Grades from KU Jayhawks football’s loss to Iowa State and looking ahead to Texas Tech
Here are grades for all three Kansas units, a highlight from Saturday’s 59-7 loss to Iowa State and a look ahead to Texas Tech.
Play of the game
Showing progress: KU didn’t have many positives come from its loss to Iowa State, but one encouraging sign was the team’s continued improvement with run blocking.
One example of that was Torry Locklin’s 12-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Center Mike Novitsky and right guard Mike Ford’s blocks opened up the primary hole, while Locklin also made a decisive cut to take advantage of the seam.
Grades
Offense: D-. There really isn’t any excusing the two turnovers by quarterback Jason Bean. On his first-quarter fumble, he lost it on a non-contact play while also holding the ball with the wrong hand, while his second-quarter interception had all the typical warning signs of throwing late across one’s body to the middle of the field. These are the types of errors KU’s offense has done a nice job of avoiding so far this season. Nonetheless, there are some things to build on offensively. KU coach Lance Leipold liked how the offensive line blocked in the run game, and tailbacks Locklin and Devin Neal seem to improve every week when it comes to breaking tackles and moving the pile forward. KU’s 175 rushing yards were 54 more than any opponent had gotten against Iowa State this season, while the Jayhawks’ 4.6 yards per play tied for second-best among the Cyclones’ five foes.
Defense: F. Here’s a summary of Iowa State’s first nine drives with the starters in: TD, TD, TD, TD, punt, TD, FG, punt, TD. KU’s defense had to try to battle again poor field position on a few occasions, but still ... the Jayhawks, for a third straight week, provided little resistance in any facet of the game. The Cyclones put up 9.4 yards per play — the top mark by any Big 12 team in a conference game this year — while also registering more points (59) than any other contest it had in their 101-game series against the Jayhawks. KU seemed to improve its tackling for a week, but the issues here run so deep that it didn’t have any impact on the outcome.
Special teams: F. The advanced box score tells us the “biggest” play of the game happened in special teams, as KU had a 34-yard field goal blocked and returned 55 yards by Iowa State in the first quarter. The one sequence was estimated to have added 6.4 points to Iowa State’s expected total, and sure enough, the Cyclones capitalized four plays later with another touchdown. The latest letdown means through five games, KU has had a punt blocked, extra point blocked, field goal blocked and another field goal blocked that was wiped away by an opponent’s penalty. It’s simply too many breakdowns for a special teams unit this early in a season.
Next up
KU will have a bye week before playing host to Texas Tech on Saturday, Oct. 16 at Booth Memorial Stadium in Lawrence. Game time and TV info has not been announced yet.
