Kansas turnovers elevate Oklahoma State 44-20

For a moment during the third quarter, the Oklahoma State Cowboys more resembled a rugby club than an American college football team.

Mason Rudolph threw for 220 yards and one touchdown,Jalen McCleskey caught six passes for 129 yards, Justice Hill ran for 162 yards and Oklahoma State (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) extinguished Kansas' homecoming excitement, winning 44-20.

The rugby act came after Kansas' Montell Cozart tossed a deep pass, intended for wide receiver LaQuvionte Gonzalez, but the ball ricocheted up and Oklahoma State free safetyJordan Sterns brought it down. Sterns scrambled up the field for 21 yards and then lateraled the ball to defensive tackleVincent Taylor.

"We've become the lateral kings," Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said.

And the play wasn't over.

Taylor ran for 14 yards before lateraling to defensive end Jarrell Owens. Owens ran for another 29 yards before being brought down by Gonzalez at the Kansas 16.

Gundy didn't know how many laterals were thrown during that play, but he knew more than one was enough.

"I was OK with one," Gundy said. "... Three times? I vote for one lateral and then tuck it away and get what you can get."

Oklahoma State chipped in a 25-yard field goal a few plays after the chaos.

With less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Kansas (1-6, 0-4) Cozart was pressed on third-and-7 deep in Jayhawk territory and threw an interception straight into the hands of Oklahoma State defensive tackle DeQuinton Osborne. Osborne, standing at 6-foot and weighing 310 pounds, ran down to Kansas sideline to the 1-yard line.

Cozart said he, as a film junkie, hadn't seen where Oklahoma State has their nose guard drop back in coverage.

"They got us on that one. They got me," Cozart said of the Osborne interception. "They had seven guys walk up. I knew one of those guys was going to be free. I had a high route to the right and I knew. They got us on that one."

On the following play, Oklahoma State running back Rennie Childs punched in the ball to put the Cowboys up 31-20.

Kansas started off hot, scoring first halfway through the first quarter by a Cozart-to-Gonzalez 68-yard pass. The Jayhawks held a lead until three minutes before halftime when Hill inched in a 1-yard touchdown run to make the score 17-13.

Kansas came close to getting within one point, attempting a 59-yard field goal as time expired before halftime. With five seconds remaining in the half, Oklahoma State's Motekiai Maile blocked the kick. Kansas couldn't recover, scoring only one more time before the game ended.

"Our coaches made some really good adjustments in the second half and the players did a nice job of taking it out on the field," Gundy said.

Cozart threw for 250 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, Ke'aun Kinner rushed for 145 yards, and Gonzalez hauled in six passes for 106 yards in the Jayhawks' 21st-straight loss to FBS opponents.

THE TAKEAWAY

Kansas: The Kansas defense sacked Mason Rudolph five times, the most a Jayhawk squad has brought down a Cowboy quarterback in program history. Dorance Armstrong sacked Rudolph once, extending his sack streak to five-straight games.

Oklahoma State: The Cowboys scored 17 points off Jayhawk turnovers.

STATLINE:

With 14 points on Saturday, Oklahoma State kicker Ben Grogan is the new career scoring leader at Oklahoma State. He tied former Cowboy kicker Dan Bailey's record with his first extra point of the day and surpassed Bailey on the first field goal of the day. Grogan currently has 383 career points.

UP NEXT

Kansas travels to Oklahoma to play the Sooners on Oct. 29.

Oklahoma State hosts West Virginia on Oct. 29.

No. 11 Baylor still undefeated after 49-7 win over Kansas

 Seth Russell threw two touchdowns and ran for two more while playing only the first half, Ryan Reidreturned the first of his two interceptions for a score and No. 11 Baylor remained undefeated with a 49-7 win over Kansas on Saturday.

Shock Linwood's 4-yard score on the first play after a Kansas fumble was his 36th career rushing touchdown and broke a tie with Alfred Anderson for the most in school history. Linwood was already the career rushing leader for the Bears (6-0, 3-0 Big 12).

Kansas (1-5, 0-3) had five turnovers that led to 21 points for the Bears. The Jayhawks have lost 15 Big 12 games in a row, and dropped 36 consecutive road games since winning at UTEP seven years ago.

Reid's 64-yard interception return ended the first offensive drive for Kansas and gave the Bears a 14-0 lead. He returned a pick in the second quarter 52 yards to the Jayhawks 19, but Baylor then had the first of its three missed field goals.

