Kansas will head into Saturday afternoon with a simple mission: stop the Big 12 slide.
That’s the challenge Lance Leipold is trying to solve after a 35-24 loss at Kansas State last week exposed a rough edge the Jayhawks couldn’t hide. Leipold came away from the film with one clear takeaway.
"You've got to match someone's physicality, and I don't think we did that," he said. "If you knew the magic potion and the right button to push, you'd get it changed as quickly as you can."
Kansas gets another conference shot at Baylor in Lawrence, Kan., with the Jayhawks sitting at 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the Big 12. They’ve dropped four of their last five.
The problem at Kansas State wasn’t hard to spot. The Jayhawks gave up 359 rushing yards, including two 100-yard rushers, and surrendered 7 yards per carry. Leipold pointed to tackling as a major issue.
Kansas’ offense, which has usually carried plenty of weight, couldn’t offset the breakdowns. The Jayhawks average 449.5 yards per game, but they managed only 319 against Kansas State and converted just 3 of 11 third downs.
Isaiah Marshall’s accuracy remains a work in progress. He completed 12 of 26 passes last week, leaving his completion rate at 52.7. Still, he made an impact on the ground, rushing for 117 yards to push his season total to 372, second on the team.
Baylor comes in at 4-2 and 2-1 after a 17-6 loss to TCU last week. The Bears were held to 310 total yards and allowed four sacks against DJ Lagway.
Lagway has not been as sharp through the air this season as he was last year, when he completed 63.2% of his passes as Florida’s starter. This year, he has completed 93 of 186 attempts, a 50% rate. Against TCU, he was 22 of 53 with an interception.
Baylor’s offensive line took heat after that performance. It gave up the four sacks, struggled to open lanes in the run game and drew four penalties on the Bears’ final possession.
"The first thing you stare at is me," coach Dave Aranda said when asked about the line. "I have to get that group ready to go.
When you talk about tough, smart, dependable, it all starts up front. So that's a failure on my part."
In Other News...
Baylor Has A Special Teams Weapon Getting National Attention
A Baylor special teams standout is drawing national notice in a place teams usually hope never to think about much: the punters role. Senior Palmer Williams has been named to The Sporting News Midseason All-America Second Team, another sign that his leg has become one of the more reliable weapons in the country and a steady asset for the Bears as they move through the season.
Williams is currently leading the nation with a 51.4-yard punting average and is on pace to top the Big 12 for the third straight season, which helps explain why he has already picked up multiple preseason All-America honors and landed among the finalists for the Ray Guy Award. For Baylor, having that kind of field-position edge matters in tight games, and Williams keeps giving the Bears something every opponent has to account for. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Pitre Update Gives Baylor Fans A Reason To Exhale
Baylors NFL contingent had a mixed Week Six, with several former Bears dealing with the usual wear and tear of a long season while still finding ways to make an impact. The cleanest update came on Jalen Pitre, who came away with a non-severe AC joint and shoulder injury and is expected back soon, which should ease any concern for Baylor fans tracking the health of one of the programs most reliable pros.
There was less encouraging news elsewhere, though, as Tyquan Thornton remains sidelined after ankle surgery. Even so, Baylor alums continued to show up around the league, with Josh Cameron, Terrel Bernard, James Lynch, Ross Mastick and Jon Weeks all turning in notable contributions or steady work in their respective games, a reminder that the Bears NFL pipeline still has plenty of life in it. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Let TCU Find An Offensive Formula Fans Wont Like
TCU spent much of its game against Baylor searching for the right offensive rhythm, and the adjustments they made were hard to miss. Jaden Craig repeatedly leaned on wide receiver Jordan Dwyer, while the Horned Frogs also dipped into some creative wrinkles, including a Wildcat look with Kari Ashley, to keep the Bears from settling in.
The bigger issue was how fragile the rest of the operation looked once injuries started to affect the running game. TCU tried to manufacture momentum with a trick play, but the call backfired and ended in an interception, a reminder that the margin for error shrinks quickly when an offense is piecing things together on the fly. [Read more 🡒]