Kansas Jayhawks

Kansas at Texas Tech: Three Things to Watch

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Coming off of a bye week, the Kansas Jayhawks travel to Lubbock, Texas for a showdown with the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Kansas fans are hoping that the rare Thursday night appearance will change their fortunes on the road. What else should Kansas fans be on the lookout for?

Is there any way Kansas can slow down Patrick Mahomes? Mahomes may be the best, most exciting player in college football nobody knows about. At 6’3” and 230 pounds, he’s a physical specimen and a great athlete. He also has a lot of former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel to his game. He’s terrific at improvising when the play breaks down, and can utilize a variety of arm angles in delivering the football to an open receiver. This year, all this talent has materialized into gaudy stats for the junior QB. In three games so far, Mahomes has averaged nearly 500 yards per game through the air, along with almost five touchdowns. The Red Raiders also have a cadre of talented receivers for the young Kansas secondary to defend. Frankly, I don’t expect the Jayhawks to be able to do much to slow down Mahomes and company. Texas Tech may not reach their season average of 548 yards per game through the air, but the Jayhawks’ 9th ranking in pass defense won’t last until Friday.

Can Kansas’s Air Raid match the Raiders’? The good news for the Jayhawks is, that as good as Texas Tech’s offense, is, their defense is equally porous. Through three games, the Red Raiders defense is allowing over 530 yards per game, 124th in the country. Their point total is equally bad, at over 43 per game. The Kansas Air Raid will find holes in the Texas Tech defense. If KU’s offensive line is even decent, then they should be able to score 30+ points and keep them in the game. The biggest weakness in the Tech defense is the secondary, which is allowing over 320 pass yards per game. Kansas’s improved receiving corps and quarterback play will put up yards and points, but will it be enough?

Will Kansas clean up mental mistakes? Earlier this week, we wrote about how if KU is to be competitive in Big 12 play, they must execute better in all phases to make up for deficiencies in depth and talent. This is especially true on the road. Texas Tech does get more than its share of penalties, at nine per game. Kansas has to maintain a significant advantage in penalties and penalty yardage to stay in the game. Last season, Texas Tech’s defense forced 25 turnovers, well above the national average. This year, they’re only at three. Kansas has to take care of the football on offense and special teams to remain competitive in Lubbock.

Bottom line. If Kansas slows down Mahomes and the offense, ideally with a few lucky bounces and turnovers, the offense has their best performance ever under David Beaty, and has big advantages in penalties and turnovers, they could conceivably win this game. However, on the road in a hostile environment, where the Jayhawks haven’t won since 2009 is too tall a task. I think the game will be competitive based on the matchup, but Jayhawk fans shouldn’t expect a victory. My score prediction is 48-27.