Kansas football ‘felt embarrassed’ vs. Texas. One Jayhawk says that can be good thing
Kansas linebacker Rich Miller used one word to describe the defense’s performance in KU’s 40-14 loss to Texas: embarrassing.
Still, Miller felt it was a learning experience after his unit gave up five total touchdowns and 661 total yards on Saturday.
“I think it’s a good thing we lost because we can learn a lot more from those (type of) losses,” he said. “We take a lot personal from that loss. We felt embarrassed. We’re going to take that loss and let that fuel us for how we go about this game.”
Miller and KU’s defense have an opportunity for redemption on Saturday against a formidable UCF offense. The Knights rank 20th in the country in points (37.6) and average 545.8 total yards per game.
UCF’s secret? A high-tempo offense is a big part of the equation.
“We just really need to be ready for their tempo,” KU defensive coordinator Brian Borland said. “When they are playing fast, clock is running ... they are really snapping the ball every 15 seconds. So you’ve got to be ready for that part or else they will be three scores up on us before we even know what’s going on.
“They do kind of surprise people early in the game with all kinds of things.”
Getting the Knights out of rhythm is a main focus of KU’s defensive game plan.
“We’ve got to cause havoc early,” Miller said. “We’ve got to make sure we dominate the line of scrimmage. We’ve got to make sure they can’t run that tempo. If tempo teams can’t run tempo, then we make them one-handed.”
Luckily for the Jayhawks, a high-tempo offense isn’t exactly new. KU’s defense has focused on playing faster since the beginning of the offseason.
Plus, facing a high-tempo offense in Big 12 play certainly is nothing new.
“We already know what we’re up against — we played teams last year and the year before that run a lot of tempo,” Miller said. “So we’re prepared for it (and) we’re going to make sure we’ve got the right guys on the field. If someone is tired, we’re going to get them out and get a fresh (player) in.
“That’s the good thing about having good depth, because when someone’s tired you know the next one is going to come in.”
UCF hasn’t announced its starting quarterback yet with starter John Rhys Plumlee potentially returning from a leg injury he suffered against Boise State, but both him and backup Timmy McClain are capable scramblers.
Scrambling QBs have gashed KU’s defense all season. You could say they’ve been the kryptonite of the defense.
It also doesn’t help that UCF’s quarterbacks aren’t quite like their peers.
“Usually when (quarterbacks) are running, they want to get down — these quarterbacks are not really trying to get down all the time,” Miller said. “I watched a few times; they may slide, but most of the time, they’re not trying to slide. They’re not scared of contact and they’re not scared to make you miss.”
That means, Miller continued, KU has “to treat them like a running back or wide receiver or any other skill position.”
And it’ll be an important lesson to learn now, because he sees similar challenges in upcoming games against Oklahoma and Texas Tech.
“They run everything fast, man,” Miller said. “Everything is super fast. That’s what they are. So we have to go on the field, put the ball down and play.”
This story was originally published October 5, 2023 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Kansas football ‘felt embarrassed’ vs. Texas. One Jayhawk says that can be good thing."
