KU football puts up best fight of season, but falls just short against Texas Tech
Kansas football had a chance to pick up its first win of the year — tying the score in the fourth quarter — but couldn’t produce offense in crunch time of a 16-13 loss at Texas Tech on Saturday afternoon in Lubbock.
In all honesty, Texas Tech was somewhat lucky to get the game-winning points.
With the score tied at 13-13, Jonathan Garibay’s 36-yard field-goal attempt was blocked by KU’s Caleb Sampson ... but the ricochet continued toward the goal posts, spinning just inside the right upright to give the Red Raiders a three-point lead.
The Jayhawks went four-and-out on their next possession, with a fourth-and-1 run from Daniel Hishaw stuffed for a loss. After a missed Texas Tech field goal, KU had one more chance with 1 minute, 58 seconds remaining, but again went four-and-out, with a fourth-and-4 pass just out of the reach of Takulve Williams for an incompletion.
“Those plays, we were just a little errant in throw or just did not execute like we thought we could,” KU coach Les Miles said.
KU was competitive for one main reason: defense.
The Jayhawks, who entered allowing an FCS-worst 49.8 points per game, received standout performances from a pair of true freshmen in cornerback Karon Prunty and defensive lineman Marcus Harris. Prunty should battle for Big 12 defensive player of the week honors after picking off a pass and forcing a fumble, while Harris racked up tackles and had a forced fumble of his own.
Texas Tech turned it over four times in all, coughing it up frequently against a KU defense that had only six takeaways in eight games coming in.
“I thought they played hard from start to finish,” Miles said of his defenders. “I thought that they hustled. We need to tackle a little more crisply, but other than that, I’m really proud of their efforts.”
This marked the first time — according to the site OddsShark — that KU football had covered the sports betting line all season. KU, which was a 26-point underdog, was 0-7-1 against the spread before Saturday, with its only push coming against West Virginia when Pooka Williams had a 92-yard kickoff return for touchdown in the final two minutes.
The Jayhawks were competitive despite being short-handed. The team’s “did not dress” list contained 35 players, which included receiver standouts like Andrew Parchment and Stephon Robinson and previous offensive line starters like Chris Hughes and Garrett Jones.
KU football announced before the game that defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot did not make the trip with the team “due to COVID protocols.” Jordan Peterson — the team’s safeties coach — was the active defensive coordinator against Texas Tech.
“I thought Jordan Peterson did a really nice job putting the game-plan in a spot where the great majority of the defense could understand it and handle it and do well, and with a new caller, which is very difficult to do,” Miles said. “I thought that aspect went really well, and I liked how the kids responded too.”
Texas Tech coach Matt Wells also missed the game after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier in the week, with defensive coordinator Keith Patterson taking over his duties.
KU, 0-9 and 0-8 in the Big 12, will end its season with a 2:30 p.m. home game Dec. 12 against Texas.
This story was originally published December 5, 2020 at 2:39 PM.
