San Diego State outgained Kansas 572 yards to 181, KU rushed for zero yards, and the Aztecs won a nonconference road game for the first time since 1981.
Kansas made like the Titanic on Saturday.
Needing to right the ship after a demoralizing loss to Colorado, the Jayhawks instead ran into an iceberg in the form of solid-but-not-spectacular San Diego State.
The outcome -- a 41-13 Aztec football victory at Memorial Stadium -- ripped Kansas from stem to stern.
"Mentally, we're as down as we've ever been as far as knowing what direction this program is going," KU sophomore wide receiver Harrison Hill said. "This game hurts real bad."
The Jayhawks (1-3) were never in it. They were outgained 572 total yards to 181. They rushed for precisely zero yards. They allowed SDSU (2-2) to score on six of its first seven possessions and carry a 31-0 lead into halftime.
All that against a team that hadn't won a nonconference road game since -- gulp -- 1981.
"It's an embarrassment," KU coach Terry Allen said. "I apologize, to our fans and our loyals there tonight. Obviously, we didn't play very well on either side of the football. What can I say? I'm sorry."
All the Jayhawks were sorry Saturday.
By halftime -- when the crowd-padding bands that attended for Band Night played and got the heck out of Dodge -- SDSU had run 42 plays to KU's 22, gained 18 first downs to Kansas' four and amassed 413 total yards to KU's 23.
"San Diego State came in and did some great things with the football," Allen said. "In the first quarter, they drove the ball against the wind and put two scores up. In the second, momentum and frustration seemed to mount and the bottom fell out. You saw it. I saw it. Everybody saw it. There's no other way to explain it."
At least Kansas won the pregame coin toss.
After that, it was all SDSU.
KU won the toss and elected to defer -- a decision that haunted the Jayhawks immediately. San Diego State drove 80 yards for its first score and never looked back.
"One thing we had to have after last week," Allen said, referring to the Jayhawks' 51-17 loss at Colorado, "was to have something good for us. We chose to defer. " They obviously drove the field and did it again and again."
Part of that, Allen said, had to do with the Jayhawks' soft defensive schemes, with their secondary playing off receivers and sitting back in a zone.
SDSU's Jack Hawley, a junior college transfer who just won the Aztecs starting job, promptly picked that zone apart. He completed 16 of 19 passes for 331 yards and three touchdowns -- in the first half alone. He finished 19-for-24 for 343 yards.
"He was very accurate, more accurate than we expected," Allen said. "We said at halftime, 'Let's get after it.' We let 'em play a little bit and go man-to-man and if you get beat you get beat. But you name it, we did it poorly.
"At halftime, we said they could lose 62-nothing or they could come out and play. But as good a defensive football team as they were, you can't afford to get down 31 points."
For what it's worth, Kansas won the second half, 13-10.
But fans returning for next week's homecoming game against Southern Methodist have to wonder if there will be anything to which to return home.
"You worry about losing them," Allen said. "You worry about losing your assistant coaches and your fans. When you're at rock bottom, everything you worry about losing.
"We knew San Diego State was a good football team and if we didn't put the screws to it we might get the screws put to us. We'll see what we're made of."
-- Andrew Hartsock's phone number is 832-7216. His e-mail address is ahartsock@ljworld.com.
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