Kansas football vs. Oklahoma State report card: Jayhawks capture win No. 6

Jordan Guskey, Topeka Capital-Journal

November 6, 2022 at 9:44 PM·4 min read

LAWRENCE — Kansas football ended its three-game losing streak with a 37-16 win in Big 12 Conference play Saturday against Oklahoma State.

The Jayhawks (6-3, 3-3 in Big 12) started fast and finished strong against a team they suffered a crushing defeat against last season. The Cowboys (6-3, 3-3 in Big 12), ranked 18th in the nation entering Saturday, couldn’t muster up much of anything as they lost a second-straight game. Up next for Kansas is a Nov. 12 matchup on the road against Texas Tech (4-5, 2-4 in Big 12) that’ll allow the Jayhawks a chance to exact some revenge against a team they lost against last year.

Here’s how Kansas graded out against Oklahoma State:

Offense: Jayhawks get back on track

Kansas redshirt senior quarterback Jason Bean (9) hands the ball to sophomore running back Devin Neal (4) with junior wide receiver Luke Grimm (11) running in the back during the fourth quarter of Saturday's game at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

The story last time Kansas played was it started too slow and couldn’t put enough points up late.

That wasn’t what happened against Oklahoma State.

The Jayhawks scored every quarter, and on seven of their 10 drives — including going 5-for-5 in the red zone. Three of those drives lasted at least 10 plays, with the 15-play drive and 16-play drive taking 7:52 and 6:09 off the clock each, respectively. It’s part of why they were able to dominate time of possession, along with stellar play by Kansas’ defense.

Redshirt senior quarterback Jason Bean, making his third-straight start as junior quarterback Jalon Daniels continues to recover from injury, led an offense that committed no turnovers with poise and to a pair of fourth-down conversions. Sophomore running back Devin Neal enjoyed a historic performance, but wasn’t the only one to have some success. The offensive line provided the setup for what was possible, including helping the offense to an average of 7.6 yards per rush and not allowing any sacks, and continued to do so despite losing some key pieces for periods of time.

Grade: A

Defense: Four turnovers, and a day to be proud of

Kansas redshirt freshman defensive lineman Tommy Dunn Jr. (92) tackles Oklahoma State wide receiver Brennan Presley (80) in the first quarter of Saturday's game inside David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

This performance rivals the unit’s play earlier this season when it shut down Iowa State. It was that impressive because of the four turnovers it forced and so much more. The fact that Oklahoma State was without its starting quarterback and other talent matters, but it’s not like Kansas was always at full strength and at the very least the Jayhawks delivered on what they should have considering the Cowboys’ deficiencies.

Oklahoma State averaged just 3.2 yards per rush and 5.5 yards per play. It couldn’t protect backup quarterback and freshman Garret Rangel, who was sacked twice and hurried five times on a day he also threw three interceptions — with the team’s other turnover coming on a fumble. The Cowboys, who scored on just three of their 11 drives, also allowed six tackles for loss.

Kansas’ sacks were split among redshirt freshman defensive lineman Tommy Dunn Jr. (0.5), redshirt junior linebacker Craig Young (0.5) and senior linebacker Rich Miller (1). The tackles for loss were split among those aforementioned three, in addition to junior defensive lineman Jereme Robinson (2), redshirt junior cornerback Kalon Gervin (1), sophomore cornerback Cobee Bryant (0.5) and redshirt senior defensive end Hayden Hatcher (0.5).

The Jayhawks are still developing their depth, but how spread out that production is shows how much potential there is for them defensively.

Each takeaway came by a different Kansas player.

Grade: A

Special teams: Reliable and productive

Kansas junior kicker Tabor Allen (40) punts the ball towards Oklahoma State in the third quarter of Saturday's game at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

Kansas redshirt junior kicker Jacob Borcila helped keep Oklahoma State at arm's length Saturday with his 3-for-3 mark on field goals, with those coming from 21, 20 and 31 yards. He connected on all four of his extra points. Sometimes a day like that can be taken for granted given the distances of those kicks, but it shouldn’t be.

Junior punter Reis Vernon wasn’t lights out with every punt, but one that went 32 yards and set the Cowboys up at their own 40-yard line didn’t lead to any points. Vernon also landed one inside the 20-yard line. The 10 drives for Oklahoma State that didn’t start at its own 40-yard line started at its 28-yard line or worse, helping Kansas win the field position battle.

