Kansas gets stampeded by Texas in 59-20 loss

The night began with a gift. At just before 6:40 p.m., Kansas coach David Beaty stood in the northwest corner of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium and clutched a black cowboy hat in his fingers. The hat — along with a pair of spurs — was courtesy of two University of Texas’ service organizations, a long-held ritual to welcome head coaches to the heart of Longhorn country for the first time.

Beaty held the gifts and thanked the Texas students, and twenty minutes after the pregame hospitality, the real baptism began — a painful, frustrating and, by now, altogether routine defeat playing out in front of Beaty and his staff. On a cool Saturday night here in Austin, Kansas’ season of nightmares continued in a 59-20 loss to a mediocre Longhorns team. The Jayhawks dropped to 0-9 entering next week’s game at TCU. As Kansas’ 37th straight loss away from Lawrence came and went, the specter of a winless season hung in the distance, three more games away.

This one felt like so many others, another road loss in a sea of them, more gallows humor during the long slog of a rebuilding project. Earlier this week, Beaty referenced the Royals’ World Series championship, saying he drew hope from the Royals’ path. If so, this was Kansas City Royals, vintage 2006.

“We got to make the most out of our opportunities,” running back Ke’aun Kinner said. “We had a couple that we missed.”

The Jayhawks put the ball on the ground five times. They muffed a punt. Freshman quarterback Ryan Willis threw a costly interception in the first half. They left at least 10 points on the board in the final minutes before halftime, fumbling at the goal line on a fourth and short, and then missing a 26-yard field goal on the final play of the half. The missed field goal came after some suspect clock management — a decision that Beaty said was influenced by a hurting quarterback. On the final drive before halftime, the Jayhawks trailed 24-14. Facing third down at the Texas 8-yard line, and possession one time out, Beaty allowed the clock to run down to three seconds before calling timeout. In the process, the Jayhawks wasted at least one chance to take a shot at the end zone, and they came away scoreless.

“We’ve got to be able to convert that field goal right there,” Beaty said. “That’s the second time that’s happened to us in a game. It was a big-time momentum-changer in that game.”

The decision to go conservative, Beaty said, came after Willis was sacked on second down. He came up grimacing, and Beaty would later learn that his quarterback had suffered injuries to both groins.

“At that point, he could barely push off those legs,” Beaty said. “I wasn’t sure if he was going to put us in a bad position there or not.”

The mistakes changed the tenor of the loss, but perhaps they would not have changed the results. By early in the fourth quarter, Texas led 45-14 after a 40-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Tyrone Swoopes to receiver Armanti Foreman. Texas, 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the Big 12, gave its beleaguered fan base a reason to exhale. The Longhorns piled up 598 yards in just 70 plays. The dismantling, which began nearly three hours earlier, was nearly complete.

The Jayhawks were playing without senior receiver Tre' Parmalee and freshman receiver Steven Sims, two starters suspended for failing to meet a team "standard," Beaty announced before the game. The Longhorns did not waste time taking control.

On Texas’ opening play from scrimmage, Longhorns quarterback Jerrod Heard flicked a deep ball to receiver John Burt, who hauled in the pass in stride and sprinted for an 84-yard touchdown play. In one moment, Heard surpassed his passing yardage in last week’s 24-0 loss at Iowa State and the Longhorns had recorded the longest offensive play of the Charlie Strong era.

(That mark would last just another two quarters, falling when Texas running back D’Onta Foreman raced 93 yards for another touchdown.)

But back to Heard. In his five previous games, Heard had proven to be a shaky passer. He had totaled just 325 passing yards during the span, and the Longhorns offense suffered. On Saturday, he passed for 131 yards in the opening quarter — and finished with 231 yards on the night — as the Longhorns jetted to a 17-0 lead.

The Jayhawks would settle down, and Willis would settle in, leading the Jayhawks on a nine-play, 87-yard touchdown drive that sliced the Texas lead to 17-7. Willis, who was sacked six times, would finish 17-of-34 passing for 214 yards.

At times, Willis can look like an intriguing talent, zipping passes down field and picking apart up opposing defenses. At times, he can look like a freshman, throwing two interceptions on the road while under heavy fire from the opponent’s pass rush.

“That young man is tough,” KU receiver Shakiem Barbel said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for him. He took a couple of shots in the first half … and he was on the sideline practically begging coach to stay in.”

The Jayhawks still had that chance to claw within one score at halftime. One drive before the missed field goal, Willis had moved the offense inside the Texas 5-yard line. On a crucial fourth-down play with more than six minutes left in the half, Beaty elected to go for it. The Jayhawks ran left, and running back De’Andre Mann was met at the goal line. As he pushed forward, the ball squirted out. The Jayhawks recovered the fumble, but by rule, an offensive team cannot recover a forward fumble on fourth down. It was Texas ball.

The Kansas defense held again, and the offense threatened again. But with 30 seconds left, Willis was sacked at the 8-yard line. On the sideline, Beaty mulled the situation, and he elected to to take the points, letting the clock run down to three seconds.

Moments later, the ball ricocheted off the right upright, an image that best symbolized Saturday night in Austin. It did not matter what decision the Jayhawks made. The ball seemed destined to hit the upright.

“You’re (right) there,” Beaty said. “And you go back and you look at some opportunities that you had that might change that thing a little bit. And you just wonder: ‘What if?’ ”

TEXAS 59, KANSAS 20

First quarter

TEX: Burt 84 pass from Heard (Rose kick), 12:06.

TEX: FG Rose 29, 8:56.

TEX: Swoopes 4 run (Rose kick), 6:51.

KAN: Barbel recovered fumble in end zone (Bartolotta kick), :21.

Second quarter

TEX: Swoopes 1 run (Rose kick), 11:58.

KU: Mann 1 run (Bartolotta kick), 8:49.

Third quarter

TEX: D.Foreman 93 run (Rose kick), 10:01.

TEX: D.Foreman 9 run (Rose kick), 5:34.

Fourth quarter

TEX: A.Foreman 40 pass from Swoopes (Rose kick), 14:54.

TEX: Swoopes 44 run (Rose kick), 13:25.

TEX: Swoopes 10 run (Rose kick), 8:49.

KU: Crawley 19 pass from Perry (run failed), 1:07.

Attendance: 92,529.

RUSHING: Kansas, Kinner 13-67, Schadler 6-56, Mann 8-32, Cox 8-29, Perry 1-7, Willis 12-1. Texas, D.Foreman 12-157, Swoopes 4-59, Heard 9-38, J.Gray 7-22, K.Johnson 5-12, Holtz 2-10, G.Davis 1-1.

PASSING: Kansas, Willis 17-34-2-214, Perry 2-6-1-20, Team 0-1-0-0. Texas, Heard 13-23-0-201, Swoopes 6-7-0-98.

RECEIVING: Kansas, Crawley 3-63, Taylor 3-28, Barbel 3-19, Kinner 2-40, Patrick 2-23, Booker 2-6, Johnson 1-16, Cox 1-14, Mann 1-14, Moses 1-11. Texas, Burt 4-113, Warrick 4-42, Newsome 3-21, D.Johnson 3-6, A.Foreman 1-40, Joe 1-37, M.Johnson 1-20, Beck 1-15, Bluiett 1-5.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 9:08 PM with the headline "Kansas gets stampeded by Texas in 59-20 loss."