KU Jayhawks vs. Texas Longhorns: Five things to know entering Saturday’s game
Kansas suffered a season-high 10 penalties totaling 75 yards in Saturday’s 43-28 loss to Texas Tech at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.
That’s too many flags, especially for a team trying to win on the road, notes KU senior center Mike Novitsky.
“That could be a multitude of things: lack of focus, not focusing on the details. Maybe something where we didn’t pay attention at practice and that came up when the lights are bright,” Novitsky, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound senior from Victor, N.Y., said.
“There are a bunch of reasons we hurt ourselves. We can’t do it. It’s not acceptable,” he added.
Texas Tech (5-5, 3-4 Big 12) was flagged six times for 47 yards.
The Jayhawks’ previous high in penalties in a game had been seven vs. both Duke and Iowa State, a pair of games won by Kansas (6-4, 3-4) at home. KU was flagged for 83 yards against the Blue Devils and 56 yards versus the Cyclones. Duke countered with five penalties for 34 yards while ISU had four penalties for 40 yards.
KU had six penalties for 70 yards in a win at West Virginia, a game in which the Mountaineers had eight penalties for 65 yards.
Conversely, the Jayhawks have had no more than five penalties in any other game this season, including a season-low mark of two against Houston.
Of Saturday’s penalties, KU coach Lance Leipold said: ““There were some uncharacteristic ones that are very disappointing. We had 10. That’s higher than we want to be. A couple were just getting lined up, jumping. Some are anxious and aggressive ones, other ones a couple holding calls that are concerning this time of the year when guys are banged up and not practicing all the time as much as you want.
“We’ve got to analyze that: Are they moving well enough to be productive, especially at key moments? That’s something that comes back to me. I’ve got to do a better job.”
Kansas will have the chance to fix those details on Saturday.
THE DETAILS
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m., Saturday
Where: David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, Lawrence.
TV: FS1
Radio: WHB (810) in Kansas City; KFH (1240 AM, 97.5 FM) in Wichita
Early betting line: Texas is favored by 8 1/2 points.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
1. Texas (6-4, 4-3 Big 12) was picked to finish fourth (out of 10) in the Big 12 Conference preseason media poll.
Baylor, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State placed ahead of Texas. The Longhorns in league play have lost to Texas Tech (37-34, OT), Oklahoma State (41-34) and TCU (17-10) while defeating West Virginia (38-20), Oklahoma (49-0), Iowa State (24-21) and Kansas State (34-27)
2. Texas leads the all-time series against KU, 16-4.
The Jayhawks won last year’s game in Austin, 57-56. Prior to that, UT had won 16 of the past 17 against KU. Carter Stanley quarterbacked KU to a win over the Longhorns in 2016.
3. Texas has a second-year coach in Steve Sarkisian.
Sarkisian, 48, led the Longhorns to a 5-7 record in 2021 to go with this year’s 6-4 mark. The Longhorns are 7-9 in league games under Sarkisian. He came to Texas after a stint at Alabama as offensive coordinator.
In terms of previous head-coaching experience, Sarkisian went 12-6 in two seasons at USC (2014-15). He was 34-29 in five seasons at Washington (2009-13).
4. Kansas continues to pile up the yards on offense.
The Jayhawks’ 525 total yards at Texas Tech marked the fifth time this season KU has posted 500-plus yards of total offense (554 vs. Oklahoma State, 540 vs. TCU, 528 vs. Duke, 502 vs. Tennessee Tech). Saturday’s total was most yards in a road game for Kansas since Sept. 25, 2021, at Duke (530 yards) and the most in a conference game on the road since Oct. 19, 2019, at Texas (569 yards).
5. KU has had some big plays in the passing game this season.
The Jayhawks have completed several passes of 60-plus yards, including to Daniel Hishaw (73 yards vs. Duke) and Torry Locklin (60 vs. Houston), as well as two on Saturday. Jared Casey had a 66-yard touchdown reception and Lawrence Arnold had a 63-yard catch and run — with both passes coming from Jason Bean.
