Bill Snyder's 200th Victory was a Pyrrhic One

Source: KU Sports

The legend has it that at Heraclea in 280 BC and at Asculum in 279 BC, king Pyrrhus of Epirus, despite his victories, suffered damning casualties to the Romans. He walked away from the triumphs feeling forlorn.

According to Plutarch in a report by Dionysius:

Pyrrhus said that one other such victory would utterly undo him. For he had lost a great part of the forces he brought with him... On the other hand, as from a fountain continually flowing out of the city, the Roman camp was quickly and plentifully filled up with fresh men, not at all abating in courage for the loss they sustained, but even from their very anger gaining new force and resolution to go on with the war.

If you haven't followed the analogy to this point, the Kansas Jayhawks are the Romans. Tired of of the humiliation, and eyes locked on the 2017 Sunflower Showdown in Lawrence. Saturday, KU lost the battle to Kansas State, in a series that the Jayhawks still lead 65-44-5, but the dam that has been burgeoning the length of Barack Obama's time as President-- a solid 8 years of embarrassment-- that dam is about to burst. Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder had this to say about the young Jayhawks:

I will say this, the University of Kansas is making headway and I can assure you that. They have done a nice job. The record does not always tell you what the real answers are, but they are getting better and better.

KU's 15-point loss to in-state rival Kansas State, 34-19, meant the Jayhawks would carry their 38-game road losing streak, and 8-game losing streak against the Wildcats into the offseason. Which with a touch of paradox is also the reason it should extend its coach's contract.

Horns Down; KU Football Stock Up

Source: KU Sports

There was something all too "fairy-tale" about how things happened. His likeness was displayed on the Senior Day ticket stub. He would later say he had 30 people in attendance, including his grandparents who were there for his first game-winner. All I can say is if I am dreaming right now, please don't wake me.

There's a Snake in KU's Boot

Source: KU Sports

The Kansas Jayhawks lead the country and conference in many categories this season. The team has the best 3rd down defense in the Big 12. On a weekly basis, it maintains its NCAA top-10 tackles for loss statistic. Dorance Armstrong registered his 5th straight game with a sack. These are things to hang your hat on. But including the 3 it lost Saturday, the Jayhawks continue to be the country's best at giving the ball away (25 in 6 games), and KU continues to kill its good efforts with costly miscues. Throughout the early afternoon, Kansas was within striking distance of the Oklahoma State Cowboys 5-2 (3-1), but costly turnovers inflated the defeat, 44-20, as David Beaty now falls to 1-18 as head coach.

Over Before it Began

Source: KU Sports

Like many of the KU offensive plays called on Saturday, this game was over before it began. It's not a good sign when a writer throws his hands up before he's out of the first paragraph. But if you watched the game on Saturday, 49-7 Baylor, then maybe you can help me out: where do I go with this story? Now hear me out: there are some 49-7 games that could fill a few pages and keep the modest fan at least mildly interested. But this 42-point shellacking left no doubt in anybody's mind on how night and day the two programs are from one another in development, depth, and talent.

Young Jayhawks Gaining Ground on Big 12

Source: KU Sports

For what so often feels like a 10,000 piece puzzle, the edges are starting to come together for KU Football.

Six deciding seconds remaining, senior Matthew Wyman faced a 54-yard field goal attempt, the difference between victory over the 3-2 (1-1) TCU Horned Frogs and defeat. Restated: the game was in question on its final play when many believed it would be over by halftime. On a sun-bathed fall Saturday in Lawrence, Kansas was within its kicker's range of an upset in which Vegas spotted Kansas 30 points, which is how I choose to lead the blog this week following heartbreak.

While the attempt missed right, and Kansas lost yet again, those who follow the program close enough can see the progress. In a way, it's nice to feel heartbreak again. Call it what you will, but a legitimate chance to win, in itself, is a win for 2016 Kansas football, a team that tries to climb its way out of a hole that's been excavated the past seven years by those preceding it. On Saturday, we saw not only that the program stopped the digging--they've set the shovel aside--but it's also beginning it's gradual ascent out of ineptitude on the backs of one of the league's best defenses, a coaching staff that is getting its players to buy in, and an offense that could be decent by year's end. It'll be a long climb, but it's shorter today than it was yesterday. And the next question is whether we'll be able to say that tomorrow. In a one-point loss, Kansas looked better than a good football team. The kids are young, they're tough, and they've bought in to David Beaty.

