Jayhawk report (Oct. 17)

First quarter

Key play: It looked as if Texas Tech was on its first touchdown drive when the Kansas defense held the Red Raiders to a field goal. A red-zone sack on third down by Joe Dineen stopped the Red Raiders.

Key stat: DeAndre Mann was the leading ball carrier for the Jayhawks. He had three carries for 55 yards.

Second quarter

Key play: Tech’s Patrick Mahomes hit Reginald Davis in stride from 45 yards making it 20-0 at halftime.

Key stat: Mahomes threw for 201 yards in the second quarter as Texas Tech was well on its way.

Third quarter

Key play: Kansas QB Ryan Willis connected with Darious Crawley for a 10-yard touchdown pass. Crawley broke a few tackles and stretched for the end zone. This put Kansas back in the game.

Key stat: 17 points. The Red Raiders held a 17-point advantage coming out of the quarter.

Fourth quarter

Key play: Jah’Shawn Johnson’s 27 yard interception return for a TD for Texas Tech stopped the momentum Kansas was building.

Key stat: Deandre Washington gained 90 more yards on the ground to ice the win for the Red Raiders. He was the leading rusher on the day with 160 yards.

Report card

Offense: C. Freshman Ryan Willis, the Bishop Miege graduate, showed some confidence at quarterback. Other than one bad interception, he managed the game well and found his open recievers, who also impressed most of the day. He looks to be a confident thrower who could lead the Jayhawks for years to come. Still, there are still many questions for the entire group of young players.

Defense: B. The defense showed signs of life. Holding the Texas Tech offense down is not an easy task. For the Jayhawks it came from great pressure up front despite putting some new guys into the mix. The defense finished with five sacks and pressured Patrick Mahomes many times. The Jayhawks also had an interception and a fumble recovery.

Special teams: D. KU coach David Beaty was extremely disappointed after the game knowing his team left 10 points out there. Going 0 for 3 on field goals is always going to hurt. Still, the Jayhawks might have found an answer at punter with Matthew Wyman.

Coaching: C. After going into halftime down 20-0, Beaty and his staff made some major adjustments to get Kansas back into the game. It will be interesting to see if Beaty can keep his team competitive, especially with a brutal stretch of the Big 12 schedule coming up.

Player of the game

Fish Smithson. An interception and a fumble recovery that almost resulted in a touchdown showed why Smithson is a veteran the Jayhawks rely on heavily. If Kansas can continue to stay in games, Smithson likely will be a big reason. He tackles well and makes plays in the secondary.

Reason to hope

Kansas quarterback Ryan Willis continues to improve week to week. If you can keep Willis protected with the offensive line, then he might have a successful year and career.

Reason to mope

The Jayhawks’ schedule does not let up. Three of the next five game are against Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and TCU, all top 25 teams.

Looking ahead

Kansas goes on the road to Oklahoma State next week. The Jayhawks will try to break a 32-game road losing streak when they travel to Stillwater. The game starts at 2:30 p.m.

Ryan McCarthy

This story was originally published October 17, 2015 at 6:49 PM with the headline "Jayhawk report (Oct. 17)."