Lubbock, Texas — Kansas coach Lance Leipold said in the lead-up to Saturday’s game against Texas Tech that the Jayhawks couldn’t afford to start as poorly against the Red Raiders as they had against UCF.
As it turned, the opening minutes at Jones AT&T Stadium went far, far worse for KU.
In the span of two minutes early in the quarter, KU allowed a 71-yard rushing touchdown on Texas Tech’s first offensive play, fumbled, and then let the Red Raiders convert an easy 21-yard passing touchdown a few plays later.
The Jayhawks were down 15-0 in a matter of moments, the tortillas kept sailing down onto Cody Campbell Field, and a spirited second-quarter effort wasn’t enough to overcome the early deficit as KU lost 42-17. It was the Jayhawks’ 24th loss to Texas Tech in 26 all-time matchups.
“We as a whole just got to come out faster,” safety Taylor Davis said. “We know that. It’s no secret. We’ve done a really good job of just believing in each other, not turning on each other, so we’re really focused on doing that.”
KU quarterback Jalon Daniels (and eventually backup Cole Ballard) were besieged all day to the tune of nine sacks — the most the program has allowed in a game under Leipold — but Daniels still managed to throw for 228 yards, and tight end Boden Groen caught 13 passes for 76 yards.
“It was tough,” Leipold said. “He battled. There were some throws probably or some sacks that we wish he would have just gotten rid of it sooner. He’s trying to extend plays and battle for his team. I thought he was highly competitive again for us. I think statistically it shows up as a decent day. But we just didn’t sustain enough consistent drives to get us where we needed to be.”
The Jayhawks’ offense failed to score outside of the second quarter, and had a pair of short-yardage miscues that allowed the Red Raiders to gain momentum in the second half.
“It was inconsistent,” Groen said. “When we were doing everything right and hitting, it was looking very good. But we weren’t able to maintain that for all the full four quarters.”
Texas Tech’s offense initially sputtered after an injury to starting quarterback Behren Morton early in the second quarter, but ultimately got more than enough production from running back Cameron Dickey, who gashed KU for 263 yards and two touchdowns; backup quarterback Will Hammond ran for two more.
“Those quarterbacks are both talented,” Davis said. “They’re both really, really skilled guys. And so us as a defense, we didn’t really see a drop-off there. He’s really talented and we just have to make plays.”
The game started in such a way as to signal what was to come: KU picked up a pair of early first downs, but stalled and punted after Daniels got sacked for a 15-yard loss by David Bailey and Romello Height. Then came the nightmarish 15-point swing that put the Jayhawks in an early hole.
KU had no immediate response and went three-and-out, and Tech running back J’Koby Williams broke off carries of 14, 15 and 14 yards as the Red Raiders added a short field goal by Upton Bellenfant.
Height beat Calvin Clements and got to Daniels again to derail another drive. Morton got away with an errant slant route that Jalen Todd wasn’t quite able to intercept, and then on the next play Morton converted third-and-8 with a 21-yard pass to Reggie Virgil.
Another completion from Morton to Caleb Douglas brought the Red Raiders into the red zone, but a third-down sack by Leroy Harris III — on which Morton was injured — limited them to a second field goal.
The Jayhawks finally gained some offensive traction, with Daniels connecting with Emmanuel Henderson Jr. and Cam Pickett and then zipping a 20-yard pass up the seam to Bryson Canty. That set up KU’s first score of the night, a 10-yard touchdown pass by Daniels to Leshon Williams.
Hammond’s first drive resulted in Tech’s first three-and-out. The Jayhawks did not take advantage of the stop, as Henderson dropped a potential third-down reception. But Hammond promptly threw an interception to Davis, giving KU another chance before halftime.
Daniels hit Pickett for a pair of long catch-and-run opportunities, but he suffered a sack at the hands of Bailey. Facing heavy pressure again on third-and-13, Daniels lofted the ball down the middle to an uncovered Groen for a 24-yard touchdown that made it 21-14.
Facing third-and-7 with just over a minute left, Hammond got a pair of Jayhawks to jump offsides, resulting in a shorter distance that Dickey easily covered, but tight defense from Lyrik Rawls prevented Hammond from converting a second third down.
The Jayhawks crossed midfield with 22 seconds left, and Daniels completed three quick passes in a row to Groen for a total of 12 yards, at which point Laith Marjan drilled a career-long 55-yard field goal to cut KU’s deficit to 21-17 at the break.
“Laith just absolutely destroyed that kick, so that was really cool to see,” Groen said. “You know, the crowd’s jumping and it’s super loud, and he’s just poised, and it looked like that thing was going to be good from like 65, so that was a high point, and really awesome to see that ball go through.”
With Morton out for the rest of the game, Hammond looked more composed on his first drive of the second half, but Bangally Kamara swallowed up J’Koby Williams for a 5-yard loss to force a punt.