Growing Pains

Source: KU Sports

It has become the norm-- or been the norm for the better part of seven seasons, rather-- when following a 36 point loss, a Kansas football fan pores through stat lines to mine out positives. And that's what I'm about to do now. Re-reading that last sentence, I sit in a 30-year old wooden chair (a chair that saw some decent KU football for a brief stretch and a lot of bad for a much, much longer stretch) with subpar back-support that will probably manifest itself in 30-years, punching away at my laptop wondering whether I'm putting my free-time to its best use. My team lost by five touchdowns and I'm hunched here writing too many words that can essentially be summed up as such: "hey, we suck, but tonight we outperformed my expectations."

Memphis Blues

Source: KU Sports

Like the delinquent kid in your 8th grade European History class who you had thought at this point, after all the parent-teacher-student interventions, all the extra attention before and after class, all the hours spent tutoring, cajoling, encouraging, wheedling, and incentivizing, would have made some positive progress, some sign of a pulse, of pride, of self-respect, still failed to turn in his daily assignment--for the SEVENTH year in a row-- Kansas football continues to let its ever-dwindling fan-base down. Which raises the subsequent questions: can things get even worse? Hadn't we already hit rock-bottom? And if not yet, WHEN, for crying out loud? This stuff is old. It smells bad. Find it a home in the dump.

MAC-trucked

Source: KU Sports

Saturday afternoon, Kansas had its teeth kicked in for the first quarter and a half of football. Trailing 25-0 to the 0-1 Ohio Bobcats at home, the Jayhawks would show enough resolve to make the game competitive--trimming the lead to within 14, 28-14 (and then within 10, 31-21 a few minutes later). But ultimately, when given a chance to regain possession on a punt down two scores, a second muffed punt by La'Quivionte Gonzalez, recovered by the Bobcats on the Kansas 10 yard-line, among a litany of other mental mistakes, all but sealed its fate. The hole manifested by KU miscues wound up too big to climb out. And the Jayhawks missed on a monumental opportunity, falling to 1-1 on the season as they head for Memphis, Tennessee to take on the Tigers, KU's first opportunity to lay the 38-game road losing streak to rest.

"Please Leave the Field"

Source: KU Sports

And so I'm back. Back writing about Kansas Jayhawk football. Although, I never left, really. What can I say? KU football has got me by where it counts. That's right, the heart. It's not an equally loving relationship. I'm convinced KU football does not love me back. But you know on my end it's real.

Preview: KU @ Iowa State

Source: zimbio.com

KU snapped a 27 game conference losing streak with its 31-19 win over West Virginia, and Saturday's game against the Iowa State Cyclones presents another opportunity to streak-bust. Dating back to 2009, Kansas has lost 23 straight road games, and hasn't won a Big 12 road game since the 35-33 win over these very Cyclones on October 4th, 2008. Kansas had to rally back from an early 20-0 halftime deficit, thanks to strong second half performances from Todd Reesing, Jake Sharp, and Kerry Meier. This year, KU finds itself a 4 and 1/2 point underdog in Ames, and has a very good chance of ending the streak, but they better not try to do it like they did in '08. I'm afraid that offense was a smidgen better than this one...

Losing Streak Ends, So Naturally: We Want Bama

Source: KU Sports

Funny story: So I started officially keeping this blog, The Rock Chalk Rant, on Blogger in the Fall of 2011, during KU's 2-10, 2011-2012 season. What most don't know, though, is that I actually first considered writing a game recap following KU's 52-45, 28 point comeback on November 6th, 2010. I was, and still am, enamored by the twists and turns of a college football game, especially that one, and I thought, as I sat there thinking about all the variables that impacted that game in that post-game delirium, that people would find it interesting to read game-recaps like they would a story. Because I think football games are stories, in a sense, (some better than others, and some, as we have seen, are the same old same old story) full of little occurrences that often go overlooked, but actually have a substantial impact on the game and season's outcome. I don't want to get too sappy, but like life, the little things add up over the course of time and add up to something pretty sizable...

Preview: KU vs. West Virginia

Source: isportsweb.com

The Vegas line puts the West Virginia Mountaineers as 7 1/2 point favorites for today's matchup, which is the closest spread Kansas has faced as the underdog since the Rice game, and the most favorable match-up since the home game against Louisiana Tech in the third game of the season.

