College Football

Texas finds offense in rout of winless Kansas

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:05 p.m. ET

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Once the Texas Longhorns started scoring, it was almost like they couldn't stop. And they sure liked the result.

A week after getting shut out at Iowa State, Texas scored touchdowns on big plays and in bunches in a 59-20 rout of Kansas on Saturday night, the Longhorns' highest-scoring game in two seasons under coach Charlie Strong.

"One week you don't score anything," Strong said. "The next week you're so explosive ... We needed that."

Jerrod Heard threw an 84-yard touchdown pass to John Burt on Texas' first offensive play and D'Onta Foreman's 93-yard run for a third quarter score was the third-longest in school history.

Tyrone Swoopes scored four touchdowns and passed for another in the romp. He had two touchdown runs in the first half, then added two more and a 40-yard scoring pass in mop-up duty for Heard in the fourth quarter.

Heard finished with 201 yards passing and 23 yards rushing for Texas (4-5, 3-3 Big 12), one of his best games since a 527-yard school record effort in a loss to California back on Sept. 12. Foreman finished with 157 yards rushing after gaining just 16 in the first half.

Kansas (0-9, 0-6) has lost 37 in a row away from home and the Jayhawks have given up at least 58 points in three straight games. Ryan Willis led Kansas with 214 yards passing and one touchdown.

Kansas had a brief chance to make a game of it, but squandered drives late in the first half. One ended at the Texas 1 and another with a missed field goal that clanked off the right upright on the final play as Texas led 24-14

"We just had to calm down. Everybody started getting a little antsy when they started moving the ball," Texas linebacker Peter Jinkens said.

First-year Kansas coach David Beaty thought the Jayhawks could still make a game of it.

"We always come out of the half energetic, but when those guys walked out of the tunnel they believed they were ahead. Those guys, I loved the look in their eye," Beaty said.

Texas then poured on 35 points in a second-half burst the Longhorns hadn't seen in a long time.

Texas still needs two wins in its final three games to qualify for a bowl. The Longhorns play next at West Virginia, host Texas Tech on Thanksgiving and end the regular season at undefeated Baylor.

The offensive outburst, even against one of the worst defensive teams in the country, will be a confidence boost for a program that badly needed one and has struggled to keep up in the wild scoring of the Big 12.

Texas, which is 0-11 under Strong when an opponent scores first, jumped to a 17-0 lead. Heard, who hadn't passed for more than 53 yards in three of the previous four games, threw over the top of the Kansas secondary for the long strike to Burt, who easily beat one-on-one coverage to haul it in.

"We called that play to make a statement," Heard said. "We were like, let's just sling it around. I felt really confident and the receivers did, too."

Foreman's long run in the third quarter finished off the Jayhawks. Foreman took the handoff, bounced around the left end and suddenly was in the clear all the way to the end zone. His touchdown on Texas' next drive put the Longhorns up by 24.

Swoopes replaced Heard at quarterback to start the fourth quarter and his first pass attempt was a 40-yard touchdown to Armanti Foreman. He added a 44-yard TD run, then scooped a fumble for another late touchdown.

"They won't get overly excited about this one. I told them they have to go out and dominate this team," Strong said.

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