This evening in Austin, the University of Kansas attended an event in a very large stadium designed for American football. KU sent a troop of a hundred or so, presumably on a plane with a lot of equipment on a bus, maybe? I don’t know the logistics of this fiasco. I can’t imagine the team and the gear are on the same shipment, because I can’t imagine how any consistency in plan or execution is possible with this club.
I don’t fault the kids. The first and most obvious failure is the lack of a strength and conditioning program. These are 17-22 year old kids, who I believe are for the most part doing what they are told to do. “They just manhandled us.” The explanation from Turner Gill in an interview with Nate Bukaty.
“I do like the fight of our defensive players, it was good to see those guys on the defensive end fighting.”
“We didn’t expect to have that kind of performance.”
“We’re just not hitting on all cylinders in all phases.”
“You’ve just got to keep working.”
Announcer Bob Davis suggested that a positive was the lack of an utter and complete meltdown in the third quarter just after the half. I’m getting the vanilla version of the post-game pressers. I’m sure the guy is going to be roasted by any and every reporter in attendance, because what happened tonight was absolutely astounding.
It sounds bad that the Hawks had 3 first downs. The first one came on a personal foul penalty against Texas for roughing the passer. The third of the first downs was against a largely fourth-team defense in the fourth quarter. The Jayhawks kept a large percentage of their first-teamers in the entire game. They were all whipped against everyone they played.
This isn’t a good Texas team. In Austin, they consider their version of the Longhorns horrendous. The last two home conference victories in football are now both against Kansas, the previous one in 2009, when the Big XII had divisions and such…
Rich Baldinger repeatedly cited elementary-school level football fundamentals as massive failures of practically the entire team. Brandon Bourbon led the team in total yards with 23, outgaining the entire offense. At least he led the team in fumbles. Coach Gill helplessly challenged the obvious fumble. (It was the second of the three first downs.)
This was the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen. I know what bad Kansas football looks like. It’s never quite looked like this. They are as bafflingly devoid of direction and aspiration as any collective I’ve seen. I feel awful for those kids, a great many of which had talent at one point. They’re pretty much collectively broken right now. They’re a joke across the country, much less on their own campus. It’s a horrible situation for a high-profile kid. (Relatively high-profile, I suppose.)
The TV announcers for the Jayhawk Network were pretty good, all things considered. Each made it a point that they’d never seen anything quite like what they were watching. Baldinger thought the lights were too bright.
The Athletic Department is getting their money’s worth, I hear. I’ve read the contract, and I would propose that the staff could quite possibly be fired at this point for not doing the job. I think it could be taken to court, in fact. The guaranteed contract continuously makes assumptions that there will be actual football competitions, it appears. I’m pretty sure this is utter incompetence from the top down. There is too much blame to be spread on this mess.
It’s got to be cleaned up. They have to start cleaning, and the sooner the better. If I wake up, and the strength and conditioning coach John Williams is still at his post, I’ll be disgusted. This was fucking horrible. I couldn’t sleep last weekend after watching the K-State mess. I kept checking the news outlets for word of HCTG’s firing. It never happened. It has to happen. He’s killing a program he’s already killed. He’s got to be stopped.
Vic Shealy’s on the air now. He either sounds legitimately shaken, or like he’s Beavis/Butthead’s neighbor.
This is the guy, by the way, that has the Jayhawks playing in a defensive scheme that they quite clearly can’t perform in. We’re dropping shit out of linebacking corps and mixing in a bunch of stupid ass blitz schemes that don’t work because they never draw an effective mismatch, or even an even-man advantage. With three guys up front. It’s not even an attempt at competition the way it’s currently schemed. I can’t listen to this guy right now, because it’s pretty clear he can’t evaluate what the hell is going on. It’s tough being handcuffed by a strength program that’s making players weaker and a conditioning program that neither emphasizes speed nor endurance. We can’t lose sight of that, Jayhawks. I keep telling myself this can’t get worse. I’m wrong a lot.
Chuck Long is coming up. This is due to be a painfully long rant of this very uncomfortable moment in time. I want to remember this.
I want to remember this because I remember the Orange Bowl. Somehow, a team that won the Orange Bowl 46 months ago has become the worst Kansas football team I’ve ever seen. “I wish it was better, but hey, life goes on,” Chuck Long. More Chuck below:
“We had a tough night.”
“They just manhandled us. They just totally manhandled us. They played great, and I just felt like they were smothering us all night.”
“I’m hoping tonight’s just a hiccup, and not a pattern. But they just manhandled us, and we couldn’t get anything going.”
Again, Chuck is imprisoned by a team that is getting slower, weaker, and less in shape. They’ve still got to play a third of a football season. I’m baffled that the staff feels on any level that there could possibly be a recovery at this point. He’s being questioned with kid gloves a bit about the Hawks “hurry up” offense they’re still employing, and about the wear it might be placing on the defense. He’s kind of sidestepped this one. Turner Gill has previously stated, “That’s how we play.”
