Duke demolishes Kansas 41-3

Two years ago, Kansas averaged more than 18 points per game and ranked 115th nationally in scoring. One year ago, the Jayhawks averaged 15.3 points and ranked 118th nationally.

This year … well, the early signs are not too promising.

Kansas’ offseason renovation of its offense crumbled on Saturday in a 41-3 loss to Duke at Wade Stadium.

From a bookkeeping standpoint, it was also the Jayhawks’ 25th straight loss on the road — and 28th straight defeat away from Memorial Stadium. But at this point, those are just numbers, like a metronome that keeps count of the program’s disarray.

Here are some more numbers that illustrate how bad it was on Saturday:

1. Sophomore quarterback Montell Cozart completed 9 of his first 25 passes and had two interceptions during the first half.

2. Duke freshman Shaun Wilson had touchdown runs of 45, 68 and 69 yards and did not appear on the Blue Devils’ two-deep depth chart this week. Wilson had 245 yards on 12 carries, setting Duke’s single-game record.

3. In the second game under new offensive coordinator John Reagan, the Jayhawks have managed just three points in the first half; that after scoring just 10 points in the second half last week in a 34-28 loss to Southeast Missouri State.

4. One brutal hit. With less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter, Cozart took a monster shot to the ribs and exited the game for backup Michael Cummings.

The Jayhawks entered the day as a double-digit underdog, so the fact they left Wade Stadium with a loss was not overly stunning. But this was a dumpster fire, the latest sign that the Kansas football program is not moving forward. If Weis wanted to offer some more promise after two underwhelming seasons, if Kansas wanted to prove it was ready to make progress, if Kansas fans were ready to stem the flood of jokes and snark that flood the internet every Saturday, this was certainly not that.

This was just another hard kick to the gut.

The KU passing attack was futile. The defense was exposed by a true freshman running back in his third career game. The Blue Devils raced out to a 17-0 lead. And Duke looked very much like the former bottom-feeder that played in the ACC Championship Game last season.

For most of the day, the Jayhawks’ offense was a feeble mess — like something out of the 2012 or 2013 catalog. The Duke defense loaded up on blitzes, Cozart looked rattled and ineffective.

His first interception came on a tipped ball at the line of scrimmage, while the second came after Cozart air-mailed a pass intended for receiver Tony Pierson on a 3rd-and-13 play early in the second quarter. Duke managed just two field goals off the turnovers, but the interceptions spoke to a larger problem: KU’s air offense was grounded again.

Duke, meanwhile, jumped on the Kansas defense from the opening minutes.

Quarterback Anthony Boone opening the scoring with a 36-yard touchdown strike to Max McCaffrey on the Blue Devils’ first drive of the game. And the early exposing had just begun.

Duke receiver Issac Blakeney, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound mismatch, roasted cornerback Dexter McDonald for four catches in the first quarter. Boone made the Jayhawks’ pay for their own assortment of blitzes. And after Duke took an early 10-0 lead on a 20-yard field goal, Wilson busted open the game with a 69-yard touchdown with 5:32 left in the first quarter.

Kansas, for a moment, stopped the bleeding with a 10-play, 58-yard drive that resulted in a 34-yard field goal from Matthew Wyman. But Duke took advantage of Cozart’s second interception and pushed the lead back to 20-3 with 10:32 left in the second quarter.

The ugliness was just getting started.

Next week, Kansas will return home to face Central Michigan, a program that suffered a crushing loss to Syracuse on Saturday afternoon. But as Kansas left Durham on Saturday night, one thing was clear.

Central Michigan could be a tough matchup.

This story was originally published September 13, 2014 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Duke demolishes Kansas 41-3."