KU Jayhawks football vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders: Kickoff time, TV, 5 things to know

Two offenses will be the story lines — for different reasons — as Kansas football travels to face Texas Tech on Saturday.

The Red Raiders offense is simply ... good. It ranks top seven nationally in both pass yards and yards per game, specializing in an up-tempo attack employed by coach Kliff Kingsbury.

KU, meanwhile, will have the focus placed on its offense because of recent changes.

Coach David Beaty — for the second time in his tenure — will be the Jayhawks’ play-caller after firing offensive coordinator Doug Meacham last week. KU is last in the Big 12 in yards per play and also has struggled in underlying statistics, ranking 125th out of 130 FBS teams in down-to-down efficiency, according to advanced stats compiled by SB Nation’s Bill Connelly.

For Beaty, who is 2-4 this year and 5-37 overall at KU, this appears to be a last-gasp effort. If the Jayhawks don’t fix their biggest weakness — offense — over the next six weeks, they likely won’t win another game.

And if the future plays out like that, athletic director Jeff Long is likely to be looking for a new football coach in 2019.

The details

Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Jones AT&T Stadium, Lubbock, Texas

TV: FS1

Radio: WHB (810 AM) in Kansas City, KFH (1240 AM) in Wichita

The line: Texas Tech by 20 1/2

Five things to know

1. Next one up: Freshman Alan Bowman is the latest Texas Tech quarterback to put up crazy numbers. His 336 passing yards per game ranks second nationally, while his 69 percent completion percentage is 11th among qualified quarterbacks. Bowman, though, missed last week’s game because of a collapsed lung, and Kingsbury said Monday that didn’t know yet if the QB would be available for Saturday’s game.
2. Still tops: Even after sitting out a bye week, KU maintained its national lead in turnover margin at plus-13. The Jayhawks also are tied with Florida for the top spot in takeaways with 18.
3. Running it up: Texas Tech has averaged 60 points in its last two games against KU. That included a 65-19 Red Raiders victory in Lawrence last season that, coincidentally, also came after KU’s bye week.
4. Getting some respect: KU linebacker Joe Dineen, who is tied atop the NCAA leaderboard with 53 solo tackles, is starting to gain some national attention. Earlier this month, he was listed as the highest-graded linebacker in the nation by Pro Football Focus, while Fox Sports’ Ben Leber also ranked him as the NCAA’s fifth-best defensive player in a video posted last week.
5. Familiar foes: Kingsbury and Beaty know each other well after coaching together at Texas A&M in 2012. Kingsbury was the offensive coordinator then, while Beaty was the receivers coach.

Jesse Newell

Jesse Newell covers University of Kansas athletics for The Star.

This story was originally published October 15, 2018 at 5:21 PM.