The Bears led 42-0 after Russell's last pass, a 4-yard TD to Ishmael Zamora with 1:45 left in the first half.

Russell, 14-0 when starting for Baylor, was 9-of-22 passing for 144 yards. He led the Bears with 68 yards rushing, and got flipped after he leaped in the end zone for a 26-yard TD when converting a fourth-and-3 to make it 21-0 in the first quarter.

TAKEAWAYS

Kansas: It's not a good day when the highlight is probably the 82-yard punt by Cole Moos , who had the wind to his back and had the ball roll to the Baylor 3 after a great bounce off the turf. Sure, the Jayhawks were five-touchdown underdogs, but this was a bit of a backward step for second-year coach David Beaty's team. They were also big underdogs a week earlier in a one-point loss at home to TCU after missing three field goals in the fourth quarter.

Baylor: While the Bears are already bowl eligible for the seventh consecutive season, and the only FBS team to be 6-0 for the fourth year in a row, they haven't really been tested. The only team with a winning record they've played this year is Oklahoma State, which had four turnovers and two fourth-quarter drives end inside the 5. The other Baylor opponents went into Saturday with a combined 5-22 record, and that doesn't even include the Kansas loss in Waco. The Bears will get tested, still with No. 19 Oklahoma and No. 20 West Virginia on the road.

UP NEXT

Kansas: Plays four of its next five games at home, starting next Saturday against Oklahoma St.

Baylor: Another open date before playing at Texas on Oct. 29.

TCU hangs on to defeat Kansas 24-23

 After two years of close calls and dashing dreams against Kansas, the TCU Horned Frogs found themselves in another tight game with the Jayhawks.

In the 2014 and 2015 matchups between the two conference foes, the games were decided by 10 points combined.

The pattern continued Saturday when TCU (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) outlasted Kansas 24-23.

"KU has always played us hard," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "... I'm going to do a better job of changing my signals. I thought (defensive coordinator) Coach (Clint) Bowen and the defensive group did a great job. It's been three years he's done a good job on us."

One of the things different this time was that TCU wasn't ranked.

Kenny Hill completed 17 of 32 passes for 206 yards with one touchdown pass and one rushing score to help TCU squeak out its fourth win of the season.

Kansas took a 23-14 lead late in the third quarter on Ryan Willis' 21-yard run. But TCU answered early in the fourth.

On third-and-12 in its own territory, Hill scrambled and fumbled, but he picked it up and darted around the field for a gain of 34 yards. A facemask penalty added 15 extra yards to put TCU in scoring position.

"Fortunately for us, we had one of those plays last week against us," Patterson said. "Usually, if you win those plays, a lot of times you have the chance to win the ballgame."

Two plays later, Hill connected with Jaelan Austin for the touchdown to put the Horned Frogs within 23-21.

Kansas had two good scoring chances in the fourth quarter, but went wide right and wide left on two field-goal opportunities.

With under four minutes remaining, TCU pieced together a 59-yard drive to tack on a field goal to take the lead at 24-23.

Kansas had 81 seconds to make something happen.

Willis was sacked on back-to-back plays to put Kansas in a tough spot at third-and-23 on the Kansas 30-yard line. Willis avoided getting sacked for a third straight down and ran the ball out of bounds. On fourth down, Willis threw the ball to Sims, who lateraled it to Bobby Hartzog. Kansas had the first down and was in TCU territory.

But Matthew Wyman missed a 54-yard field goal.

"Sometimes things don't fall your way and you gotta bounce back," Willis said.

After losing three games to TCU over the past three seasons by a combined 11 points, it'd be easy for minds to wander.

"There's a lot of `ifs' and `buts' but those don't matter," Kansas coach David Beaty said. "We have to go to school before next week with more Big 12 play."

Kyle Hicks carried the ball 18 times for 104 yards and one touchdown for TCU. Hill threw three interceptions.

Willis was 31 of 45 for 348 yards with three interceptions for Kansas, LaQuvionte Gonzalez had 131 yards receiving and Steven Sims added 101 yards receiving.

STAT LINES

KANSAS: Under Beaty, the Jayhawks are 1-16 and are still awaiting their first conference victory.

TCU: The Horned Frogs have scored in 299 consecutive games, the second-longest current streak in the nation, dating to Nov. 16, 1991.

