The Kansas Jayhawks came up short in double overtime Saturday, falling to the No. 22 Texas Tech Red Raiders, 41-34, at Lubbock, Texas. Despite the loss, which dropped Kansas to 1-9 this season, Jayhawks fans are happy to see progress against a superior opponent.
Owen, writer for Rock Chalk Talk, SB Nation's Kansas blog, saw a Jayhawks team that was competitive on the road against a ranked team. While last year's Kansas team may have folded early against the Red Raiders, the Jayhawks fought back and gave Tech everything it could handle:
The effort is there. Kansas went down 21-7 and never gave up. Last year that would have meant a 49-7 final score, this year the players fought to a four-point deficit at half and a tie by the end of regulation. Obviously there are other areas that still need to come along, but Weis is sending the message consistently ... The message is simple, if you want to be a part of this team you are going to have to show that every single day.
Kansas is playing with much more fire this season, and on Saturday, the Jayhawks' offensive line allowed the rest of the offense to have one of its best games of the season:
These guys went into a game where we ran 59 times and passed just 15, and they paved the way for one of the most successful offensive outputs of the season. Oddly enough, this was also one of the better defenses we've faced in Big 12 play of late. This was a great effort by Tanner Hawkinson, Duane Zlatnik, Trevor Marrongelli, Randall Dent and Aslam Sterling.
Next up for Kansas is a home date against the Iowa State Cyclones on Saturday, Nov. 17. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.