Bob Lutz: TCU and Baylor get offensive against Kansas foes

The two highest-scoring, most-explosive teams in college football were in Kansas to play Saturday.

One, Baylor, blew out Kansas 66-7 in a mismatch in front of just a few KU fans. But the Kansas band was around for the whole thing and I hope those tuba players seek counseling after witnessing the carnage.

The other, TCU, did not blow out Kansas State, but used a big second half to nudge the Wildcats 52-45 in one of those losses that will keep both teams up for nights to come, but for very different reasons and emotions.

There’s a lot to say about the TCU win, starting with it probably shouldn’t have happened. Kansas State was primed to pull off the upset and built a 35-17 halftime lead against the second-ranked Horned Frogs.

No fluke, either. K-State pounded the football and quarterback Joe Hubener was great. He rushed for 97 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 101 yards.

He outplayed TCU quarterback and Heisman candidate Trevone Boykin. The kid from Cheney was lighting it up.

But someone extinguished Hubener in the second half, when he suddenly had difficulty completing passes and had his feet pulled out from under him as a runner.

I’m not sure if it’s legal to criticize Kansas State coach Bill Snyder in this state, so I’m going to risk breaking the law here.

What was he thinking in the second half?

Hubener ran only eight times after halftime and just a few of those were designed runs. He gained only 14 yards.

Meanwhile, he completed five of 18 pass attempts in the second half for 56 yards.

Hubener tore off huge chunks of yards as a runner in the first half, at times toying with the TCU defense.

It’s so hard to beat a team with the Horned Frogs’ offensive explosiveness. It looked like, though, Kansas State was fooled by its 18-point lead and thought it could dial things down some.

But sure enough, TCU started whittling the Wildcats’ lead, paring it to 35-31 with 7:14 to play in the third quarter.

That’s when Kansas State showed true grit, driving 45 yards on 10 plays for a touchdown – a Hubener sneak from a yard out – to regain a double-digit lead, 42-31, with 12:21 left in the game.

It allowed the sellout crowd to breath.

But not for long.

Boykin, who seemed to gain electricity as the night deepened, ran for a 14-yard touchdown with 7:55 left.

Then, after a K-State three-and-out, he burst 69 yards to score with 6:07 remaining and connected with Josh Doctson for the two-point conversation.

TCU was ahead, 45-42. Just like that.

But Kansas State wasn’t finished. The Wildcats pushed to the TCU 20-yard line with 1:52 left. It was fourth-and-1. A field goal ties it. A yard and an inch gives K-State a first down and a chance to go win it.

Snyder chose the field goal try, fully aware of how much time Boykin and TCU would have to make something happen.

No one should criticize Snyder lightly. He’s one of the greatest football coaches to ever live and, if we’re being honest, the talent Kansas State put on the field Saturday night had no business lining up and more than holding its own against the horses from TCU.

But what does a tie accomplish there? Why not trust your offense to get that first down and potentially score a go-ahead touchdown while also keeping the ball away from the Horned Frogs?

The K-State defense was wearing down, as any defense would while trying to contain TCU’s arsenal of weapons.

So even though Jack Cantele booted a 37-yard field goal through the uprights to make it 45-45, it left TCU with 1:47. And the Horned Frogs needed only 37 seconds before Boykin and Doctson hooked up for a go-ahead 55-yard touchdown and a 52-45 lead.

TCU’s final three touchdowns drives covered 209 yards on 15 plays and used up just 5 minutes and 10 seconds.

That’s not the kind of offense you kick a field goal against in hopes of going to overtime. You have to go for something bigger and Kansas State didn’t.

Meanwhile, in Lawrence, Baylor invaded town with the loneliest field-goal kicker in college football, although Chris Callahan did knock one through from 31 yards in the first quarter before disappearing.

The Bears are the pinball machine of college football, but they stuck their quarters in their pockets against Kansas, refusing to run up a score they easily could have taken to the stratosphere.

The Bears’ starters came back on the field after halftime without their pads. It was 52-7. Pads for the starters were unnecessary, since they were not going to play anymore.

Still, it was an unusual gesture and one the Jayhawks could have taken personally if the Jayhawks weren’t so immersed in trying to survive the season.

They’re 0-5 and there’s nothing that looks like a win on the rest of their schedule.

But at least the Jayhawks are past Baylor, which rolled up 24 points in the first quarter, 28 in the second and went into sleep mode.

It looked like a cinch that the Bears would top the 71 points scored against Kansas by Oklahoma in 1987, the most the Jayhawks have ever allowed.

But Baylor let up. It was the humanitarian thing to do except that – and please don’t repeat this – it would have been kind of cool to see a team score in triple digits.

“There’s a lot of great offenses in the Big 12, but numbers don’t lie,” KU safety Fish Smithson said. “They lead the nation in points and yards. Those guys can fly.”

The best offensive teams in America didn’t disappoint Saturday. But one was lucky to get out of Kansas with a win.

This story was originally published October 10, 2015 at 11:14 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: TCU and Baylor get offensive against Kansas foes."