Big 12 Football Power Rankings, Week 9: Watch out for Baylor
By Dante Pryor
I’m not sure if last Saturday’s game says more about the Jayhawks’ effort or Texas’ horrendous defense in their 50-48 loss at DKR Stadium. This was a fine effort considering they surrendered 50 points. Unfortunately for the Jayhawks, their losing streak stands at four in a row. They haven’t won a game since their blowout win against Boston College.
The Texas game was encouraging since it was close. Kansas had been blown out twice in a row. Since the firing of offensive coordinator Les Koenning and promotion of Brent Dearmon, they’ve looked better offensively, but it’s about more than just the scoreboard. They get Texas Tech in a battle of first-year head coaches. Losses are hard, so maybe Les Miles should visit Geoff Collins, so he can take it one day at a time.
It’s difficult to make heads or tails of the Horned Frogs this season. They have no continuity on offense. Defensively, they’ve been stout against average offenses, but when they have to play above average ones (Iowa State, SMU), they struggle. Part of their defensive struggle at times is their inept offense giving the ball back to their opponents so often.
It’s not like they don’t have playmakers on their offense. Running back Darius Anderson is averaging 7.1 yards per carry and wide receiver Te’Vailance Hunt is averaging 19.1 yards per catch. It seems as if their offense just stalls, no matter if it’s Max Duggan or Alex Delton calling the signals.
They have Texas this weekend. I couldn’t think of a better opponent to get their offense together than the team that gave up 48 to Kansas.
The Kansas Wildcats were a team of firsts this weekend against the TCU Horned Frogs. This was their first win in almost a month. Their victory was their first conference win. This was also the first time they’d scored 20 points in conference play.
Chris Klieman might be the most forgotten first-year head coach in the country. Defensively, they’ve been pretty good, but they have struggled scoring points. The most important aspect of their win against TCU is they found the end-zone and didn’t kick field goals. Offensively, they have a long way to go; they weren’t very efficient against TCU. Quarterback Skylar Thompson didn’t throw the ball particularly well, but he did have three total touchdowns and zero turnovers in this game.
They are going to need all the points they can find next week against Oklahoma. Hey coach Chris, wanna give coach Geoff a call? Maybe you and Les can do a conference call.