The Jayhawks suffered much the same fate on their own drive when Leshon Williams went backwards on third-and-1.
Dickey bounced a run outside for 24 yards to put Tech in KU territory, and Hammond ran for 34 more on a pair of read-option keepers to put the Red Raiders back in the end zone and up two scores.
After a pair of punts, Daniels and Pickett got the Jayhawks’ offense going once again, but another disastrous third-and-short resulted in a 9-yard loss, and Daniels’ surprise punt on fourth-and-10 did not produce the same results from the 2024 season’s road upset at BYU, as it bounced into the end zone for a touchback.
Dickey’s second touchdown, which came in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, broke the game open for the Red Raiders, extending the margin to 35-17.
The Jayhawks reached Tech’s 27-yard line, only to suffer a pair of holding calls and a sack, which resulted in another late-game punt. It was much the same on their next offensive drive, and then they allowed a big return to Coy Eakin to set up another touchdown run by Hammond.
“They had shown that before when he played, I think against Houston and a few of the other games that he’s appeared in in their blowout wins, they get in and they use him and a runner and he does a good job,” Leipold said. “It didn’t catch us by surprise, I guess, if that’s what you’re saying. Obviously I wish sometimes we’d have defended it better, but we knew that that would be part of their plan when he was in the game.”
KU fell to 4-3 (2-2 Big 12) and, after a bye week, will host Kansas State for the Sunflower Showdown on Oct. 25. The Wildcats are 3-4 and 2-2 in the Big 12 and will have an open date of their own after beating TCU 41-28 on Saturday.
Notes and observations
Running back Daniel Hishaw Jr. and safety/nickel back Mason Ellis were game-time decisions for Saturday after spending the week on KU’s availability report. Both went through pregame warmups, and Hishaw did not start but appeared during the Jayhawks’ first drive and started to receive carries in the second quarter, ultimately finishing as the Jayhawks’ leading rusher.
Leipold said the original thought was to have him play only situationally, but Williams “tweaked an ankle so he got a little more time, and he was feeling good.”
“I just hope when he’s back in the building tomorrow and Monday that he’s feeling good again, that we can kind of have him without limitations,” Leipold said. “But again, we wanted to be careful with him coming back. He worked extremely hard to get himself there. I thought he gave us a little spark there at times.”
Meanwhile, Ellis was on the sideline but Todd, who was also a first-time rotational captain on Saturday, continued to play nickel in his place.
After a warning on the stadium video board early in the game, Texas Tech received one 15-yard penalty for its fans’ traditional tortilla throwing midway through the second quarter, and another one early in the fourth quarter.
Marjan’s 55-yard field goal was tied for KU’s sixth-longest in program history and was the Jayhawks’ longest since Jacob Branstetter hit from 57 in 2009.
Groen’s 13 catches were the most ever in a single game by a KU tight end and the most by any Jayhawk since Dezmon Briscoe in 2009.
“I didn’t do everything great and I missed on some blocks, I gave up a pressure,” he said. “So those things are the things you got to clean up. I’m sure it’s very cliché, but I’d rather have no catches and a win.”
Daniels punted for the fifth time in his career. He is averaging 38.2 yards per attempt.
How they scored
First quarter
10:39 — Cameron Dickey 71-yard run. Stone Harrington PAT good. One play, 71 yards, 0:11 TOP. TTU 7, KU 0.
8:39 — Terrance Carter Jr. 21-yard pass from Behren Morton. Two-point conversion good. Five plays, 36 yards, 1:51 TOP. TTU 15, KU 0.
3:38 — Upton Bellenfant 25-yard field goal good. Ten plays, 69 yards, 3:05 TOP. TTU 18, KU 0.
Second quarter
11:03 — Harrington 40-yard field goal good. Ten plays, 58 yards, 3:27 TOP. TTU 21, KU 0.
6:40 — Leshon Williams 10-yard pass from Jalon Daniels. Laith Marjan PAT good. Eight plays, 75 yards, 4:23 TOP. TTU 21, KU 7.
1:17 — Boden Groen 24-yard pass from Daniels. Marjan PAT good. Six plays, 49 yards, 1:04 TOP. TTU 21, KU 14.
0:00 — Marjan 55-yard field goal. Five plays, 29 yards, 0:28 TOP. TTU 21, KU 17.
Third quarter
7:28 — Will Hammond 20-yard run. Bellenfant PAT good. Five plays, 63 yards, 2:03 TOP. TTU 28, KU 17.
Fourth quarter
14:12 — Dickey 55-yard run. Harrington PAT good. Six plays, 80 yards, 2:00 TOP. TTU 35, KU 17.
3:31 — Hammond 10-yard run. Bellenfant PAT good. Two plays, 30 yards, 0:55 TOP. TTU 42, KU 17.
AP Photo/Annie Rice
