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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Years from now, when it comes down to recalling Texas’ 23-0 win against Kansas Saturday, it likely won’t be a game that’s remembered for anything other than the final score and the fact that the Horns found a way to win a contest that it needed badly.
But a win is a win, even if it’s an ugly one against a team that spent more time beating itself than finding a way to beat Texas on a picture-perfect afternoon at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence.
The Longhorns found a way to take enough advantage of Kansas’s many mistakes, including [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level1)] four interceptions by the Jayhawks’ sophomore quarterback Montell Cozart, and got a bushel-full of big plays by their defense to walk out of the American Heartland with a shutout, their first since 2012.
“It is tough to go in someone’s place and beat them, especially when they play in your conference,” Texas coach Charlie Strong said. “So it’s a big win for us. I tell (the team that) anytime you play on the road you’ve got to pack your defense and your special teams. And those two units played well for us.”
Texas (2-2 overall, 1-0 Big 12) had a short field to navigate for its two first-half touchdowns.
The first, which came four plays after a game-changing 41-yard punt return by the Horns’ Jaxon Shipley, began on the KU 18 and ended when quarterback Tyrone Swoopes found tight end M.J. McFarland all alone in the back of the end zone for the easy 1-yard TD with just 55 seconds to play in the first quarter.
The Longhorns expanded their lead to 13-0 at the 4:22 mark of the second quarter as Swoopes rumbled seven yards through the left side of the Jayhawks’ defense for a touchdown.
The table was set for that 13-yard, three-play march and score when Texas cornerback Duke Thomas intercepted a pass thrown right to him by Cozart and returned the pick 24 yards.
The Longhorns played add-on in the fourth quarter, getting a career-long 42-yard field goal from Nick Rose after a drive that was again set up by a Cozart interception, this one right to UT linebacker Jordan Hicks. Rose earlier missed an extra-point kick and had a 46-yard field goal blocked.
After KU (2-2 overall, 0-1 in league play) failed to convert on fourth down-and-four deep in its own territory in the game’s waning moments, Texas poured it on as Swoopes completed passes to John Harris and Marcus Johnson as the Longhorns picked up easy yardage on the way to a 16-yard TD hookup to Harris.
It only took six plays and 27 yards – the Longhorns’ longest scoring drive of the day – to make it a three-score lead and officially put away a Kansas team undone by the ineptitude of its offense.
Cozart, often flushed out of the pocket by the blitzing Texas defense that recorded four sacks and six quarterback hurries, completed just 12 of his 31 pass attempts for 140 yards.
“The bottom line is when you lose the turnover ratio like we did, you’re going to lose most games,” Kansas coach Charlie Weis said. “Our Achilles heel on offense is still making productive plays in the passing game, and that’s at the end of the day what ended up costing us.”
Swoopes, as he’s been constantly asked to do in his three games as a starter, hit of 19 of 34 passes for 218 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for seven yards and a touchdown on nine carries, many of which were improvised when his protection broke down.
Texas only outgained Kansas 329-313 in total yards, but had just one turnover – on a botched exchange between center Jake Raulerson and Swoopes near the goal line in the first quarter.
“We drove the ball well in the first half and got a field goal blocked,” Strong said. “In the second half we had to find a way to run the football because if we can establish the run game then the passing game is going to open up for us.
“On first-and-ten we have to get in front of the chains and get a manageable second down. We’ve got to get consistency.”
Texas’ defense employed a bend-but-not-break strategy and was helped by the Jawhawks’ inability to make plays when they needed to the most. Kansas ran 82 offensive plays in the game; 44 of those were in Longhorns’ territory, and KU has yet to dent the goal line.
“(The shutout) gives us confidence, but we can’t get too big off of this win,” said Texas cornerback Quandre Diggs, who had an interception and blitzing sack. “We have to continue to grind and watch film tomorrow on the next guys.”
Oh yeah, about the next guys.
The Horns got the win they so desperately needed against Kansas, but there is little time to celebrate.
Now things get really tough, with consecutive games against the two top teams in the Big 12 Conference – this Saturday at home against Baylor and on Oct. 11 in Dallas against Oklahoma.
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