Inside the 20-yard line, Kansas University has the best offense in the Big 12 Conference.
The hard part is getting there.
KU’s football team has scored 17 of the 19 times it has reached its opponents’ red zone for a league-best 89.5 percent. The Jayhawks, however, rank 10th in the conference in scoring with an average of 25.2 points per game.
“What that tells me is that if we can string drives together, get first downs and develop that consistency, that when we get in the red zone, we can score,” KU coach Mark Mangino said. “We just have to do a better job of working drives together and linking first-and-10s together.”
Part of the problem might be inexperience. KU (2-3 overall, 0-1 Big 12) has four new starters on its offensive line, a freshman tailback and a junior college transfer at quarterback.
“I looked at film last night and studied it, and I just felt that as our kids move toward the goal line, they become more and more confident,” said Mangino, whose team plays Baylor (2-2, 0-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday in Waco, Texas. “Once they get in that area, they feel like they can score. We need to take that type of mentality when we start the drive out on our own 25. Good football teams have that mentality on offense that the goal line looks the same distance to them from their own 20 as it does when they’re inside the opponent’s 20.
“That is something we work on and talk to our kids about every day. To keep that mentality that you are confident, that you can move that ball down the field, get first-and-10s, move the sticks, keep the clock moving and get the ball in the end zone.”
Running the clock hasn’t guaranteed success for Kansas, which ranks fifth in the conference in time of possession. On Sept. 7 at Las Vegas, KU had the ball for 31:36, while UNLV possessed the ball for 28:24. The Runnin’ Rebels still won, 31-20. Two weeks later at Memorial Stadium, Bowling Green had the ball for just 40 more seconds than Kansas, but the Falcons hammered the Jayhawks, 39-16.
“Once again, because we’re not consistent before we get into the red zone, we are not getting enough points out of the time of possession that we have,” Mangino said. “Those are two big stats that, rest assured, that we are making progress. We’re capable of moving the ball and doing good things. We just have to be consistent.”
Kansas showed the ability to sustain drives Saturday in a 43-33 victory at Tulsa. In the second quarter, KU mounted scoring drives of 10, 8, 6 and 8 plays for a total of 214 yards and 28 points while rallying from an early 13-0 deficit. The Jayhawks also put together an 11-play, 80-yard drive in the third quarter.
KU had one huge play quarterback Bill Whittemore’s 74-yard TD run on another third-quarter possession. He finished with 395 yards in total offense.
“He’s continued to improve,” Baylor coach Kevin Steele said. “You can see he has good command of the game.”
Just in case: KU practiced in the rain Wednesday at Memorial Stadium.
“We practiced out here today because if the weather is inclement down in Waco, we’ll be prepared,” Mangino said. “If the weather is like this tomorrow, we’ll still practice outside. We won’t go indoors. We want to be prepared if we do run into this kind of weather.”
Mangino’s concern stemmed from Hurricane Lili moving toward the Gulf Coast with 140 mph winds on Wednesday. Lili was expected to come ashore today in Louisiana.
The Weather Channel, however, was not predicting rain for Waco during the next three days. The forecast for Saturday is 87 degrees with a 20 percent chance for precipitation.
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