Five Questions — Kansas

By Steve Habel, Senior Editor

LAWRENCE, Kansas — A funny thing happened to the Texas football team on Nov. 19 when it traveled north to the cold plains of the Sunflower State to face a hapless Kansas — a squad that hadn’t won a Big 12 Conference game since 2014.

The Longhorns, with a sixth win in their pocket and bowl eligibility in the balance, were expecting a walkover, but instead found themselves in a tussle that [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]went down to the final minute … and then to overtime.

Then it got worse.

Kansas kicker Matthew Wyman nailed a 25-yard field goal in overtime to hand the Jayhawks an unlikely, near unfathomable, 24-21 victory over Texas before a chilled-to-the-bone crowd of 25,673 fans at Memorial Stadium.

The winning kick came after Texas quarterback Shane Buechele threw an interception, his third of the game, on the Longhorns’ possession in overtime. It was Texas’ season-high sixth turnover in a mistake-plagued contest.

Kansas (2-9, 1-7 in Big 12 play) took over and drove to the Texas 3-yard line with five, up-the-middle runs by Ke’aun Kinner. When Wyman’s kick split the uprights, the Jayhawks snapped a 19-game conference-losing streak and garnered their first win over the Longhorns since 1938.

The Jayhawks got a 36-yard field goal from Wyman with 7 seconds to play to send the game into overtime after driving 52 yards in 51 seconds without a time out. The game-tying march was aided by a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty on Texas’ Jeffrey McCulloch.

“When you have opportunities to win the game and you don’t, it’s hard to win a game,” Texas head coach Charlie Strong said. “We were up, 21-10, in the fourth quarter. We needed to make a key stop. The game was there for us — there was no reason for us not to go out and finish the game. The guys are hurting in the locker room. There isn’t much that can be said.”

The loss wasted a record-breaking performance by Texas running back D’Onta Foreman, who rumbled to 250 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 51 carries — the most in program history. But the workload, as well as Foreman’s accumulated carries this season, took its toll. He fumbled twice and both were key plays in the Jayhawks’ victory.

The Longhorns will have to beat wounded and hungry TCU at home next week to earn a spot in a bowl game.

Texas (5-6 overall, 3-5 in Big 12 games) wasted no time lighting the scoreboard as Buechele threw a short pass to Jacorey Warrick, who made a quick move to his left against the Kansas defender and ran away with a 75-yard touchdown and a 7-0 Longhorns lead 11 seconds into the game.

Tyrone Swoopes fumbled on a scramble at the Texas 33-yard-line on his only drive at quarterback after Buechele was forced from the game after taking a big hit by the Jayhawks’ Tevin Shaw. But Kansas showed its ineptitude by bobbling the center snap on a simple sneak while attempting to convert a fourth down-and-1 play at the Texas 34, re-gifting the ball to the Longhorns without taking advantage of a golden opportunity.

Buechele returned to the game after missing one series and promptly uncorked a pass that was intercepted by the Jayhawks’ Fish Smithson when he underthrew Jerrod Heard on a deep ball. But Kansas could do nothing with the turnover, eventually punting the ball back to the Longhorns.

A second Buechele interception — and the third Longhorns turnover in three possessions — resulted in Brandon Stewart’s 55-yard touchdown return and allowed Kansas to tie the game at 7-7 with 5:04 remaining in the second quarter. Stewart jumped the route on a pass intended for Dorian Leonard and, with nothing but clear air in front of him, sped off and scored without being touched.

Foreman fumbled the ball on Texas’ ensuing drive (that’s four turnovers in four possessions, folks) at the Longhorns’ 43 and Kansas drove 25 yards in five plays to a 36-yard field goal by Wyman that handed the Jayhawks a 10-7 lead at halftime.

“It’s all about ball security, about releasing the ball without the interceptions — all things that are correctable,” Strong said. “We have been good on offense all year. We haven’t had that many turnovers all season long.”

Texas outgained Kansas, 189-119, in the half, but the rest of the statistics between the two teams were virtually even.

The fact that Texas was down by only three points at halftime after committing four turnovers gave the orange-blooded faithful a measure of hope, and the Longhorns found their stride in the third and early fourth quarters when they took a 21-10 lead.

Edwin Freeman atoned for an earlier dropped interception by hauling in a tipped pass at the Kansas 38-yard-line to set the table for a two-yard touchdown run by Foreman and a 14-10 lead at the 11:27 mark of the third quarter. Foreman carried on the final seven plays of the drive, picking up 28 yards on the go-ahead march.

Texas had a chance to add to its lead later in the third quarter after starting inside Kansas territory. Domingue, who had been anything but automatic, pulled a 31-yard field goal attempt to the left, wasting a 10-play, 32-yard drive.

The Longhorns pushed further ahead on a one-yard touchdown run by Foreman that produced a 21-10 lead with 13:34 to play. The scoring run came at the end of a nine-play, 46-yard drive that began with a Kansas fumble. Foreman was responsible for 35 yards on the march on seven rushing attempts.

