LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) With a new offensive coordinator and fresh attitude, Kansas spent four quarters going toe-to-toe with Texas last week, taking the highly ranked Longhorns down to the wire on the road.
The Jayhawks didnt quite finish off the upset, but they certainly raised some eyebrows.
Two belonged to Texas Tech coach Matt Wells.
What a phenomenal effort they played with, said Wells, who team heads to Lawrence to face the Jayhawks on Saturday. I mean, those kids played hard. They really did. They went out and man, they did. They emptied the tank, and they had every right to win and deserved to win.
The Jayhawks (2-5, 0-4 Big 12) had 310 yards passing, Pooka Williams ran for 190 and two scores, and they scored with 1:36 left and converted an audacious 2-point try to take the lead. But their defense stumbled after that, and Texas managed to kick a game-ending field goal for a 50-48 victory.
On the mountain of moral victories, it may have pushed to the top of the heap.
Too bad for the Jayhawks it still counted as a loss.
Another good outing but not exactly how we wanted to finish it, Kansas coach Les Miles said. But I believe this team is coming and I think there will be some games of significance going forward.
It could start against the Red Raiders (3-4, 1-3), who are also in the foundation-laying process under their new coach. Wells led them to an uplifting win over Oklahoma State a couple weeks ago, but the Red Raiders were edged a week later by Baylor and never put up much fight against Iowa State.
The way that game went down left Wells scratching his head.
Texas Tech got off to a hot start against Oklahoma State, setting the tone early. It floundered in the opening minutes against Oklahoma. Another fast start put the Red Raiders in the game against the unbeaten Bears, but another poor start against the Cyclones made it an uphill battle.
Its all tied to the first year, trying to build this foundation and making sure that its exactly what we want, Wells said. Its been a work in progress, and theres things that have gone better, but it takes more guys doing it. It takes quite a few guys.
Thats a fact Miles knows, too.
I like the way they played, he said of last-weeks narrow defeat, and I enjoyed how they took the field and they obviously were in a very competitive game right from the start. When you take the lead in the last drive, you think that, you know, youre going to win.
Now the trick is to finish it off.
