LAWRENCE, Kan. - It was hard to find something wrong with Kansas' defensive play on Saturday - in the second half.
While the Jayhawk offense totaled 572 yards against a struggling Nebraska defense, KU's defense struggled to contain the Cornhuskers in the first two quarters of its 76-39 victory.
Entering Saturday's contest, Kansas was giving up an average of 10.25 points per game and holding teams to an average of 263.8 total yards, but NU collected 286 yards in the first half alone and 484 yards overall.
KU linebacker Mike Rivera said the Jayhawks weren't prepared for the Huskers' decision to pass consistently.
"We were expecting Nebraska to come out - you know, they ran against Texas, came out with nine straight runs," Rivera said. "They came out with a couple runs (Saturday), but came out slinging the football, trying to throw it all over the field - nothing to lose. That was a little different than what we expected."
While Kansas snapped back to normal in the second half, allowing just 15 points and snagging three of its four interceptions, the Huskers had the Jayhawks on their heels when NU was the first to see the end zone six minutes into the game.
Starting on KU's 46-yard line - thanks to a tipped punt - Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz led his offense to six points with a 10-play drive taking four minutes, 24 seconds. Ganz scored the game's first touchdown on a 3-yard dive across the goal line.
On the Huskers' second possession, the Jayhawks lost sight of junior running back Marlon Lucky on the left sideline, as the junior sped to paydirt 62 yards away off a short swing pass.
The 14 first-quarter points were the most allowed by Kansas' defense in the opening 15 minutes this year, as the Jayhawks had given up only 13 first-quarter points in their last eight games combined.
"We didn't anticipate them throwing the ball as much as they did; they had not done that all year," KU Coach Mark Mangino said. "But I think we were a little bit off guard. We expected them to have a power over the run game, instead they got in bunch formations and threw the ball repeatedly."
Two three-and-outs for Nebraska allowed the Jayhawk offense to pad its lead, but KU gave up a 19-yard touchdown to NU wide receiver Maurice Purify with 9:44 left in the first half.
With 21 points, Nebraska had already accomplished more than most teams had in an entire game against Kansas. The score was 48-24 at halftime, and the Huskers had passed 28 times.
"We sat down with our coaches and talked about the things, the adjustments we needed to do," Rivera said about halftime. "We were trying to do just a little too much; we just had to get back to our fundamentals."
Nearly flawless in the second half, the Jayhawks looked their part as the country's No.2 scoring defense. Rivera, who led the team with seven total tackles, said it would have been nice to start getting turnovers in the first half as opposed to waiting until the second.
Mangino said he wasn't worried about the first half, considering his defense was able to correct problems and his offense put up the most points ever against a Nebraska squad in the 114th meeting between the two teams.
"Here's the bottom line: When you're in our position, right where our team is, we're getting everybody's best shot and in some cases the shot may be unorthodox in terms of what a team normally does," Mangino said. "I think today was case in point."
Katelynkerkhove@dailynebraskan.Com
