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| Source: KU Sports |
I apologize for taking my time in writing this. I have been bogged down by homework, tests, and papers. So, I am cutting out “nap-time” for this week’s blog! This one should be especially fun!
Week 3
Box-Score Courtesy of: KU Athletics
Kansas (2-1) vs. Georgia Tech (3-0)
Date: Sep 17, 2011
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Kansas.............. 7 10 0 7 - 24
Georgia Tech........ 14 10 28 14 - 66
Now, it’s true that I have been short of time, but one of the main reasons why this week’s blog came out so late was because I saw it fit to have a bit of a “Cooling Period.” After the game Saturday, I felt like I was about to go into cardiac arrest. I try to keep a realistic and unbiased approach when I write, so I felt like a few days off would be in my best interest. Fuming mad, I knew I wouldn’t be able to refrain from blasting the defense for six or seven paragraphs.
Consistency is also the key for me when I am writing. Although the Jayhawks have made it difficult for me with their up-and-down play, it’s important for me to stay leveled. Essentially, I just want to avoid being volatile—but enough about me. The Kansas Jayhawks fell to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 66-24 in Atlanta.
Animated Drive Chart brought to you by Gameday Depot.
Road games are unique because a handful of players are not needed to make the trip. There must have been some sort of communication error, because the entire Jayhawk defense forgot to show up. The 95 yard scamper by Georgia Tech running back, Orwin Smith, on Georgia Tech’s first play from scrimmage was a bad omen for the rest of the game, and it looks like a bad omen for the rest of the season. Smith, on a counter trap play, streaked down the field untouched. When you think of the majestic, 60+ yard runs, you think of old Tommie Frazier or the epic Marshawn Lynch run last winter. What do they have in common? A lot of broken tackles! Smith was uncontested from the second he took the handoff!
Georgia Tech, to the satisfaction of its home crowd in Atlanta, looked like world beaters. Below is the link to order one of their celebration t-shirts—hot off the press.
There are several possible explanations as to why the Hawks defense was so inept. For starters, injuries have not treated the depth kindly. Defensive Tackles, Pat Dorsey and John Williams, are out, and Tunde Bakare, Tyler Patmon, and Isiah Barfield were all noticeably slowed by hampering injuries. Secondly, the team is just untalented and overmatched: Greg Brown, Keeston Terry, and Bradley McDougald all seem to have regressed from a strong November last year, and highly touted Buffalo transfer, Darius Willis, is not living up to his pre-season hype. And lastly, the scheme (and coach) could flat out be incompetent. Vic Shealy has had two weeks to muster any kind of defense and he has failed. It’s scary to think, with last year’s abysmal offense, the Jayhawks could very well be 0-3 right now.
I am slow to believe that lack of depth due to injuries was the culprit of such a horrendous performance. The Yellow Jackets scored on their opening play from scrimmage in both halves! When the defense was its freshest it gave up a 95 yarder to Smith on Georgia Tech’s first play and a 63 yard jaunt by Embry Peeples to start the 2nd half. Are the first-string DTs 95 yards better than the second-string? Would John Williams have blown that play up before it even got started? Sadly, the answer to both of those questions is a resounding, no.
What made the game so especially painful was the fact that the Hawks trailed just 7 at the start of the second half. Good fortune on a last minute drive to end the first half, aided by a roughing the kicker penalty, allowed the Jayhawks to trim the margin to a single score, 24-17.
Lack of talent loses ballgames, no doubt, but even an undermanned defense has to try to give up nearly 800 yards! Georgia Tech set a YPC (Yards-per-Carry) record for a single game against this defense, and I think if my roommates were on defense it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Not to sound cliché, but this was not a case of the Jimmies and the Joes, but the X’s and the O’.
I hate to say this, but does a Bo Pelini coached KU defense give up 800 yards of offense? No. Does a Bill Young defense give up 800 yards? No. Does even a Clint Bowen defense give up 800 yards of offense? Well… yes. (Clint Bowen was KU’s defensive coordinator for Mark Mangino in 2009. He is now the defensive coordinator of the North Texas, “not so Mean Green”, team that has given up 559 yards per game. Kansas has given up only 550.) But, Clint Bowen aside, the Jayhawks were historically bad.
