Despite a second half comeback Saturday night, the Kansas Jayhawks feel to the Colorado Buffaloes 34-30 in Boulder, Colorado. The Jayhawks found themselves down by 21 points in the 2nd quarter after the Buffaloes took advantage of a short field when Kansas quarterback, Todd Reesing, fumbles inside the 5 yard line. The Buffaloes again took advantage of a Kansas turnover when Reesing was intercepted, which set up a 1 yard touchdown run for the Buffaloes. Reesing and the Kansas offense quickly responded with a 90 yard touchdown drive to go into halftime down 24-10.
The second half started much like the first half for the Jayhawks. The Buffaloes continued to convert on 3rd down as freshman Tyler Hansen, who had his red-shirt taken off last week, found himself scrambling for first downs as he drive the Colorado offense down the field.
The Kansas defense struggled to get off the field on 3rd down throughout the game. The Buffaloes were 8 for 15 on 3rd down, which allowed them to continue drives that often led to points for the Buffs. Meanwhile, the Kansas offense only converted on 5 of 17 3rd down tries. Much of that was due to the Kansas offense being stuck in 3rd and long throughout the night. The Kansas offense struggled to pick up chunks of yards on 1st down, which often led to questionable offensive play calls on 2nd down. Sitting 2nd and 8 or longer, the offense would run slow developing plays, like a stretch option, which would quickly be sniffed out by the Colorado defense resulting in little or no gain. With so many possessions leaving the offense in 3rd and long situations, the 5 for 17 on 3rd down shouldn’t be a surprise.
On defense, the Kansas line was able to create some pressure on Hansen, but the defense failed to contain Hansen once he would get outside of the pocket. However, in the second half, the Kansas defense was able to slow Hansen down, and forced Colorado to either turn the ball over or punt during key moments of the game. The Colorado receivers didn’t help Hansen much in the second half either, as they had key drops throughout the second half.
The Kansas offense once again struggled to protect Todd Reesing throughout the night. Reesing was sacked 5 times in the game, including 3 by Colorado DE Marquez Herrod. Reesing avoided multiple other sacks on the night by escaping pressure and finding an open man.
With Oklahoma coming to Lawrence (2:30 kick-off) on Saturday, and coming off a tough defensive battle in ‘Red River Shootout’ on Saturday, the Jayhawks will have plenty to work in the days leading up to the game against the Sooners. Once in the drivers seat for a Big 12 North title, the Jayhawks now find themselves looking up at cross state rival Kansas State in the standings. After Oklahoma this Saturday, the Jayhawks will then travel to Lubbock, Texas to face Texas Tech. The Red Raiders had little trouble against Nebraska, in Lincoln, on Saturday. The Jayhawks will then travel to Manhattan to face the Wildcats before ending the regular season against Nebraska, @ Texas, and Missouri in Kansas City. After Saturday’s loss to Colorado, if the Jayhawks are hoping to capture their first Big 12 North title, the Jayhawks could find themselves needing to win all 6 of their remaining games.
