Kansas roars back to beat Longhorns in overtime, 24-21

By Steve Habel, Senior Editor

LAWRENCE, Kansas — A funny (not “ha-ha” funny) thing happened to the Texas football team Saturday when it traveled north to the cold plains of the Sunflower State with a sixth win of the season and bowl eligibility in the balance against hapless Kansas, a team that hadn’t won a Big 12 Conference game since 2014.

The Longhorns were expecting a walkover, but instead found themselves in a tussle that went down to the final minute … and then to overtime. Then it got worse.

Kansas kicker Matthew Wyman nailed a chip-shot 25-yard field goal in overtime to hand the Jayhawks an unlikely, nee unfathomable, 24-21 victory over Texas [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]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 UT’s 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, backed up five yards on a penalty and then celebrated as Wyman’s kick split the uprights, allowing the Jayhawks to win snap a 19-game conference losing streak and garner 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 UT’s Jeffrey McCullough.

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

Backup Texas quarterback Tyrone Swoopes fumbled on a scramble at the Texas 33-yard-line on his first drive at quarterback after Buechele was forced from the game by 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 KU’s Fish Smithson when Buechele underthrew Jerrod Heard on a deep pass. But Kansas could do nothing with the turnover, eventually punting the ball back to the Longhorns.

A second Buechele interception — and 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. Stokes jumped the route on a pass intended for Dorian Leonard and, with nothing but clear air in front of home, sped off and scored without being touched.

Foreman fumbled the ball on UT’s ensuing drive (that’s four turnovers in four possessions) 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 with the interceptions — all things that are correctable,” Strong said. “We have been really 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 and doing almost nothing after their its play from scrimmage gave the UT faithful plenty 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 Longhorns’ drive at the 11:27 mark if 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 following a short punt but Trent 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 1-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 in to the end zone for a 2-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-5 play with :58 seconds left in the fourth quarter, allowing the Jayhawks a chance to drive to 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.”

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

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