Back on the Ground

Source: KU Sports

KU fell to Oklahoma State 42-6 on Saturday.

Preview: KU @ Oklahoma State

Source: Bleacher Report

And the gauntlet continues for KU. As we are all well aware of by now, the Big 12 Conference allows no time to for you to sit down and catch your breath. Today, the 2-6 (0-5) Kansas Jayhawks travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma to take on the 14th ranked, 7-1 (4-1) Oklahoma State Cowboys. It marks the Jayhawks's first trip to Stillwater since 2011, when they grabbed an early 7-0 lead over the heavily favored 6th ranked Cowboys, only to surrender 56 straight first half points, losing 70-28. Hopefully the coaching changes and player turnover will make this year is a slightly different story. I'd be happy with a game more like last year's version: Oklahoma State won the game on a wet afternoon in Lawrence, but by the skin of their teeth.

Hawks Still a Few Steps Slow

Source: KU Sports

In my last podcast with Crispin Brim, I said that the Texas Longhorns, at this stage in the game, are just a better version of what Kansas is. Now, I didn't out-rule Kansas being a Texas-level team. They were something Kansas could be, but something that Kansas just isn't yet. Sure enough on Saturday, the two teams played a very similar game from a schematic standpoint, Texas was just a better at it. Kansas trimmed the 14-0 Texas lead to 14-6 after closing out the first half with a field goal, and starting the second with another one, but a few critical mistakes down the stretch swelled the Texas lead a gave them the victory 35-13.

Preview: KU @ Texas

Source: ESPN

I preview the Texas game with Crispin Brim on this chilly Halloween night, and touch on how, despite the records, eerily similar the two teams actually are.

Bear Beatdown

Source: KU Sports

In the KU/Baylor Pregame podcast, I said that good, bad, or indifferent, there shouldn't be too much stock put into the game this past Saturday. Baylor is just that good. So, after watching what ended up being an old fashioned curb stomping from wire to wire, I'd be more than happy to just call the 59-14 Baylor romp water under the bridge. Unfortunately, we can't do that, and Charlie Weis definitely can't do that, so let's see if there are any tangible takeaways from one of the least competitive 59-14 games played in the history of football.

Preview: KU vs. Baylor

Source: saturdayblitz.com

Check out the first official Rock Chalk Rant podcast with Crispin Brim from crispinbrim.com.

Kansas Football: Outside the Lines

KU DB JaCorey Shepherd. Source: KU Sports

I’ll admit, I have been pretty tough on the KU Football team both in The Kansan and in the blogosphere lately, ranting about the wide receivers dropping passes, our secondary blowing assignments, and everything in-between.

Kick in the Gut

Source: KU Sports

On Saturday, KU played Oklahoma the closest it had played them since Todd Reesing, Jake Sharp, Kerry Meier, Dezmon Briscoe, Joe Mortensen, Mike Rivera, James Holt, and Darrell Stuckey did in 2008. The Hawks fell to the Sooners in Norman on that October day, 45-31, but put up a noble fight against a Sam Bradford led squad. Today was much of the same. KU jumped out early to a 13-0 lead, trailed by only 5 at halftime, 18-13, and trimmed the game to 25-19 Sooners in the fourth quarter, before it all unraveled in the final minutes. As well as Kansas played, this game felt like nothing more than another kick in the gut, and that feeling was only heightened because of how well Kansas played.

Preview: KU vs. Oklahoma

dfw.cbslocal.com

35-13 Oklahoma

Defending This Defense

Source: KU Sports

TCU

Preview: KU @ TCU

Source: Zimbio

Sometime in the next 24 hours, the Kansas Jayhawks will travel to North Texas to face the TCU Horned Frogs in Fort Worth this Saturday, and I will be following closely behind. It's my first road-trip with KU Football since I saw them play in Manhattan in 2009, losing 17-10 to Daniel Thomas and the K-State Wildcats during Todd Reesing's disappointing senior season. I also saw them lose to Colorado a few weeks before that, so as you can tell, I am extremely good luck when travelling with the Jayhawks. Here's hoping this week goes a little differently!