TAKEAWAYS

TCU: Hill's three picks tied a career high.

KANSAS: The Jayhawks have 17 turnovers through five games.

UP NEXT

TCU: After a bye week, the Horned Frogs play at West Virginia on Oct. 22.

Kansas: Plays at Baylor next Saturday.

Mahomes, Shimonek each throw for 4 TDs to beat Kansas 55-19

Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury will be "very comfortable" if his backup quarterback has to take over for the starter for a while.

Backup quarterback Nic Shimonek threw for four touchdowns and 271 yards to lead Texas Texas past Kansas 55-19 Thursday night in each team's Big 12 opener.

"He steps in and plays his tail off," the fourth-year coach said about Shimonek. "He threw some incredible passes."

Shimonek came in after starter Patrick Mahomes, who also threw for four TDs, got injured in the third quarter.

Mahomes, who threw for 277 yards and had one interception, left the game after a 32-yard run that ended with him going down hard on his right shoulder. After being checked briefly on the sideline, he tried to throw one pass before going into the locker room for further evaluation.

Mahomes "could be OK," Kingsbury said. Asked how he knew that, Kingsbury said jokingly, '"cause I didn't see the trainer jump off the side of the stadium."

"We got to get him looked at more extensively," he said.

The backup's teammates think highly of Shimonek's work ethic.

"He never complains," said defensive back Justis Nelson. "I never hear a bad word coming out of his mouth. He knows all the plays and we don't lose a beat whenever he comes in."

Shimonek threw TDs for 4, 37, 31 and 59 yards, while Mahomes' scoring strikes were for 14, 18, 17 and 6.

Jonathan Giles led Texas Tech (3-1) with 12 catches for 219 yards.

"There's a reason their offense is second in the country," Kansas coach David Beaty said. "Those dudes can score fast."

Giles continues to be Texas Tech's go-to guy.

"They tried to double him at times, but he found a way to get open and once he gets it, he can do stuff with it," Kingsbury said.

The defeat for Kansas (1-3) made it 40 straight losses in games away from Lawrence, Kansas.

"That score did not show how the game went," quarterback Ryan Willis said. "I mean, hats off to them, they played their butts off, but we need to bounce back again. Some nights you win, some nights you lose."

The Red Raiders have scored at least 50 points in nine straight home games.

Beaty switched between QBs Montell Cozart and Ryan Willis.

"I'm sure everybody has their idea of who should be playing quarterback for us," Beaty said. "But we're with them every day. I evaluate them every day. I see them every day. Our staff sees them every day. We make decisions based on what we see, not what we want."

THE TAKEAWAY

KANSAS: The Jayhawks took some time to get going against a defense that was giving up 531.3 yards per game coming into the contest. They punted on their first six possessions and didn't get a touchdown until late in the first half after QB Ryan Willis came in for starter Montell Cozart.

TEXAS TECH: The Red Raiders offensive line struggled and penalties erased big plays. An ineligible receiver call against Texas Tech negated a 31-yard reception by Derrick Willlies late in the first half. There were also two false start penalties, including one that nixed a 36-yard catch by Reginald Davis that would have given the Red Raiders the ball at the Jayhawks 1. "I don't think our O-line played very well, and it's something we've got to address," Kingsbury said.

UP NEXT

KANSAS: The Jayhawks play host to No. 21 TCU on Oct. 8.

TEXAS TECH: The Red Raiders travel to Kansas State on Oct. 8.

Memphis builds early lead, coasts past Kansas 43-7

Riley Ferguson threw for 189 yards and two touchdowns and Jake Elliot kicked a trio of field goals - including a 50-yarder - as Memphis built an early lead and coasted to a 43-7 victory over Kansas on Saturday.

Ferguson completed 15 of 24 passes for Memphis (2-0), the bulk of his passing yards coming on an 84-yard completion to Anthony Miller for the game's first score. In addition to his 50-yarder, Elliot converted kicks of 41 and 42 yards.

The Jayhawks (1-2) struggled offensively throughout the game, although they did end with 314 yards total offense. Many times when Kansas was able to move the ball, the momentum was stalled by one of the Jayhawks' six turnovers in the game, including a 61-yard interception return for a touchdown by Memphis defensive tackle Jonathan Wilson. Wilson's return late in the second quarter gave Memphis a 33-7 lead at the break.