The Jayhawks responded with an 80-yard, 10-play drive that used 2:48 of the clock and ended in one-yard scoring run by Khalil Herbert. Kansas’ Steven Sims then rolled around right end, avoided Texas defensive back Dylan Haines in the backfield, and sauntered into the end zone for a two-point conversion that cut the Longhorns lead to 21-18 with 7:48 to play.

Foreman fumbled on his 46th carry of the contest at the Kansas 13 when the Longhorns were driving to salt away the game. He later was stopped on a fourth-down-and-five play with :58 left in the fourth quarter, allowing the Jayhawks a chance to drive within field goal range on a final possession.

“Being able to go toe-to-toe with Texas and get the win speaks to the direction our program is headed,” Kansas coach David Beaty said. “What resilient guys we have. I’ve always said it — we have the right guys in this program. I can’t say enough about our defense. They put us in the position to win.”

Will this loss cost Strong his job?

It’s not the job of this writer to make predictions about Strong’s future (at least not in this forum), nor is it this publication’s aim to suggest to the University of Texas how to make personnel decisions.

But Strong’s status as the Longhorns’ coach has been the elephant in the room all season. The rumors of his firing need to be recognized and addressed, especially after the loss to a Kansas team that hadn’t won an FBS game in more than two years.

Reports from across the college football world are calling for Strong’s dismissal and — in a torturous five-minute interview with the press in Lawrence after the game — his overall demeanor showed he felt he’s on the way out and that his firing (even with two years and $10 million left on his contract) was a foregone conclusion.

When asked after the game if he knew how this loss would impact his future on the 40 Acres, Strong struggled for an answer. “I don’t,” he finally said softly. “I have no idea.”

If Strong does lose his job, it won’t be because he broke rules, coddled players, suffered through scandals or had players who did not perform in the classroom. It will simply because he didn’t win enough games and some of the team’s losses in his tenure — and the way Texas lost those games — were just untenable.

By the time you read this, we should all have the answer to Strong’s future. (Strong said Monday he expects to be coaching Friday when the Longhorns face TCU.)

Were Foreman’s 51 carries too much to ask?

Heading into the Kansas game, pundits and fans wondered if Foreman would even have to play an entire half against woeful Kansas to record his 12^th consecutive game of 100 yards or more.

Because of UT’s inability to score early — partially due to a Foreman fumble — and put away Kansas in the first half, Foreman was on the field for the entire game. Backup running back Kyle Porter got just two carries (gaining three yards), while Foreman’s 51 totes made up 81 percent of the Longhorns’ 63 rushing attempts in the game.

In football, it’s often the rule to stick with what’s working, and there’s no doubt that handing the ball to its big running back was the main aspect of UT’s offensive game plan.

“Getting the ball 50 times was my role tonight, and I’ll never complain or ask for a change,” Foreman said on Twitter late Saturday night. “I lay everything on the line for this team. Fumbling isn’t a part of my role and in my opinion it’s the reason we lost.”

Looking ahead, Foreman’s workload (292 carries for 1,863 yards in 10 games — remember, he sat out for Texas’ win over UTEP) has to be a factor, especially this week with the short recovery and preparation time in advance of Friday’s game versus TCU.

Was Buechele affected by the hit that took him out of the game in the second quarter?

Buechele passed for 165 yards while completing 17 of his 26 throws, but 75 of those yards came on one completion. His other 16 connections averaged less than six yards per catch.

The tough-as-nails freshman signal caller would be the last one to say the neck injury affected him, but the numbers and his overall performance suggest a different story. He was short on the long passes, and his reads — especially on the pick-six interception by Stewart and the overtime interception that all but sealed the loss for Texas — were not up to his standard.

“We missed some plays we usually hit,” Texas offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert said. “[Buechele] kept battling. We didn’t take care of the football and made too many mistakes. We have to get back to work and improve.”

What was the biggest play of the game?

There were two plays at the end that helped the Jayhawks tie — and eventually win — the game.

First, McCulloch’s roughing-the-passer penalty on the game-tying Kansas drive in the fourth quarter (even though it was a marginal call) just can’t happen. The play earned McCulloch a targeting penalty for which he was ejected from the game and will cost the team his services for Friday’s game against TCU.

Secondly, Buechele can not make the pass that resulted in his interception in overtime. The ball only should have left his hand on a sure completion. When the receivers didn’t work their way back toward Buechele as he scrambled out of the pocket to his right, that completion wasn’t going to happen. He needs to throw the ball away and try again on the next down.

What’s next for the Longhorns?

Texas closes the regular season the day after Thanksgiving at home against TCU, which struggled mightily Saturday in a 31-6 loss to Oklahoma State in Fort Worth. The Horned Frogs (5-5 overall) must win one of their final two games to clinch a bowl game, so there’s plenty up for grabs.

After the loss to Kansas, former Texas linebacker and current Longhorn Network analyst Emmanuel Acho commented on how difficult it will be for the Longhorns to pick themselves up and look forward to playing Friday.

TCU could steamroll Texas. But the Longhorns also could find a way to get the win and get their seniors to a bowl.

But who will coach them in that bowl game? That remains to be seen. Strong said Monday he expects to be on the Longhorns’ sideline.
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