Kansas entered Saturday’s game bruised and battered from last week’s loss at Nebraska. Quarterback Todd Reesing was healthy enough to practice only on Thursday and the wear and tear was also evident with wide receiver Kerry Meier.

In the first quarter, running back Jake Sharp’s injury damaged the offense even further.

Commentators on Fox Sports Network said the injury was to Sharp’s ribs, but coach Mark Mangino didn’t address any specifics during the postgame press conference. The Salina junior managed just 10 yards on four carries before trotting off to the locker room during the second quarter for a medical examination.

Things weren’t any better for Meier, who gingerly jogged off the field after catching a pass on the first play of the game. He returned later and tried to tough it out, but Kansas’ leader in receptions missed a lot of time and caught just four passes for 32 yards.

The dual absences left a giant hole in the Jayhawk offense.

“It obviously changed the game plan a little bit with Jake and Kerry not being in there,” Reesing said. “We never really got a run game established. When you have to throw the ball that much with no run game to fall back on, it gets kind of tough.”

Minus Sharp’s final tally of 13 yards, the Jayhawks rushed for just 34 yards. Even worse, backup Angus Quigley coughed up two fumbles.

Midway through the second quarter, Texas safety Blake Gideon forced the ball from Quigley’s grasp and Deon Beasley recovered for the Longhorns. The play would have been a Kansas first down.

Then late in the third quarter, Quigley just dropped the ball and again the Horns recovered it. Two plays later, Colt McCoy threw a 36-yard touchdown to put Texas up by the final score of 35-7.

“I think if you get in the game as a backup, the least you can do is hold onto the football,” Mangino said. “You might not rush for 100 yards and that’s fine, but we’ve got to be smarter and more sound fundamentally when we’re in the game.”

Mangino said he didn’t know how long Sharp’s injury would keep him out. He refused to use injuries as an excuse for the loss.

“We’re not going to sit around and talk about why we didn’t play better on offense because of who was hurt,” Mangino said. “We’ve got other guys and they’re on scholarship. We’ve got to be able to move on, and we’ve got to be able to make plays.”

Photo Gallery

Kansas Football vs. Texas

A photo gallery of the football game against Texas.

Wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe stepped up with nine receptions for 115 yards – including the catch of the year – but Mangino said one player wasn’t enough.

Reesing completed 25 of 50 passes for 258 yards and one touchdown. It was the third time this season that he’s thrown at least 50 times.

“Part of our game plan was to throw the ball a lot and throw a lot of short passes,” Reesing said. “But we still needed to get a little bit more out of the run game and not turn the ball over with some fumbles.”

Kansas’ postgame press conference was light on players because most were still tending to their wounds.

Mangino said the game was the most frustrating offensive performance of the season.

“It just wasn’t smooth, it wasn’t in sync and it wasn’t hitting on all cylinders,” Mangino said. “It just wasn’t the type of offense that we like to play here.”

— —Edited by Adam Mowder