LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Sam Ehlinger and No. 11 Texas made enough plays to put away Kansas.
Next up is a much bigger challenge.
Ehlinger threw for two touchdowns and ran for a score, and the Longhorns beat the Jayhawks 24-17 on Friday to clinch a spot in the Big 12 title game.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas quarterback Peyton Bender had heard all the criticism the past couple years.
He heard it about him. About the Jayhawks. About his embattled coach.
Most of it was fair, too, given that the highly touted prospect had struggled to nail down the starting job for the Jayhawks, who in turn had struggled to win for coach David Beaty.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — One of the few bright spots all season for Kansas has been its ability to force turnovers, doing so at such a high rate that the Jayhawks have the Big 12's best turnover differential.
They produced another one at a crucial juncture against TCU on Saturday.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Pooka Williams had just taken a handoff from Kansas quarterback Peyton Bender in the second half of their game Saturday when he saw a host of Rutgers defenders converging on him.
So the 5-foot-9 freshman reversed field and headed toward the Jayhawks' sideline, then found some open space and turned on the jets, only to see another defender standing in his path. There was no going around him, so Williams did the only sensible thing: He tried to go over him.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy considers Taylor Cornelius something of a dinosaur, and not because his starting quarterback's 23rd birthday is coming up the day after the Cowboys play their third game of the season.
Cornelius arrived on campus as a walk-on in 2014, had a redshirt season and then attempted only 24 passes in nine games over three years while primarily backing up Mason Rudolph. Now, as a fifth-year senior, Cornelius is coming off a victory in his first career start.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Peyton Bender knows his job as the starting quarterback at Kansas isn't guaranteed beyond this week, not when there are two talented guys nipping at his heels.
In some ways, his tenuous grasp is a lot like that of his coach.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Good luck determining which team in the Sunflower Showdown is more desperate for a win Saturday.
Kansas State is coming off a last-second loss to Oklahoma that could have turned around a season that began with great expectations. Instead, the Wildcats (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) have lost three straight as they head down Interstate 70 to play their biggest rival.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is hardly the first team that comes to mind when you ponder high-flying Big 12 offenses.
The Jayhawks averaged about 350 yards per game last season, which ranked somewhere south of the top 100 nationally. Their quarterback situation was an inexperienced mess, they didn't have enough playmakers on the perimeter and their offensive line resembled a pasta strainer.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Everything that Kansas coach David Beaty envisioned when he landed junior college transfer Peyton Bender and plucked offensive coordinator Doug Meacham from TCU manifested itself in the first quarter of the Jayhawks' season-opening rout of Southeast Missouri State.
There was the 77-yard touchdown pass to Steven Sims Jr. that set the tone in the opening minutes, then the short touchdown pass to Chase Harrell that proved the first score was no fluke.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The quarterbacks competing for the starting job at Kansas know each other about as well as anyone.
That's because they happen to be roommates.
But don't think for a moment that sophomore Carter Stanley and junior college transfer Peyton Bender are living in some kind of awkward, surreal bubble. The reality is they're best friends, on the field and off, and they would rather root for each other than harbor any kind of grudge.