KU football blown out at TCU ... but one player’s absence likely to be a bigger story
Kansas football lost big to TCU. That probably will not be the biggest news of the day, though.
Sure, KU’s 51-14 defeat Saturday was ugly, as the Jayhawks were never competitive on a hot afternoon at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
Big picture, though, KU went without one of its best players — while also perhaps losing him in an unprecedented fashion.
Senior running back Khalil Herbert, who was one of the team’s four representatives at Big 12 media days and considered a team leader, did not play because of “personal reasons,” according to the program.
Even before KU coach Les Miles could address the situation postgame, message board rumors had begun swirling that Herbert had sat out while planning to redshirt this season. Hypothetically, if he did that, he’d likely be eligible for a graduate transfer, meaning he could play at a different school next year.
Miles was asked afterward if Herbert missing this game for personal reasons could result in a redshirt year then a transfer.
“I don’t want to spend time here on anybody other than who played in the game,” Miles said. “I will say this ... this is the (after) the fourth day, the fourth game, that someone would be allowed to not play in and still redshirt. (That scenario) makes sense to me.”
If this turns out to be Herbert’s path, it would be a tough blow for a program trying to work its way back to respectability.
Herbert entered the game as the Big 12’s second-leading rusher (384 yards) while also boasting an 8.9-yard-per-carry average. If last week was his final game, he’ll end his KU career 16th on the team’s all-time list with 1,735 rushing yards.
Another absence Saturday also proved costly for KU.
The Jayhawks had to go without leading tackler Dru Prox, who left last week’s game against West Virginia because of an apparent shoulder injury.
KU’s lack of depth at linebacker was exposed quickly by TCU.
The Horned Frogs scored touchdowns the first five times they touched the ball, racking up 351 first-half yards while taking a 38-0 lead into the break.
Perhaps the craziest stat was this: TCU was 10-for-10 on third-down conversions before halftime, while KU was 0-for-6.
KU had other lowlights as well. The Jayhawks — two weeks after executing run-pass option plays to near perfection in a blowout road win over Boston College — went back to its old I-formation, run-predictable ways, getting stuffed time and again while putting up 49 first-half yards.
Special teams wasn’t good either. On the last play of the first quarter, KU had some miscommunication before having to rush an 11th player on the field during a punt. The late-arriving player appeared to get out of his lane too, which opened up a hole for TCU’s Jalen Reagor to return it 73 yards for a TD ... all after he muffed the initial catch.
If nothing else, this wasn’t as bad as KU football’s last trip to Fort Worth. That loss — 43-0 in 2017 — included KU only mustering 21 yards of offense, which remains the worst mark by an FBS team since at least 2000.
In his first try as KU’s coach against TCU, Miles failed to make it close, though. Seven of the Jayhawks’ first eight non-end-of-half drives were four plays or fewer, as TCU easily bounced back from a disappointing loss to SMU the previous week.
It was no doubt a one-week step back for KU, which fell to 2-3 and 0-2 in the Big 12. The Jayhawks had showed progress the previous week in a competitive 29-24 home loss to West Virginia — so much so that fans at Booth Memorial Stadium gave players a standing ovation as they left the field.
KU will have to rebound quickly. The Jayhawks host the sixth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners this week, with the 11 a.m. kick coming a few hours after the completion of the basketball team’s annual Late Night in the Phog at Allen Fieldhouse.
This story was originally published September 28, 2019 at 2:27 PM.