Blue October

Source: KU Sports

Argh. Texas Tech was an awesome candidate for an upset. This was the conference game I had circled to get the monkey off the Jayhawks back. I even thought that KU had a shot Friday evening, going into Saturday morning. Yes, Tech was unblemished on the year, but outside of a Thursday night home win against TCU, they hadn't been challenged through their first four games. They had tossed SF Austin and Texas State at home, and in front of a pro-Tech crowd in Dallas, the "road" game at SMU was hardly that. You had to figure if KU could get them in a close game outside of the friendly confines of Jones AT&T Stadium, freshman walk-on quarterback Baker Mayfield and head coach Kliff Kingsbury would find themselves in uncharted waters, and that Kansas would expose the reality of some presumably inflated statistics.

Preview: KU vs. Texas Tech

Source: ESPN

And today, opportunity presents itself. The 4-0, 20th ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders visit Memorial Stadium today to face the 2-1 Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas comes off the walk-off victory two weeks ago, and Texas Tech hasn't really been challenged all year outside of the TCU victory three weeks ago. It will be a tough challenge for the crimson and blue, but if Kansas wants to break streaks and get over the hump, today might be a nice day to do so.

Highway Robbery; Hawks Steal Away Into Bye Week at 2-1

Source: KU Sports

On a sun-bathed Kivisto Field, in front of 39,823, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs out-Kansased the Kansas Jayhawks. Leading 10-3 with 14:09 left in the fourth quarter and driving into Kansas territory, Bulldog quarterback Ryan Higgins made his unabated way into the red-zone and down near the front corner of the end-zone. Veering toward the sideline and down close to the five yard line, Higgins got greedy and cut back towards the pile-on for the deafening knock-out punch. Had he scored, Kansas would have been down 17-3, and, given the offensive performance to that point in the game (3 points on 256 total yards and two interceptions), would have faced a a very steep, slippery uphill battle. But Higgins didn't score.

Preview: KU vs. Louisiana Tech

Source: Yahoo Sports

If this game had been played just twelve months ago, Kansas would be in deep, deep doggy doo. Bulldoggy doo, that is. Last year, LA Tech was a bowl team and had the nation's highest scoring offense. But that was last year. This year, the Bulldogs will have to replace 32 seniors off last year's top-25 team, and head coach Sonny Dykes with Skip Holtz. I'm not saying it can't be done-- let's remember, this is Kansas Football we are talking about, not the '85 Bears, but the LA Tech offense will have a tall task against a suddenly becoming Kansas defense.

A Losing Epidemic

Source: KU Sports

There are a lot of different ways to lose a football game, and in the 10 or so years that I've been watching Kansas Football, I can honestly say, without much reserve, that I have seen...ehhh... just about all of them. I could really go as far as saying in the past 4 seasons, I've seen all the ways a team can possibly lose a football game. Early blowouts, late-game chokejobs, and everything in between. Hey, variety is the spice of life, right? Even variety in losing football games? No? It's not? Yeah, you're probably right...

Preview: KU @ Rice

Source: Sporting News

Last season, the Rice Owls came into Lawrence, trailed and were worked for almost the entire game (the score was 24-13 Kansas with a little more than 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter) and beat the Jayhawks on a last second field goal, 25-24. The loss set the tone for both teams for the rest of the season. Rice went on to a bowl game and finished 7-6; Kansas, however, lost 11 straight.

Putting the Horse Back in Front of the Cart

Source: KU Sports

Kansas kicked off the season 1-0 after holding down South Dakota 31-14 on a muggy September Saturday. It wasn't pretty outside, and it wasn't much prettier on the field, but Kansas is where it needs to be (in the standings, at least). Let the process begin...

Preview: KU vs. South Dakota

Source: davisenterprise.com

I need to start this post with a little precursor: I am writing this preview in extreme haste (crunching it into a little hour respite in my unnecessarily crazy, busy life), so now, if ever there was a time, please bear with me... and this post. I will get back into the swing of things soon enough, but in order to quench your KU Footbal thirst, you'll just have to swig this one down--I apologize in advance if she goes down a little rough.

In the very near future, I'm planning to put out a game-preview on Thursday and the usual game-recap on Sunday/Monday.

KU Football: The Resume

First Season: 1890
Home Stadium: Memorial Stadium (Opened in 1921; 7th oldest in the nation)
Stadium Capacity: 50,071 (63rd in the nation)
Stadium Record: 52,530 (September 1, 2009 vs. Northern Colorado)

All-Time Record: 573-580-53
All-Americans: 6 (Ray Evans, Otto Schnellbacher, George Mrkonic, John Hadl, Gale Sayers, Dana Stubblefield, Bobby Douglass, John Zook, David Jaynes, Bruce Kallmeyer, Nolan Cromwell, Aqib Talib, Anthony Collins)
Pro Football Hall-of-famers: 3 (Gale Sayers, John Riggins, Mike McCormack)

It's Time to do Some Catching Up

Source: KU Sports

In January, I accepted a columnist position for the University Daily Kansan, so I took my tomfoolery over there and put this site on the back burner. On second thought, I think it be more accurate to say that I just took it off the stove completely and stuck it back in the freezer for another time.

