KANSAN
E 25,
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 11
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012
tball
(2-0) @ TEXAS
E (1-1)
KANSAS 24
- Texas State 10
couldn't find art or quarterback Seth five touchdown enough to give Texas as Tech's 405 yards in three different helped them domi-ir second game.
litited by Laken Rapier
REWIND
TARA RRYANT/KANSAN
Senior quarterback Dayne Crist listens to a referee before taking the field against Rice on Saturday at Memorial Stadium: The Jayhawks lost 24-25
Last-second kick gives Rice victory
ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
A football game can end one of three ways: a team scores winning points as time expires, the clock runs out on a team's comeback bid or the team with the lead moves the chains enough to run out the clock.
On Saturday, the Kansas football team could've clinched its second win of the season by keeping its drive alive in the last minutes of the game, moving the chains and keeping the clock ticking.
Instead, Kansas snatched defeat from the proverbial jaws of victory and lost 25-24 when Rice made a field goal as time expired.
"I feel like we really let one slip out of our hands a game that, we had opportunities to finish, multiple opportunities to finish. I won't point fingers at anybody because we can all take blame because we all had opportunities to finish it," said senior linebacker Toben Opurum.
Ten yards separated the jayhaws from keeping possession of the ball as they took over on first and 10 with 4:47 left on the clock. Up until the fourth quarter, the running back duo of sophomores Tony Pierson and Taylor Cox
But in their final two possessions of the fourth quarter, Kansas put itself in third and long situations and failed to get a first down on either drive.
looked unstoppable, with each player averaging more than five yards per carry.
"Football's a game of momentum," said senior wide receiver Daymond Patterson. "Once you hit that lull in the game, you've got to find somebody to help you. Somebody on the offense or the defense has to make a big play, and we didn't have that. In the fourth quarter we just didn't have that big play to get everyone going again."
"I think that the number one thing we need to is to do a better job of making sure we get it to third and two-to-five because usually you have much better production when you get it to
But the Rice defense shifted and broke through the Kansas wall, stopping Cox in the backfield for a loss.
On the final drive, it looked like the lajhaways had put themselves into a good position after Cox ran for four yards on first down. On second down, Kansas tried to run the ball again, behind the veteran left side of their offensive line. They even overloaded that side by adding two tight ends to act as extra blockers.
With enough time left on the clock for Rice to make a drive, Weis called a play to give the Jayhawks a first down and a chance to potentially seal the game.
He put the ball in the hands of his much- hyped captain, senior quarterback Dayne Crist.
that point," coach Charlie Weis said.
Despite solid protection for Crist giving him ample time to find a receiver, he couldn't make the throw he wanted. Instead, he underthrew junior receiver Chris Omigie, and Rice defender Brvice Calahan was there to pick it off.
"You can't be afraid to lose," Crist said. "You've got to go out there and make plays to win. I was confident in the throw, I thought that it gave us a chance to win and extend the game and hopefully run out the clock."
Crist's struggles from the season opener carried over against Rice. He completed just three passes in the fourth quarter when the team needed him to step up and make a play to keep the drive alive.
—Edited by Joanna Hlavacek
"We didn't give ourselves a chance to win on offense," Crist said. "That's all I can speak for and we did not make enough plays."
OFFENSE
To give one grade out to the offense would be unfair to some, yet too nice to others. While running backs Tony Pierson and Taylor Cox once again carried the Jayhawk offense, the fact is the unit as a whole couldn't get it done with the game on the line.
Grade: C-
DEFENSE
Grade: C
The defense came through with many big plays throughout the game, which made up for allowing Rice to easily march down the field at others. At the end of the day, their issues tackling allowed Rice to get second chances on multiple key plays of their final two drives
SPECIAL TEAMS
Grade: D+
While the special teams were fantastic against South Dakota State, their play this week was not on the same level. Senior receiver D.J. Behess lost a fumble on a kick return early in the game and Daymond Patterson couldn't find any room returning punts. Add in Ron Doherty's two missed field goals and it was a pretty lazy day for the special teams unit.
COACHING
Grade: C-
Defensive coordinator Dave Campo has improved the defense and done a good job masking their weaknesses. They weren't perfect, but it's an improvement over last season. Still, the Jayhawks did not show the decisive tactical advantage Weis talked about when he took over the team last winter. Adjustments need to be made.
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 11 A.M.
SEPT. 22 NORTHERN ILLINOIS TBA
OCT. 6 KANSAS STATE TBA
OCT. 13 OKLAHOMA STATE TBA
OCT. 20 OKLAHOMA TBA
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
"These players have to know, and everyone needs to know, that losing is not okay. It's not okay to lose a close one. It's not okay. We're supposed to win games, not play close games."
- Charlie Weis
Weis
FINAL THOUGHT
While the Kansas mistakes against South Dakota State looked correctable, they failed to fix those problems against Rice.