The Jayhawks once again didn’t win with their return game, but once again didn’t lose because of the opponent’s.

Grade: A

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas football vs. Oklahoma State report card: Jayhawks earn a win

Associated Press
Lawmakers stage Māori protest in New Zealand's parliament during fraught race relations debate
A vote in New Zealand’s parliament was suspended and two lawmakers ejected on Thursday when dramatic political theater erupted over a controversial proposed law redefining the country’s founding agreement between Indigenous Māori and the British Crown. Under the principles laid out in the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, which guide the relationship between the government and Māori, tribes were promised broad rights to retain their lands and protect their interests in return for ceding governance to the British. The bill would specify that those rights should apply to all New Zealanders.
Yahoo Finance
Disney earnings beat as streaming profit tops estimates
Disney reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings that beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines as its streaming business swung to a profit.
Associated Press
UK set to create new pension megafunds with aim of unlocking $100 billion for investment
British Treasury chief Rachel Reeves is set to announce plans later Thursday to merge dozens of pension funds with the aim of unlocking tens of billions of pounds for investment and boosting the U.K.'s sub-par economic growth. In comments released by the Treasury ahead of her speech to finance leaders in central London, Reeves will say that the creation of so-called “megafunds” will represent the “biggest pension reform in decades.” In her first so-called Mansion House speech, an annual ritual for British chancellors of the exchequer, Reeves will say that the changes could help unlock 80 billion pounds ($100 billion) for investment.
Reuters
Qatari Emir arrives in Turkey to meet Erdogan, discuss cooperation
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani arrived in Ankara on Thursday to chair a Turkey-Qatar High Strategic Committee meeting with President Tayyip Erdogan, after which the sides are expected to sign off on investment-related accords. Turkey, which fiercely criticised Israel over its offensives in Gaza and in Lebanon, does not deem the Palestinian militant group Hamas a terrorist group, and some of its political officials regularly visit Turkey. Erdogan and al Thani will hold a bilateral meeting and then will chair the tenth meeting of the Turkey-Qatar High Strategic Committee.
Reuters
Futures muted ahead of economic data, Powell speech
The producer price index (PPI) reading for October and weekly jobless claims data are expected at 8:30 a.m. ET. "These numbers (PPI) better reflect corporate pricing power than the consumer price data, the tone should be consistent with a December rate cut," said Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management. Traders are broadly pricing in an 82.3% chance of a 25-basis point interest rate cut at the Fed's December meeting, according to CME FedWatch.
Associated Press
Mastermind of foiled Hong Kong bomb plot to target police is jailed for nearly 24 years
The mastermind behind a foiled bomb plot during anti-government protests in Hong Kong in 2019 has been jailed for nearly 24 years in the city's first case brought under a United Nations anti-terrorism law. Ng Chi-hung, who had previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit the bombing of prescribed objects under the anti-terror law and possession of arms or ammunition with intent to endanger life, was sentenced to 23 years and 10 months by a Hong Kong court on Thursday. The seven are not well-known activists in the semi-autonomous Chinese city’s pro-democracy movement, but their case has drawn attention because the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Ordinance was invoked.
Reuters
Biden to bid farewell at APEC and G20 under Trump's shadow
President Joe Biden heads to South America on Thursday for a curtain call with global leaders after over 50 years in U.S. politics, but the man he tried and failed to keep from returning to power is likely to be the focus of many meetings: incoming U.S. President Donald Trump. Biden will hold private meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and the heads of Japan, South Korea and Brazil during the summits of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, in Peru and the Group of 20 leading economies, or G20, in Brazil. The meetings over six days are not expected to yield any major new agreements, senior Biden administration officials said, even as they are likely to touch on trade, security and global alliances.
AFP
Russia shuts Moscow's famed gulag museum
Russian authorities ordered the closure from Thursday of Moscow's award-winning Gulag History Museum, dedicated to the victims of Soviet-era repression.In 2021, authorities ordered the liquidation of Memorial, the Nobel Prize-winning NGO that records victims of both Soviet repression and allegations of human rights violations by the current regime.
Reuters
Analysis-Crypto industry pushes for policy sea change after Trump victory