But now that the summer months are here, the time has come to defrost this thing and give it some life. Idle hands are the devil's playthings, as they say, so here I am, back writing about KU Football on a website with about as much traffic as I-70 West... barren wasteland.

A lot has happened since I last wrote, so I will try my very best to hit the high points. I'll be updating this more often with my normal, long-winded rants. It's good to be back.

How The Weis Stole Commitments

After going 1-11 and o-for in the Big 12, the football season ended earlier for the Jayhawks than all 11 of their opponents this year. KU missed out on post-season play for the 4th straight year while the South Dakota State JackRabbits advanced deep into the FCS playoffs, and all ten of KU's Division 1 opponents made bowl games, giving KU the toughest schedule in all of college football, according to Phil Steele and Sagarin. KU fans are forced, once again, to utilize petty (or substantial, although I don't condone it) wagers or schadenfreude this bowl-season if they want to keep a vested interest. Or they could keep tabs on KU's recruiting class, but that can't be too good anyways... Despite obvious incremental improvement in all phases of the game, and 5 (if not 6) close, competitive losses, 2 blowout losses in the final two winnable games and inept quarterbacking and wide receiver play was more than enough buzzkill to scare off big-name recruits. Kansas wasn't supposed to win recruiting battles with anybody in the Big 12, much less 11-1 Kansas State. But they did. Shun the non-believer! But... how? Well, Weis, mean and green, milked every JUCO resource known to mankind from the day he took the job at KU, and his doggedness and resolution won over some of the best mid-year transfers in the country, pulling KU to the 32nd ranked class in the nation and anywhere from 4-6 in the Big 12, according to Rivals.com. Here are some of the presents that Weis has stolen and inked so far. I just hope they can fit under his tree!

Mountain Sick

Source: KU Sports

As the sun set on Milan Pusker Field in Morgantown, West Virginia, so too did it set on the Kansas Football season in a 59-10 dismemberment. The Jayhawks had shown pretty clear cut signs of improvement in flurries, but it concluded the final two games of the year losing 110-33 to the 8th and 9th teams in the conference: Iowa State and West Virginia. The offseason is upon us, but not before we relive this final drubbing again.

Even in a Time for Giving Thanks, I Still Hate Missouri

Source: Wichita Eagle

Just when I thought that the scene of college sports was steadfast—or at least stood on somewhat stable ground—news broke Tuesday that Maryland and Rutgers are both heading to the Big 10 (or 11, or whatever the hell it is now) Conference, sending a tumultuous shockwave throughout the nation. Suddenly, without any sign of rational thought, everybody stops what they are doing and craps themselves. Message boards explode. A.Ds lose control of their motor skills. Everybody just freaks out. For no reason.

Beaten Black and Blue

Source: KU Sports

On a crisp, November night in Lawrence, 23 seniors ran out of the tunnel and onto Memorial Stadium for the last time ever. A warm crowd greeted them as the Hawks came out for warmups, dressed in the traditional blue tops and white pants, and an even warmer bunch greeted them when they came out for kickoff dressed in all black, with blue trimmings, and most importantly: white helmets with the Jayhawk on the side. The stage was set for a Big 12 win, KU's first in 19 straight tries, but redshirt freshman Sam Richardson and the Iowa State Cyclone would have none of that, beating Kansas into submission on its home turf, 51-23.

A Game of Inches

Source: KU Sports

On an arid, dusty field somewhere in western Texas, the Kansas Jayhawks lost again. It was just another road loss in yet another long, losing season. But, if you will allow me to say otherwise, this one was different. Kansas found itself down 21-7 on the road in Lubbock, Texas, in the first half of play. It was a situation that Kansas has often been in during these past three years. Texas Tech had the ball, and was looking to go up three scores. They were going for the jugular. They were planning to pound the Jayhawks into the ground... but they didn't. They couldn't.