The Jayhawks never came close to threatening the Tigers in the second half.

TAKEAWAYS:

KANSAS: The Jayhawks again struggled to open the game. Kansas, which let Ohio build a 22-0 start last week game, was again fighting uphill Saturday. Memphis held a 19-0 lead before carrying its 33-7 advantage into halftime.

MEMPHIS: The Tigers, who managed only 110 yards on the ground in the season-opener against Southeast Missouri State, managed 205 rushing yards on Saturday, 52 of which came on a sweep from wideout Anthony Miller on the second play from scrimmage.

UP NEXT:

KANSAS: The Jayhawks have a bye next week before returning to the road to face Texas Tech on Sept. 29. It will be the first Thursday game for the Jayhawks since a 59-7 loss to Kansas State on Oct. 14, 2010.

MEMPHIS: The Tigers continue a homestand next week facing Bowling Green. Memphis won at Bowling Green 44-41 last season.

Ohio builds big early lead, knocks off Kansas 37-21

Ohio's Greg Windham played like a fifth-year senior rather than a quarterback making just his second career start, though Kansas certainly did everything it could to help him out.

Two fumbled punt returns. Inopportune penalties. An interception. A safety.

The result was a 37-21 victory for the Bobcats on Saturday that went a long way toward erasing the memory of a triple-overtime defeat to Texas State in their season opener.

"I'm proud of our guys the way they came back," Ohio coach Frank Solich said. "I thought it showed our resolve. They practiced well this past week. I think the signs were there that they were going to have an opportunity to play well, and to play to our potential hopefully."

Windham threw for 167 yards and a touchdown while running for 146 and another score. Dorian Brown added 122 yards rushing, Louie Zervos was 5-for-5 on field goals, and Papi White and Mason Morgan scored against a Kansas team coming off its first win in more than a year.

LaQuvionte Gonzalez had a 99-yard kickoff return for the Jayhawks (1-1), but he also muffed those two punt returns.Montell Cozart threw for 198 yards and hit Steven Sims Jr. for a pair of TDs, but the dual-threat quarterback also struggled to deal with constant pressure.

"Offensively we have to do a better job early in the game to help our defense out," Kansas coach David Beaty said. "The defense, every time I looked up, they were out there."

The Bobcats blitzed to a 25-0 lead and led 28-7 after a first half as lopsided as they come: They had a 359-21 edge in offense, 18 first downs to one, and controlled the ball for 22 minutes, 56 seconds.

"We just couldn't get off the field," Jayhawks safety Fish Smithson said. "It doesn't matter how long we were out there, we still have to get stops."

The Jayhawks still managed to make it interesting.

Cozart connected with Sims on a 74-yard touchdown pass on the second play out of the locker room, and then hit Sims from 22 yards out a few minutes later to trim a 28-7 halftime lead to 31-21.

But an Ohio defense that allowed 630 yards to Texas State held the Jayhawks to three straight punts, deflating a crowd that began to dwindle. And Windham showed the poise of a fifth-year senior rather than a quarterback making his second career start, scrambling for a crucial first down midway through the fourth quarter that kept the clock moving and the Kansas offense on the sideline.

"I feel like we have a run game," Solich said, "and if you have a run game you have a chance."

The outcome at Memorial Stadium was nothing new for Solich, who went 6-0 against the Jayhawks when he was with former Big 12 rival Nebraska. But it was all-too-familiar for Beaty, who hoped to build on a win over Rhode Island last week that ended the Jayhawks' 15-game losing streak.

"We are still in that process of building this program," he said. "We've talked to them until we're blue in the face, one win doesn't make you special. You have to go back to what got you there."

STAT DISPARITY

Ohio had the ball for 43:38 while Kansas had it for 13:56, a massive disparity in time of possession. The Bobcats also went 6 for 7 in the red zone while the Jayhawks failed to drive inside the 20.

JAYHAWKS' HURT WING

Cozart took a shot along the sideline late in the game, hurting his shoulder. Cozart said he could have returned to the game while Beaty said he was being cautious by turning to Ryan Willis. "I didn't want to take a chance on it," Beaty said, "because I saw the way he fell."

THE TAKEAWAY

Ohio: The Bobcats ran for 329 yards without top running back A.J. Ouellette, who hurt his foot the previous week. He was on crutches when the captains went on the field for the coin toss.

