Longhorns Keep Top Spot in Big 12, Defeat Kansas 35-13
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas running back Malcolm Brown ran for 119 yards and scored four touchdowns, three from inside the five yard line, as the Longhorns defeated Kansas, 35-13, at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Brown punched in three short yardage scores and scored from 30 yards out on a fourth and one play to lead all rushers while helping Texas (6-2) stay undefeated in Big 12 Conference play at 5-0. Kansas (2-6, 0-5 Big 12) got two interceptions from safety Isaiah Johnson and a game-high-tying nine tackles from linebacker Ben Heeney in his first game in three weeks.
Kansas played Texas tough through the majority of the first three quarters, but the Longhorns used a fumble recovery for a touchdown and Brown’s third TD of the day to expand the lead from 14-6 to 28-6 over the period’s last six minutes.
Texas’ first points came at the end of the longest drive of the season against the Kansas defense, but it was nearly among the shortest. Kansas forced a three-and-out and appeared to have held Texas for the third straight drive to open the game, but Longhorn punter Anthony Fera was bumped and a running into the kicker penalty gave Texas new life. UT marched 92 yards on 15 plays and Brown finished the 6:29 drive with a two-yard run.
Kansas came up with a stop on fourth down during Texas’ next drive but couldn’t muster anything offensively before giving the Longhorns the ball near midfield. UT finished what it started on the previous drive, going 56 yards on seven plays, the last a three yard run by Brown to make it 14-0.
KU used a pair of timeouts late in the second quarter to preserve the clock while the defense forced a late punt. Jakes Heaps lobbed a deep ball to Rodriguez Coleman, who cut back and made a catch despite contact from the defender. Heaps spiked the ball to give KU a field goal try with three seconds left and Ron Doherty converted for the Jayhawks’ first points.
Kansas kept the ball in the air on the first drive of the second half as Heaps connected with Coleman over the middle for 43 yards and got a pass interference call on an end zone look to Christian Matthews. Even thought the drive stalled inside the 10, Doherty gave Kansas three more points on a 27-yard kick and cut the lead to 14-6.
Late in the third quarter Kansas was looking to pull within one or even tie the game with the possibility of a two-point conversion, but on the first play of its Xth drive, Heaps was dropped for a loss lost the football. Chris Whaley scooped it up and rumbled 40-yards for a defensive touchdown.
The Longhorns held Kansas to a three-and-out then marched the other way where, again, Brown got the ball near the goal line and pushed the ball across backwards from one yard out for his third touchdown and a 28-6 advantage. In a span of six minutes, Texas had turned an eight point lead into a 22-point lead.
The Jayhawks didn’t give up despite the surge and forced a forced a wobbly throw with defensive pressure and Johnson caught a bobbled ball for his second interception of the day and fourth of his career.
After a failed KU offensive drive, the Kansas defense forced a fourth down try by the Longhorns with a little less than seven minutes to play and UT gave it to Brown, who got the needed yard and 29 more as he scampered for a 30-yard TD run, his fourth of the day.
Kansas freshman quarterback Montell Cozart scored his first career touchdown late in the contest on a 30-yard run to make the final tally 35-13. Darrian Miller led Kansas with 67 yards rushing and Coleman finished the game with 85 receiving yards before leaving the game in the second half with an injury.
Heeney tied fellow linebacker Jake Love for the game-high with nine total tackles and Michael Reynolds continued to lead KU’s front seven with another sack in Saturday’s game.
Kansas will stay on the road and travels to Oklahoma State next Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest on Fox Sports 1.
Game Notes
SERIES INFORMATION
Kansas fell to 2-11 against Texas all-time and have lost all 11 meetings in Austin.
KANSAS CAPTAINS: Jake Heaps (QB), Ben Heeney (LB), James Sims (HB), Keon Stowers (DL)
TEAM NOTES
*Today’s game vs. Texas marked Kansas football equipment manager Jeff Himes’ 300th game working with the Jayhawks. It was also his birthday.
*Kansas won the toss and elected to defer. Texas took the ball from the north end zone.
*Kansas has stopped every 2013 opponent on the opening drive, limiting opposing teams to five first downs on opening drives through eight games.
*Texas’ scoring drive to open the second quarter took 6:29 off the clock, the longest scoring drive of the season for a KU opponent.
*Kansas is now 575-586-58 all-time.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
*Senior HB James Sims finished the day with 48 yards which moved him into third place on the Kansas career rushing chart with 3,119 yards. Sims passed Laverne Smith (1973-76) who concluded his Jayhawk career with 3,074 rushing yards.
*Sims tied his career high in receptions with five on the afternoon and was close to a career-high in yards with 51 receiving yards.
*Junior WR Rodriguez Coleman hauled in two catches for a career-best 85 yards to lead the Kansas receivers. Coleman has recorded four catches for 155 yards in KU’s last two outings after tallying just three receptions for 39 yards in the Jayhawks’ first six games of the season.
*Freshman QB Montell Cozart scored his first career touchdown on a 20-yard keeper up the middle with 3:39 to play in the game. Cozart carried the ball four times for 34 yards and completed his only passing attempt, a shovel pass for six yards.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
*Sophomore S Isaiah Johnson had the first multiple interception game of his career as he grabbed an interception on Texas’ first possession of the game and had a second pick in the fourth quarter. Johnson’s two interceptions mark the first multiple interception game for a Kansas player since Bradley McDougald collected two picks vs. South Dakota State on Sept. 1, 2012.
*Junior LB Ben Heeney returned to the Jayhawk line up after missing the previous two and three quarters games. Heeney tallied nine tackles in the game to tie sophomore LB Jake Love for the game high.
*Junior BUCK Michael Reynolds picked up a sack for a loss of eight yards in the third quarter, giving him a team-leading 4.5 sacks for a total loss of 34 yards on the season.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
*Junior punter Trevor Pardula averaged 45.7 yards per kick on the afternoon, including punts of 68 and 53 yards. The 68-yard punt is Pardula’s second longest of his career as he turned in a 78-yarder in KU’s win over Louisiana Tech on Sept. 21. Pardula dropped three of his seven punts inside the 20-yard line.
*Senior kicker Ron Doherty gave Kansas its first points with a 21-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. It was Doherty’s first made field goal since kicking one through against Northern Illinois, Sept. 22, 2012.
*Doherty followed that up with a 27-yarder to open the third quarter of play, marking his first game with multiple field goals since making two field goals versus TCU on Sept. 15, 2012.
*Redshirt sophomore HB Darrian Miller recorded career-highs in kickoff returns (3). Miller recorded a career-best 34 yard return in the third quarter.