The Bear Necessities

Source: KU Sports

I should have known better. Last week, the Jayhawks put together a string of 4 quality quarters against the Texas Longhorns at home, but still lost in the waning seconds. They would have snapped a 16 game Big 12 losing streak, and a nearly 70 year drought since last beating UT. They played well enough to beat them-- well enough to beat a lot of teams in this conference (Baylor included)-- but still couldn't. I should have known that it would be a lot to ask of this young team to respond with a road victory against an athletically superior Baylor team. How could I be so vain?

James Sims for President

Source: KU Sports

A year ago today, Kansas was down in Austin, Texas, getting its brains beat out by a barely mediocre Longhorns team, 43-0. Kansas was crap, and the line favored Texas by 28 points, but nobody in their right mind would have predicted these numbers... That day, Texas had 35 first downs; Kansas had 3. Texas had 441 yards rushing; Kansas had -2. Texas converted 11 of 16 third downs; Kansas converted 1 of 10. Texas possessed the ball for 44:07; Kansas possessed the ball for 15:53. All this, just 12 months ago.

On Saturday, Kansas took Kivisto Field on homecoming as 18 point underdogs. Texas was top 10 in the nation in points scored, averaging over 44 points per game, and Kansas was near the bottom in the NCAAs, averaging less than 20 points per game. Texas would run up the score, and Kansas wouldn't be able to hold serve.

But that didn't happen. Instead, Kansas dominated the game for 3 and 1/2 quarters, imposing its will with a power running game, playing the game to its strength, right into the teeth of the Texas defense. This day, Texas had 16 first downs; Kansas had 18. Texas had 211 yards rushing; Kansas had 234. Texas converted 4 of 12 third downs; Kansas converted 7 of 15. Texas possessed the ball for 27:12; Kansas possessed for 32:48.

Kansas lost its bowl eligibility, falling to 1-7 (0-5), but gave its fans reason to believe that a bowl isn't out of the question for 2013. Kansas was a few plays away from beating Texas for the first time in over 70 years.

Texas Pre-Game Inspiration

No Fun in Norman

Source: KU Sports

Trailing 10-0, and punting back to a hot and bothered Oklahoma offense, the Kansas Jayhawks needed a break. They needed a gift. They needed an answered prayer. They needed a turnover. And they got one. Gunner Josh Ford went barreling into former Penn State punt-returner, Justin Brown, jarring the ball loose, and recovering it at the OU 11 yard line. So Kansas took over, deep in OU territory, on the road, as 35 point underdogs. I'd say that certainly qualifies as a break. But what they did with that break is even more inconceivable.

A Kicker! A Kicker! My Kingdom for a Kicker!

Source: KU Sports

Speaking of true fandom, if Saturday, with all the elements (the rain, the wind, the thunder, the hour and a half delay), wasn’t a test of character, then I don’t know what is.  Few students braved the weather for the first quarter, and even fewer stayed to the end as the crowd dwindled during the premature intermission and throughout the course of the game, but even after the scoreboard read zeros, and the team had come and gone after singing the alma mater, students stood proud, singing the Rock Chalk Chant in unison. Although small in number, the group matched the passion of a full student section. Kansas fell 20-14 in a hard fought comeback, but the game wasn’t without gain. We learned two things on Saturday: there are passionate diehards here, and Kansas is making some serious headway in becoming a Big 12 contender. Does it carry over in Norman, Oklahoma? I wish I could say something with any certainty, but at least this good feeling will last throughout the week.

Step Back From That Ledge, My Friend

Source: KU Sports

So here we sit, 1-4 and (0-2) in conference, coming off a 56-16 loss at the hands of the No. 7 Kansas State Wildcats. Our Hawks will be odds-on underdogs the rest of the way, and could be staring down the barrel of a 1-11 season.

Just down the road, Manhattan has its hopes set on a Big 12 Championship, a BCS bowl game, and a Heisman trophy. Here in Lawrence, however, interest in the football team is waning. Late Night in the Phog is just a few days away, and (sadly) Charlie Weis's boys will soon be an afterthought.

As the colors start to change, and the leaves and grass begin to die, so too does the fan support at football games. It comes and goes with the season, and, by some unspoken rule, it's basketball season now.

