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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2017
PAGE 11
OKLAHOMA 52
ANSAN
Okla.
E/KANSAN
turday's
num in
LEE/KANSAN
by McDougall
Saturday's
at the Gaylord
A Stadium in
rayhawks lost
H LEE/KANSAN
back Tony
tuesday's game
the Sooners.
REWIND
Quarterback strategy fails in 52-7 loss
BLAKE SCHUSTER
bschuster@kansan.com
First it was Michael Cummings, Then it was Dayne Crist, then Cummings, Crist, and Cummings again, but none of it mattered.
The Sooners stopped every quarterback the Jayhawks threw at them. Oklahoma played like the ninth best team in the nation should, defeating Kansas 52-7.
How bad was it? The Jayhawks had about one punt for every two completed passes.
"We came out early and went nine plays on the first drive and six plays on the second drive," coach Charlie Weis said. "It wasn't like we weren't moving the ball at all, but to get some chunks you have to be willing to open it up some, you can't just bunch it up the whole time."
Weis said that he divided his two quarterbacks into different packages. Cummings was used in tighter bunches because there was potential for a quarterback run,
something he didn't want Dayne
Crist doing.
After keeping both Kansas fans and Oklahoma from knowing who would take the first snap for the Jayhawks, Weis traced out Cummings for his career start.
If Cummings and the Jayhawks would have continued to move the ball as well as they did early in the first quarter, there might have been something to build off of.
But inexperience hurt Cummings, who completed 10 of 21 passes for 111 yards and rushed 21 yards. The mobile quarterback tried to dance around in the pocket long enough for a play to develop. This strategy led to two interceptions and two sacks.
"It's a learning experience trying to make plays when the best play to be made is throwing the ball away." Cummings said.
Crist didn't fare any better. The senior completed three of six passes for 13 yards, lost 16 yards on the ground and coughed up a fumble in the red zone that the Sooners
turned into 45-yard return and touchdown.
When junior wide receiver Josh Ford recovered a fumbled punt at the Oklahoma 11-yard line in the first quarter, it seemed the Jayhawks would have a chance to get on the board.
Crist took over the red zone offense, and had freshman wide receiver Tre' Parmalee wide open on a flat route on the first play. But Crist threw the ball behind Parmalee, and the receiver dove to catch it for no gain.
Weis switched back to Cummings; he hoped Cummings would find an open Kale Pick in the end zone, but that pass went incomplete. Crist came back in and gave up the fumble that turned into 45 yards for the Sooners.
It could have been 10-7. Instead, the lahawks were down 17-0.
"We had a guy open on the play, we don't connect and I think that's a walk in touchdown," Weis said. "I wasn't looking to play musical quartersback. It was just that three
play sequence fit the guys who had practiced those plays from that position on the field."
Kansas would get only two more looks at the Oklahoma red zone. The first resulted in a 30-yard missed field goal, the second turned into something better.
The Jayhawks chewed up most of the fourth quarter on a 19-play, 80-yard touchdown drive commanded by Cummings and led by running back James Sims.
Running jumps Sims rushed for 37 yards, including a one-yard touchdown run to break the shutout with just three minutes left in the game.
nut with the game out of reach at halftime, the last two quarters were about Weis preparing Cummings for his future snaps.
"When the score is 38-0, you might as well get Michael in there and see what we've got," Weis said.
Edited by Nikki Wentling
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
(Top) Sophomore safety Victor Simmons barely falls short of tackling an Oklahoma offender Saturday night at Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium. The Jayhawks fell short of stopping Oklahoma throughout the game, leading to the 52-7 loss against the Sonkers.
(Above) Junior halfback James Sims gets ready to block his opponent's tackle during Saturday's game against Oklahoma at the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., where the Jayhawks lost 52-7.
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
(Right) Defensive line coach Buddy Wyatt talks to senior safety Bradley McDougald as he makes his way back to the bench during Saturday's game against Oklahoma at the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla.
SPECIAL TEAMS
OFFENSE
Don't be deceived by the 309-yards Kansas put up on Oklahoma. Almost 100 of them came in the fourth quarter, long after the game had been decided. It is a plus that the Jayhawks were able to move the ball late in the game, but their inability to sustain pressure and take advantage of red zone opportunities killed them. Meanwhile, Kansas is still looking for a quarterback to consistently complete more than 50 percent of his passes.
Grade: C
The Jayhawks special teams are asking for a failing grade. Kansas muffed the opening kickoff — although those damn rifles firing behind the Jayhawks' kick returners didn't help — and the special teams spiraled out of control from there. Oklahoma returned both a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown while the Jayhawks missed their only field goal attempt — a 30-yarder from Nick Prolago.
DEFENSE
COACHING
What a difference a week makes. The Jayhawks were able to hold the highest scoring offense in the nation to 20 points last week against Oklahoma State and gave up nearly double that amount in the first half against the Sooners. Oklahoma rarely took longer than three minutes to score -- it was able to score 52 points with just under 20 minutes of possession -- giving Kansas fans flashbacks of the Turner Gill era.
Grade: D
Grade: D-
In theory, using two packages built around both a pocket-passing Dayne Crist and a dual-threat Michael Cummings seemed to have many benefits, but the flaws of that plan emerged when Kansas switched quarterbacks three times in one red zone apperance. Weis didn't want to play musical quarterbacks at that point in the game, but didn't have too many options.
Grade: C+
SCHEDULE
*All games in bold are at home
DATE OPPONENT RESULT/TIME
SEPT. 1 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE W. 31-17
SEPT. 8 RICE L, 25-24
SEPT. 15 TCU L, 20-6
SEPT. 22 NORTHERN ILLINOIS L, 30-23
OCT. 6 KANSAS STATE L, 56-16
OCT. 13 OKLAHOMA STATE L, 20-14
OCT. 20 OKLAHOMA L, 52-7
OCT. 27 TEXAS TBA
NOV. 3 BAYLOR TBA
NOV. 10 TEXAS TECH TBA
NOV. 17 IOWA STATE TBA
DEC. 1 WEST VIRGINIA TBA
QUOTE OF THE GAME
"I thought it was awesome. I thought it was fun. It was good to see him not fumble it. He ran it pretty well, so that was pretty exciting."
—Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy on Kansas' run defense
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