Kansas University coach Mark Mangino said his football team needed to mature after letting a fourth-quarter lead slip away Saturday during a 20-17 loss at Northwestern.
“We have to be strong enough to go out and shut a team down at the end of a game and earn a victory,” said Mangino, whose team led, 17-13, with 6:45 to play before allowing Northwestern to execute a four-play, 81-yard drive in 80 seconds. “This loss, we’ll learn from it. You have to play four quarters until the final gun. That’s something our team must understand and learn.”
The Jayhawks (2-1) must understand that no lead will be safe against Texas Tech (2-1) during Saturday’s Big 12 Conference opener at Memorial Stadium.
The Red Raiders overcame a 21-0 deficit Saturday and defeated Texas Christian, 70-35.
“We really stunk for the first third of the game,” said Tech coach Mike Leach, whose team was coming off a 27-24 loss at New Mexico. “We’ve been doing good things the last couple of weeks, but we hit dry spells and go cold for about three plays, and it costs us a drive.”
Tech’s first seven drives against TCU resulted in three punts, two failed fourth-down conversions and two turnovers by quarterback Sonny Cumbie. The Red Raiders then scored touchdowns on 10 of their next 12 possessions, including a streak of 56 unanswered points. Tech finished with 586 total yards, including 471 passing, and its 70-point total was the team’s highest since 1950.
“They were very impressive this past week against TCU,” Mangino said Monday during the Big 12 coaches teleconference. “They have a very efficient offense. They move the ball very well. We have to prepare well.”
KU’s defense ranks second in the Big 12, allowing an average of 12.3 points per game. The Jayhawks, however, haven’t faced anything like Tech’s wide-open passing offense.
The Red Raiders lead the Big 12 in passing offense with an average of 463.3 yards per game. Cumbie, a former walk-on, leads the nation in passing (453.3 yards per game) and total offense (446.3). He leads the league in touchdown passes with nine, two ahead of KU sophomore Adam Barmann.
“They run a lot of things that a lot of people do, it’s just that they believe in a philosophy of attacking the entire field and spreading out their formations,” Mangino said. “They’re going to force you to defend the field at the line of scrimmage, horizontally, vertically. They’re going to make sure you’re covering the whole ballpark or they’re going to hurt you.”
Cumbie’s top target is sophomore Jarrett Hicks (6-foot-4, 209 pounds). Hicks leads the nation with an average of 170.3 receiving yards per game and became the first Tech receiver to log three consecutive games with 150 or more yards after his eight-catch, 211-yard effort against TCU.
“Mike has evolved his offense over the years,” Mangino said. “That was about five years ago. We’ve evolved, too, but there are similarities. There’s no question Mike has things he believes in that he continues to use, and they’re very good at it.”
“That’s under evaluation,” said Mangino, who has used red-shirt freshman Scott Webb for shorter field goals and extra points. “I’ve watched a lot of tape. I went back and watched practice tape. I’m going to make a decision pretty quick on how we’re going to continue.”
KU players had Sunday off, and Mangino said he wanted to talk to his kickers later Monday before making a decision.
“If a kicker’s not kicking well in a game, I don’t make a major issue out of it,” he said. “I wait until Monday to find out what the reasons were for the bad game and what we can do to correct it. It doesn’t do you any good during a game or after a game to rub salt in the wound. That’s not how we operate here. We’re into building our kids up and not tearing them down.
“But we have to face reality here. I’ve got some decisions to make, and I have to do what’s best for our ball club. That’s always first and foremost. But, hey, it’s not like they’re not trying. They’re trying.”
6Sports video: Jayhawks’ offense started too late to win
Big 12 Teleconference
Woodling: KU-Tech could take all night