Turnover margin
Fla. Atl. -+18
Kansas – +16
Cincinnati – +15
Fewest penalties (per game)
Kansas – 3.78
Iowa State – 4.1
So. Miss. -4.44
Navy – 4.44
As of Sunday afternoon, Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy had not started preparing for the team nobody has beaten.
But he didn’t need to see any film to have a confident assessment of Kansas University.
“You don’t score as many points as they have and win as many games as they have and not be a good football team,” Gundy said. “That’s just a fact.”
True to Gundy’s claim, Kansas is winning a lot of games and scoring a lot of points (46.2 per game) to turn a lot of heads across college football. Ranked No. 5 in the latest Top 25 poll, the Jayhawks are 9-0 overall and 5-0 in Big 12 Conference play.
So how is KU working so efficiently? Partly because the Jayhawks, quite simply, refuse to kill themselves.
Kansas has been penalized just 34 times this season, easily the lowest mark in the 120-team Bowl Subdivision. Navy and Southern Mississippi are next lowest with 40.
The lack of flags are more understandable against inferior opponents like KU played in September. But through five Big 12 games, the number of penalties isn’t going up. It’s going down.
Kansas had 17 flags in four nonconference games and, so far, 17 in five Big 12 contests.
“It’s important because it is an indication we’re playing with discipline,” KU coach Mark Mangino said. “Our team is playing with a great deal of discipline in all three areas. We’re not putting ourselves in difficult positions with penalties.”
The discipline doesn’t stop there. It’s also noticeable with turnover margin, one of the few statistics Mangino tracks closely.
The Jayhawks are at a whopping plus-16 in turnover margin (27 takeaways, 11 giveaways) to rank second in the FBS.
It has been especially lopsided in interceptions. KU quarterback Todd Reesing hasn’t thrown a pick since the Kansas State game on Oct. 6. Since then, the Jayhawks’ defense has intercepted 10 passes of their own, including four in a 76-39 blowout victory over Nebraska on Saturday.
Single-game turnover margin often is a trend that correlates with winning and losing. That said, it’s no surprise that undefeated Kansas hasn’t lost a turnover battle, either.
“That is something at the beginning of the year as coaches we talk about,” Mangino said. “If you’re getting takeaways, it’s got to be giving your offense some field position, some momentum turns.
“If you’re doing a good job of protecting the ball and not giving the other team’s offense opportunities where your defense is against the wall, you always have a chance to be successful.”
Oklahoma State ranks 50th in the FBS with a plus-1 turnover margin (16 takeaways, 15 giveaways). Accordingly, it’s heading into Saturday’s showdown with a 5-4 record.
The Cowboys have cut down on penalties, however, getting flagged just four times for 35 yards in a heartbreaking 38-35 loss to Texas.
Turnovers and penalties, potentially fatal aspects of football, aren’t thought of much until it kills a team on a given Saturday. That’s why KU’s players are lectured on its importance frequently.
Better they hear it from the coaches than the scoreboard.
“Playing hard is the foundation of success,” Mangino said, “but playing smart will help you climb to another level.”
