Stats that Matter | Kansas Jayhawks vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders

THE DEFENSES

STATISTIC
Passes Broken Up	36	30
QB Hurries	8	8
Fumbles Forced	3	7
Interceptions	7	9
Sacks	12.0	7.0
Tackles for Loss	45.0	41.0
3rd Down Conversion %	38.28%	34.48%
Rushing Yards Allowed	125.89 (28, 3)	196.33 (95, 8)
Rushing Avg. Yards/Attempt	3.63	5.30
Passing Yards Allowed	188.22 (18, 2)	249.89 (78, 6)
Passing Avg Yards/Attempt	6.2	7.8

I've seen the disparity in yards before. Yes, I think it was last week. Texas Tech had the better defensive numbers, except that UT, generally speaking, had better numbers in the turnover department. This week, the Jayhawks and Texas Tech are pretty much even in terms of turnovers, but the dispartity in yards is pretty overwhelming. As we'll find out below, KU is a very good rushing team, but the defense has pretty much failed them. I tend to preach that defense is about having superior athletes and without watching a snap of KU footall, I'd guess that this is the case with Kansas. Just not enough athletes to really compete on the Big 12 level.

I really am shocked how close these two teams are in terms of turnovers and maybe for Texas Tech, this will be more of an emphasis in year two of the Art Kaufman Experience. Be basic, get the simple things down, build up their confidence and then try to implement some blitz packages that will force opposing teams into bad decisions. I still want to mention that the yards given up over the past 4 or 5 games for Texas Tech is disheartening and a cause for concern. Two of these games were wins, but 408 yards to WVU, 516 to TCU, 426 to KSU and 427 to UT. The total yards is really becoming problematic and as good as a job as Kaufman has done, the biggest concern is that this is a group that most likely is going to get worn down over the course of the game.

I'd also guess that there is a pretty good chance that Kansas will also rack up some pretty good yards and would think that Kaufman keeps everything in front of him. I'd imagine that he probably punched the plexiglass after the second long play-action completion against the Longhorns. I'm guessing that this doesn't happen this week.

THE OFFENSES

STATISTIC
Red Zone TD %	68.89% (31/45)	42.86% (12/28)
3rd Down Conversion %	50.41%	34.27%
Passing Yards	354.67 (4, 3)	161.00 (111, 10)
Yards/Passing Attempt	7.9	5.6
Rushing Yards	144.89 (79, 8)	193.44 (33, 3)
Rushing Yards Per Attempt	4.54	4.27
Touchdowns | Turnovers	44 | 14	19 | 18
Turnover Margin	-0.44	-0.11
Yards/Play	6.52	4.80
Pass Attempt / Sacks Allowed	28.78	10.70

Who else is somewhat impressed by Kansas' ability to run the football? I know that I am. I wasn't expecting that at all. I know that they have a few talented runners, but not to the tune of almost 200 yards on the ground a game. But the passing, the thing that I think Charlie Weis takes great pride in, the passing game, is atrocious. Just a shade over 160 yards a game passing and only 5.6 yards an attempt isn't good.

And part of the reason for the lack of success passing the ball is the fact that the Jayhawks are allowing 1 sack every 10 pass attempts. That's just staggering. I'd also mention the disparity in scoring. KU just doesn't have a lot of points this year. They haven't been able to get the ball into the redzone, only 3 redzone opportunities each game just isn't enough to get it done in Big 12 competition.

The turnover problem didn't haunt Texas Tech against Texas, but it is strange to think that KU has a better ratio than Texas Tech in the turnover department. The lack of takeaways is troubling. I don't think that 14 turnovers is that bad and it puts Texas Tech 5th in the Big 12, but Texas Tech is 9th in the Big 12 in total takeaways with only 10. Surprisingly, Oklahoma St. only has 9 takeaways this year after having 44 last year. That's quite a difference.

All helmet images via The Helmet Project and thanks to College Football Statistics for these stats.