The crypto industry is pushing for an ambitious raft of policies that would promote the widespread adoption of digital assets and considering who best to promote them, as they anticipate a cryptocurrency-friendly regime under President-elect Donald Trump. While crypto companies were already anticipating a lighter touch with a new administration, Donald Trump's decisive victory and a projected Republican sweep of Congress pave the way for a dramatic and lasting crypto policy overhaul. Trump courted crypto cash with promises to be a "crypto president," and industry executives say he now has a strong mandate to deliver.
AFP
London mayor says Trump attacks due to his ethnicity and religion
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has accused Donald Trump of repeatedly criticising him because of his "ethnicity" and Muslim faith, in comments likely to renew his long-running feud with the US president-elect.Trump then accused Khan -- the first Muslim mayor of a Western capital when he was first elected in 2016 -- of doing a "very bad job on terrorism" and called him a "stone cold loser" and "very dumb".
CNN
Trump’s Pentagon pick aims for clash with top military leadership
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary Pete Hegseth has railed against women in combat, voiced support for troops accused and in some instances, convicted of war crimes, and advocated for the firing of the military’s most senior officers accused of supporting so-called “woke” policies.
CNN
Lavish gold-domed penthouse in New York city on sale for $25 million
The gold dome atop 170 Fifth Avenue is actually a two-story apartment — and now it’s up for sale
Yahoo Finance
The 'DOGE' jokes are easy, but Musk's new side hustle is Tesla's biggest advantage yet: Morning Brief
Taking Musk's government efficiency department as a joke underestimates what he might do with this newfound power.
AFP
Iran tells UN nuclear chief it won't negotiate under 'intimidation'
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday that Iran will not negotiate under "intimidation" as he held crunch talks with the UN nuclear chief weeks before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office.The IAEA chief described his meeting with Araghchi as "indispensable" in a post on X. Araghchi was Iran's chief negotiator in talks that led to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, abandoned three years later by Trump.
Associated Press
A Russian man stands treason trial on charges he filmed military equipment for Ukraine
A Russian man faced trial on Thursday on charges of high treason for a video he had allegedly sent to Ukraine's security services, the latest in a growing series of espionage cases amid the fighting in Ukraine. The Volgograd District Court began hearing a new case against Nikita Zhuravel, who is currently serving a 3.5-year sentence for publicly burning a Quran in front of a mosque. The new charges against Zhuravel are based on allegations that he filmed a trainload of military equipment and warplanes in 2023 and sent the video to a representative of Ukraine’s security agency.
AFP
Uganda TikToker convicted for insulting president
A Ugandan court has convicted a 21-year-old content creator for calling for the public flogging of President Yoweri Museveni on video-sharing platform TikTok, a state prosecutor said on Thursday. In July, another 21-year-old TikToker was sentenced to six years in prison for insulting Museveni, who has ruled Uganda with an iron fist since he toppled president Milton Obote in 1986.
Reuters
EU lawmakers seek change to deforestation law and back delay
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Parliament sought on Thursday to water down a ban on the import of commodities such as beef and soy linked to deforestation, and backed a one year delay to the new rule, in a fresh push-back against the EU's environmental agenda. The European Commission proposed a 12-month delay until Dec 2025 last month after complaints from a group of 20 EU countries, some companies and countries such as Brazil and Indonesia. The parliament's vote for changes adds to uncertainty over the EU deforestation regulation (EUDR) as lawmakers will now have to enter negotiations with EU governments to find a compromise.
CNN
Thousands evacuated as parts of Spain hit with nearly a month’s rainfall in one hour
Severe thunderstorms and torrential rain have once again battered coastal Spain, causing flooding and evacuations just two weeks after the country experienced deadly flooding in Valencia and other nearby communities.
AFP
Thousands flee as Typhoon Usagi hits north Philippines
Typhoon Usagi slammed into the Philippines' already disaster-ravaged north on Thursday, as authorities rushed to evacuate thousands of people from flood-prone areas.- 'Forced evacuations' - Elsewhere in Cagayan, officials worked in driving rain Thursday to evacuate residents along the coasts and on the banks of already swollen rivers.
AFP
As Trump returns, African exporters torn between hope and horror
Citrus growers in South Africa are among the businesses most nervous that duty- and quota-free exports to the United States could be scrapped next year when Donald Trump returns to the White House.Another South African citrus company told AFP on condition of anonymity that if AGOA were not renewed, it would "kill" their business, which employed more than 3,000 people and exported an average of 350 containers of sorbet products per year to the United States.

Offense: Jayhawks get back on track

Defense: Four turnovers, and a day to be proud of

Special teams: Reliable and productive

Latest Stories