Kansas: The Jayhawks were 0 for 8 on third down, failed to pick up both fourth downs, which in turn kept their defense on the field far too long. They were ultimately gassed by the fourth quarter.

UP NEXT

Ohio: Tries to beat another power-five opponent when it visits Tennessee on Saturday.

Kansas: Heads to Memphis on Saturday to face a team that beat the Jayhawks 55-23 a year ago.

Jayhawks roll Rhode Island to give coach Beaty first win

 David Beaty had to stop for a moment, lower the microphone from his face and wipe away a tear.

His first win at Kansas meant that much to him.

"I've never been through what we went through last year," the second-year coach said shortly after a 55-6 victory over Rhode Island on Saturday night. "Personally it was very difficult. I got emotional with those guys. It's just so hard, so obviously I'm overjoyed for them."

Montell Cozart threw three touchdown passes, Ryan Willis had two more and third-string quarterback Carter Stanley also tossed one as the Jayhawks (1-0) won for the first time since beating Iowa State on Nov. 8, 2014 - a span of 665 days that included the program's first 0-12 record a year ago.

"Last year, everybody knows the story," said Cozart, who learned he would start at QB just before the kickoff. "It's special for all of us and we know it's special to our coach."

The Rams (0-1) were held to 219 yards of offense by a Kansas defense that gave up at least 40 points eight times last season. Wes McKoy was 6 of 29 for 43 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Rhode Island has never beaten a school from the Football Bowl Subdivision in 14 tries.

"There were some ugly things that happened out there and we'll try to find the positives out of it and see where it goes from here," Rhode Island coach Jim Fleming said. "We played very poorly for what we're capable of and as a result, we got spanked a little bit."

Beaty has been slowing trying to rebuild the downtrodden Jayhawks, and there was little evidence of progress last season. But an infusion of touted freshmen and high-profile transfers - LaQuvionte Gonzalez came from Texas A&M, for example - gave a decent opening crowd reason to be optimistic.

So did the scoreboard: Kansas piled up its most points since routing Nebraska 76-39 on Nov. 3, 2007, when Mark Mangino was still on the sideline. The Jayhawks are on their fourth head coach since then.

"It's our first win in my time here," Beaty said, "but man, there's been so many victories we've shared leading up to this. It's just the first time it's come to fruition on the scoreboard."

Gonzalez caught seven passes for 78 yards and a touchdown. Steven Sims Jr. hauled in a couple of touchdown grabs.Taylor Martin and Ke'aun Kinner also ran for scores.

But the big question surrounding Kansas on Saturday night was who would be under center.

Cozart was the starter before a season-ending injury a year ago, and Willis took over the rest of the way. The two battled until the final week of training camp and Cozart won the right to take the first snaps of the game, though both played a significant amount of time.

Cozart wound up going 18 of 25 for 199 yards, while Willis was 7 of 9 for 144 yards.

"We just knew all week if we trusted out coaches everything would fall into place," Cozart said. "We just had to handle the routine plays and everything would take care of itself."

Still, there were times they looked like the same old Jayhawks.

Late in the first half, Kansas failed to convert third down, got called for illegal substitution and missed a field-goal attempt. Cozart threw a pick in the end zone midway through the third quarter, while Derrick Neal botched a punt return midway through the fourth quarter.

But for the most part, it was easy to look good against the Rams.

The Football Championship Subdivision bottom-dweller also muffed a punt that led to the Jayhawks' first touchdown, then had their only extra-point attempt blocked in the second quarter.

""We were looking to come in and win. We were looking to come in and execute and play cleanly," Fleming said, "and we did none of the above."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Rhode Island running back Harold Cooper, arguably their biggest playmaker, hurt his ankle early in the game and never had a carry. T.J. Anderson carried 16 times for 59 yards in his place.

THE TAKEAWAY

Rhode Island: The Rams' chances were ruined in part by three turnovers, including a pair of fumbles that were recovered by the Jayhawks. Both of them turned into eventual touchdowns.

Kansas: Gonzalez has star potential. The speedy wide receiver had to sit out last season under NCAA transfer rules, so he was playing in his first game since Dec. 29, 2014. "He had an awesome night," Willis said. "I felt like of all the guys he had the best night."

UP NEXT

Rhode Island: Plays its home opener against Albany next Saturday.

Kansas: Ohio visits Memorial Stadium next Saturday.