TY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2011
OKLAHOMA 47
PAGE 5B
REWIND
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NICK SMITH/KANSAN
NICK SMITH/KANSAN Sophomore quarterback Jordan Webb escapes the clutches of a Sooner defender at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Special Teams
The Jayhawks did not look like the team leading the Big 12 in net punting on Sunday. Punter Ron Doherty had some of his shorter punts on the year but did have a game long of 57 and placed four punts within the opponents 20.
Coaching
Grade: C+
The Jayhawks coaching staff made strides on the defensive side of the ball but for the fourth consecutive game, the opponent's defense made better half-time adjustments which stymied the Kansas offense. Grade: C
Game Ball
Johnson
Senior linebacker Steven Johnson: Johnson led the Jayhawks with 13 tackles, had one tackle for a loss and also made the first interception of the year.
Delay of Game
Sophomore running back James Sims: If you take out Sims' 56-yard first quarter touchdown run, Sims ran the ball 10 times for 19 yards. The Jayhawks' running game is the cornerstone to their offense, when they don't get it going, their offense struggles like it did on Saturday.
Sims
Glass Half Full
The Jayhawks now have arguably their two toughest opponents off their schedule, after getting Oklahoma State and Oklahoma out of the way. If the Jayhawks continue to improve, they might be able to get their first win in the Big 12 conference this season.
The Jayhawks face in-state rival Kansas State next week. The Wildcats have been the surprise of the Big 12 this year, starting out the season 6-0 and ranked in the top 20. Both teams will be excited as the Wildcats try to stay unbeaten.
Still Questioning
Can the Jayhawks put together a full game in conference play? Every week one side of the ball is clicking and playing well enough to keep the Jayhawks in the game, the other side fails to do their share. If the Jayhawks want to win a game in conference this year, both sides will have to play well together for a full game.
Biggest Answer
Running back Darrian Miller struggled like the rest of the offense in the second half, but with he ran hard enough in the first half to prove he is the most talented running back on the roster.
Defense progresses but not quite enough
epadway@kansan.com
ETHAN PADWAY
The scoreboard didn't show it, and the box score doesn't show it, but the Kansas football team's defense played the best it has all season and kept the Jayhawks in the game.
For the first time since their season opener, the defense didn't wilt every time its opponents got hands on the football. The defense kept it a two-possession ball game until well into the fourth quarter.
Defensive coordinator Vic
Defensive Shealy said the team worked on making its defensive plays less predictable.
"That was a big emphasis on Thursday and even in our walk through yesterday where we
"A loss is a loss and we're trying to win football games. I'm not in it to pat our guys on the back as far as a moral win."
could really do some things where we wouldn't show our hand quite as much," Shealy said.
Instead of coaches using their hands to signal the defensive calls, the coaches held up boards from the sideline that had pictures of rappers, cartoons, and actors, each of which corresponded to different defensive play calls.
After being embarrassed by Oklahoma State's fast-paced offense a week ago, the Kansas coaching staff changed how they relayed their signals to the defense.
TURNER GILL coach
"It's just concepts," junior safety Bradley McDougald said. "Once we see the sign, we just read and react."
The Jayhawks defense came out with a fire not seen this year. Defenders flew around to the line of scrimmage trying to make plays.
Sooner junior quarterback Landry Jones struggled with his reads, and even though the secondary's
youth was evident at times, players had tight coverage in breaking up pass attempts that earlier in the season went for touchdowns.
"We were just focused and wanting to win the ball game, didn't really care who it was, and it just so happened to be primetime so that's pretty cool that the whole nation could see," senior linebacker Steven Johnson said.
A big part of the improvement
Part of that can be attributed to trying to prove themselves against a top-ranked team under the lights on national television.
came in the jay-
hawks red-zone
defense. Kansas
held the nation's
ninth-ranked
scoring offense
to just 30 points
through the first
three quarters, including a stretch from the middle
All year the Jayhawk players have talked about their need to create more turnovers. Against Oklahoma the Jayhawks forced two fumbles and Johnson recorded the first interception of his career.
of the second quarter to the beginning of the fourth where it allowed the Sooners to enter the red zone four times, yet they emerged with only three field goals.
Although the Jayhawks showed signs of progress, the team still allowed 610 yards of offense in their 47-17 loss to Oklahoma.
"A loss is a loss and we're trying to win football games," coach Turner Gill said. "I'm not in it to pat our guys on the back as far as a moral win. We made some progress—that's what I told them, that they made progress today—and that is what we are always going to try to do, improve."
Edited by Laura Nightengale