sims fumbled the
Jake Heaps targeted Jimmay
Kansas made it to halftime at the same 10-10 score, but didn't hold that much longer. On the first play of the second half, TCU wide receiver David Porter received a pass in the flats, split Kansas defender Dexter McDonald and safety Cassius Sendish and was home free for a 75-yard touchdown pass. In 13 seconds, TCU was up 17-10.
"I feel like this is all on the offense to get more points on the board."
JIMMAY MUNDINE Junior tight end
Mundine on the following two plays, connecting on the latter one for a 27-yard touchdown pass to bring Kansas within striking distance.
"We went into the game saying that we were going to be conservative in this game," Weis said. "We are going to put ourselves in a position where we could win in the fourth quarter and we did that. We just weren't going to do what we did last week."
Despite a similar, limited production from the Kansas offense like last week against Texas Tech, the
Kansas defense was the only thing keeping the team close.
Kansas was able to turn a third-quarter fumble into a 27-yard touchdown reception by Mundine that brought Kansas within striking distance, but Kansas' incredibly stagnant offense was too big of a problem to overcome.
Of Kansas' final six drives, Heaps and company were able to convert only one first down, giving Kansas virtually no chance to win the game. Although Kansas may have looked to be in striking distance from the scoreboard, Kansas' offensive production in the first three quarters would indicate the opposite.
Not only did Kansas not score on two possessions where it took over inside TCU's 40, but of the 13 possessions where Kansas took over on its own side of the field, Kansas crossed midfield only once. When Kansas took over inside of its own 30-yard line, it crossed the 30 on only three of 12 possessions.
only three of the players.
"I feel like this is all on the offense to get more points on the board." Mundine said. "And we got to figure out something."
Kansas struggled to spread the field out with the absence of Tony Pierson. The Jayhawks ran the ball early and often with Sims, who finished with 81 yards on a season-high 23 carries. Kansas had plans to revolve around wide receiver Andrew Turzilli, but he was injured after his first catch, a 50-yard bomb, early in the second
quarter.
"We had a bunch of deep balls schemed in this game, and the first ball we throw to him — Turzilli
— he takes the ball away from the defender for a 50-yard gain." Weis said. "Yeah. It was a little depressing."
What is surprising is how the Jayhawks were able to stay in the game despite a knee injury to standout linebacker Ben Heeney in the first half. Schyler Miles came on his place, to help keep the defense together and ultimately to help keep Kansas in the football game.
"Ben is Ben," Miles said. "He's going to fly around and make plays, but I don't think the drop-off is too much. I felt like I did my job." It was clear that the defense did its job as well; it kept Kansas in the game.
"Definitely with the offense struggling lately, we knew that as a defense we had to capitalize and force turnovers," Miles said. "It ended up being that we got the pick six, and got a few forced fumbles and one on special teams, so we did our job as a defense I think."
Kansas will need to form cohesive units to stand a chance against a horrific streak of Big 12 teams. Oklahoma, Texas, Baylor and Oklahoma State, in that order, are up next for the Jayhawks. Cringe.
Edited by Emma McElhaney
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
Junior quarterback Jake Heaps (9) looks for a teammate to throw the ball to during the football game against TCU on Saturday, Oct. 12.
THI