Week 8 of the college football season is here and despite there not being a ranked match up this weekend in the Big 12, there is still plenty on the line with conference play in full swing. One of the games that flew under the radar was in Kansas City, Missouri as the Kansas Jayhawks hosted the Houston Cougars.
Both teams came off a bye week last weekend and both teams are in desperate need of a win due to their poor records. While a close game was expected, Kansas ended up dominating 42-21. Here are my three takeaways from the game.
Kansas Looked Like Last Year’s Kansas Team
It seems like we have been waiting all season long for the Jayhawks to put it all together on both sides of the ball and we finally saw that on Saturday afternoon against Houston. The Jayhawks defense shut down the Cougars offense as they held them to just 14 points and 335 yards of offense. They did an outstanding job slowing down Houston’s rushing attack and were able to get four takeaways to help set up the offense.
Speaking of the offense, there was a lot to smile about if you are a Kansas fan. Jalon Daniels looked like the old Jalon Daniels as he tossed three touchdown passes and didn’t have a single turnover. Meanwhile the ground game was on fire as the Jayhawks rushed for 220 yards led by star running back Devin Neal who found the end zone twice.
Houston’s Offensive Woes Continue
It’s hard to put this game on the shoulders of the defense when the offense turned the football over four times. The offensive line struggled to open up any running lanes and that put more pressure on Houston to try and throw the football more. Plus, with the score getting out of hand, this offense became one dimensional. But the problem for Houston is that they don’t have a quarterback who can consistently throw the football efficiently.
Donovan Smith played a majority of this game, and he ended up throwing three of Houston’s four interceptions on the day. I also wonder about the status of Zeon Chriss who started the game for the Cougars but went down with an injury. The biggest thing for head coach Willie Fritz to do this offseason is to find a quarterback who can throw the ball without making too many mistakes.
Who Wants to Go Bowling?
Despite Houston falling short in today’s game, the Cougars still aren’t completely out of the bowl picture just yet. Houston is now 2-5 on the season and 1-3 in Big 12 play. While a bowl game is highly unlikely for this team, they do have a chance to play spoiler down the road because they still have a tough remaining schedule where they will play Kansas State and BYU. But they also get to play Utah, Arizona, and Baylor, which could end up being potential wins with the way those teams look right now.
As for Kansas, they have an even bigger climb up the mountain. They are now 2-5 on the season after picking up their first win in conference action. Next weekend, they will travel to Manhattan, Kansas to take on in-state rival Kansas State. If the Jayhawks can pull off the upset, then their chances of getting six wins go up tremendously with the way their schedule looks.