The “blame finger” gets pointed squarely at Vic Shealy. The circumstances under which he took over as defensive coordinator were grim, and the outlook on his first season was, if not bleak, poor. When Carl Torbush, the 2010 KU defensive coordinator, had to retire because of health issues, Shealy was handed an assignment that was a little above his paycheck. It has shown. Turner Gill better give his coordinator an ultimatum, especially heading into a bye week, or else he could find himself on the hot seat.
We tricked ourselves into thinking of last year as an aberration—50 point losses to Baylor and Kansas State were an anomaly. But unless the defense can create an identity—fast—this could be a repeat of last year (with some offense sprinkled in).
As always, there is a positive to take away from the game: Dexter McDonald looked strong. Expect for Vic Shealy to make some serious changes, a.k.a. McDonald playing over Patmon, or may end up jobless. I am rooting for Shealy, but this is big-time football. You are either getting the job done, or you are not.
Jordan Webb’s interception-less streak has gone unnoticed by fans, particularly because the defense has been on an interception-less streak of its own. Check that, they haven’t even forced a turnover. That would be called a turnover-less streak. In seriousness, Webb has elevated his game. He made several third down passes and a beautifully thrown bomb to D.J. Beshears that kept the Hawks in the game for the first half.
The running game is still strong, but Chuck Long had major brain-fart for, well, the entirety of the game. Take a look at this log from Saturday’s game:
Rushing
No. Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
Miller, Darrian 11 54 1 53 2 11 4.8
Sims, James 11 40 0 40 0 19 3.6
Lewis, Rell 10 27 1 26 0 9 2.6
Pierson, Tony 6 18 0 18 0 8 3.0
Webb, Jordan 3 16 1 15 0 12 5.0
Bourbon, Brandon 1 0 1 -1 0 0 -1.0
Totals 42 155 4 151 2 19 3.6
Now, take a look at what I try to emphasize:
Rushing
No. Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
2. Miller, Darrian 11 54 1 53 2 11 4.8
1. Sims, James 11 40 0 40 0 19 3.6
5. Lewis, Rell 10 27 1 26 0 9 2.6
4. Pierson, Tony 6 18 0 18 0 8 3.0
QB. Webb, Jordan 3 16 1 15 0 12 5.0
3. Bourbon, Brandon 1 0 1 -1 0 0 -1.0
Totals 42 155 4 151 2 19 3.6
The way the ball was distributed to the top 5 runners on the depth-chart was just mind boggling. What the Rell?
As you would expect, the top two backs, Sims and Miller, were the most effective. Pierson was a nose-hair behind them, and Bourbon had no room to prove himself. But why did Rell Lewis get 10 carries? He averaged 2.6 yards a carry and almost all of them came out of the “Wildca—err—Jayhawk” package. You could say that Georgia Tech had that play snuffed out in comparison to their 12.1 YPC.
Heck, if Rell Lewis had rushed for 100 yards I would still be upset. What is the point of the Jayhawk formation if you aren’t going to THROW in a “wrinkle”? The Jayhawks have yet to throw the ball from that formation! An incompletion out of the Jayhawk could do wonders; it could open up the playbook and make the defense think a little. Instead, Long insists on keeping the ball out of his best players hands, and giving it to a “former high-school quarterback”, only to never throw the ball.
The way Long utilized Lewis in the Northern Illinois game was perfect. He was a decoy on third down plays and he caught nice dump-offs in the flats. He did not carry the ball in the trenches for 2 yards 10 times!
The Jayhawks, especially with this defense, cannot waste possessions and carries. Brandon Bourbon getting one carry is inexcusable, Tony Pierson getting 6 carries is inexcusable, and James Sims getting only 11 carries is maddening. What on earth is going on upstairs with the play-calling? This team has four legitimate Big 12 running backs, and they decide to use the fifth best. Pencil me in upset.
This bye week had better be taken full advantage of. If KU responds like they did after last year’s bye week, a blowout loss to Kansas State, then look out folks. But if the coordinators can figure some things out, we could be 3-1 after a third of the season; Texas Tech is crucial.
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