Check that, it's always basketball season in this town, and football is back to its rightful place in the rear-view mirror... (Cue the applause)

The Blame Game

Source: KU Sports

Kansas held a 24-13 lead late against the Rice Owls. Each unit (offense, defense, and special teams) had a chance to finish off the game. None of the units did, and Kansas lost, 25-24. On Saturday, Kansas led Northern Illinois on the road 23-13 in the fourth quarter, and again, had the opportunity to win the game via offense, defense, or special teams, but didn't, losing 30-23. At any and every level, from pee-wee to the NFL, when a team blows a fourth quarter lead, whether we'd like to or not, as humans, we look for someone to blame. Kansas has blown two in just four games. I am human. Therefore, I will spend this blog trying to place the blame on somebody. Who is the goat?

Just Out of Reach

Source: KU Sports

Kansas leads the nation in forced turnovers with 12. They have allowed just a little over 20 points per game through 1/4 of the season. They just wrapped up 3 games at home. Why are they 1-2?

Nobody said this would be a quick fix. Rome wasn't built in a day. But, that doesn't mean Kansas can't surprise a few teams this season. They just about did it on Saturday, until No. 15 TCU pulled away, 20-6. Kansas is showing some signs of improvement. Some signs of an actual football team. But they are only signs. Kansas is going to have a tough time turning those signs into wins in the Big 12.

Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

Source: KU Sports

We (Kansas Football fans) must be gluttons for punishment. Each and every season, we set ourselves up for disappointment. Each and every week, we set ourselves up for disappointment. Each and every game... you get the point (I can feel my hopes swelling for the TCU game on Saturday this very minute).

Kansas led the Rice Owls 24-13 with a little over 11 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Had you told me that Rice would finish the game with just 25 points scored, I would have all but assumed KU was heading into the Week 3 matchup with TCU, 2-0. As the football gods would have it, that just wouldn't, shouldn't, and couldn't possibly be the case. Kansas was held scoreless by a very suspect Owl defense, and Chris Boswell nailed a 45 yard field goal (twice) as time expired, handing KU a 25-24 loss. The Hawks fell to 1-1 on the young season, and while it is "just one" loss, it's also probably one of the few games that Kansas could have won this season. Kansas might get "just one" win this year. This one sucked.

A Win is a Win is a Win is a Win

KU Sports

If you haven’t figured out by now, I am usually one of two things after a game: mordant and bitter or Pollyannaish and aroused. More times than not, I am mordant because KU has, honestly, lost quite a few games in the past 2 and a half seasons. Comedy is sometimes the only remedy. But tonight, despite its general sloppiness, was in fact a win, giving rise to an unreasonably good-humored post.

Week 12: @ WVU 2011: 10-3 (5-2)

Source: CBS Sports

Kansas concludes the regular season with a road-trip eastward to Morgantown, WV to play the West Virginia Mountaineers. Led by quarterback Geno Smith and his repertoire of dangerous receivers, West Virginia has the makeup of a team that gives Kansas fits. Can Kansas keep it a game?

Week 11: vs. ISU 2011: 6-7 (3-6)

Source: ISU Athletics

In 2011, Kansas lost to Iowa State by just 3 in Ames. In 2010, Kansas lost to Iowa State by just 12 in Ames.

Week 10: @ TTU 2011: 5-7 (2-7)

Source: UWire

On September 25, 2004, Kansas led Texas Tech 30-5 with just 48 seconds left in the first half. Texas Tech stormed back and won, 31-30.

On October 1, 2005, Texas Tech led by only 10 in the third quarter, 24-14, but pulled away in the fourth quarter, 30-14.

On October, 25, 2008, Kansas was tied with Tech, 14-14, early, but the Red Raiders would score 49 of the next 56 points, winning 63-14.

On Halloween 2009, Kansas led Tech in Lubbock, 21-14, heading into the fourth quarter, but imploded, losing 42-21.

And just last year, on October 1, Kansas led TTU 20-0, but lost 45-34.

If you haven't figured it out by now, I am sick of Texas Tech.

Week 9: @ Baylor 2011: 10-3 (6-3)

Source: Scout

Kansas lead No. 25 Baylor, 24-3, heading into the fourth quarter last year. It was the Jayhawks best chance at a Big 12 win in a little more than a year. It was all for naught, as Robert Griffin took over the game, and the Heisman race, with a 31-30 overtime comeback win.

Baylor loses their supernatural quarterback to the Washington Redskins, and Nick Florence gets the keys to the sleek, smooth, and speedy Baylor offense. Can he drive it as well as RG3? Can the defense stop anybody?