Kansas’ defense walked into Saturday looking for answers and walked out with a shutout, a pile of confidence and its most complete outing under Lance Leipold.
The Jayhawks blanked Middle Tennessee 55-0 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, holding the Blue Raiders to 136 total yards in a performance that snapped Kansas’ two-game losing streak and gave the defense a badly needed jolt before Big 12 play.
Leipold liked what he saw most in the way his group handled the game mentally and verbally.
“Our guys are playing confidently, communicating well,” Leipold said. “For the most part we covered more aggressively today. We’re continuing to get some pressure on the quarterback and got him off rhythm, (which) made it tough for him.”
Middle Tennessee never found a foothold. The Blue Raiders finished with only seven first downs and averaged 3.2 yards per play, as Kansas kept forcing them into empty possessions and sending the offense back out with little resistance.
The 136 yards allowed were the fewest Kansas has given up in Leipold’s six seasons, according to Kansas Athletics.
There were individual plays sprinkled throughout the shutout, too. Dakyus Brinkley picked up his first sack of the season, Leroy Harris forced and recovered a fumble, and the Kansas front kept making life miserable for quarterback Roman Gagliano. The pressure came from everywhere, and it never really let up.
Just as important, Kansas didn’t lose its edge once the reserves started filtering in. Leipold said he was pleased with the players who came off the bench and noted that the execution stayed sharp even with the rotation.
That matters now more than ever, because the schedule is about to tighten.
The shutout ended a long drought as well. Kansas had not held an opponent scoreless since beating Louisiana Tech 29-0 on Sept. 6, 2008.
After three weeks of inconsistency, this was the kind of afternoon that can reset a defense’s confidence. The bigger test comes next Saturday, when Kansas opens Big 12 play on the road against No. 13 Utah.
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