It caused a lot of problems for a Kansas University football team that had enough to worry about Saturday against No. 2 Oklahoma.
It seemed that when the Jayhawks were ready to make a defensive stand or start a drive in good field position, the turf at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium would be littered with yellow, momentum-killing flags.
It was a reminder to KU coach Mark Mangino of how important discipline is to a team with little margin for error the rest of the way.
“One person not playing smart,” Mangino said, “hurts the entire team.”
The Jayhawks were penalized 12 times for 109 yards Saturday, but the magnitude extended well beyond the length of a football field. Two illegal-block penalties negated solid punt returns by Charles Gordon, and pass-interference penalties Saturday left the window open for Oklahoma quarterback Jason White to make big plays. He did, throwing for 389 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-10 Sooner victory.
Saturday’s penalty performance dropped KU to the bottom of the Big 12 Conference in number of infractions with 74. Only Texas Tech has been penalized for more yards.
“I am on top of it,” Mangino said Monday during the Big 12 coaches teleconference. “It’s a failing on my part. I haven’t given up on it because we have four more games.”
If anything good can be taken out of yellow flags being scattered around guilty Jayhawks, it’s that KU players certainly aren’t playing timid.
But the Jayhawks have racked up 80 yards worth of penalties in six of the team’s seven games this year, including 109 in each of their last two games.
The one game they didn’t? A 49-point victory over Toledo — further boosted by only 22 yards of yellow-flag setbacks.
“I like our aggressive style,” said Mangino, who’s team travels Saturday to Iowa State. “There’s no question we’re more aggressive this year than we’ve ever been. But we still have to be smart.”
Brown forced two fumbles Saturday, recovered one and added a sack.
“He was really an outstanding player for us Saturday,” ISU coach Dan McCarney said. “He was really deserving of the honor. In a hard-fought, close game like that, his performance made a difference.”
Reid still had a good day, registering a team-high 11 tackles. But Nebraska linebacker Barrett Ruud moved to first with 11.7 tackles per game, after picking up 19 against Kansas State.
Reid is averaging 10.7 tackles per contest.