Paxton Lynch threw for 354 yards and two scores, Memphis scored on its first five possessions of the second half and the Tigers rolled to a 55-23 victory over Kansas on Saturday night.
The Tigers (2-0) also piled up 281 yards rushing and five touchdowns, one apiece from five different players. They finished with 651 yards of total offense, while their point total was the most the Jayhawks (0-2) had allowed since Georgia Tech hung 66 on them on Sept. 17, 2011.
Memphis also pushed its winning streak to nine straight dating to last season, and snapped an infuriating 19-game skid against teams from power conferences.
The Jayhawks, riding a five-game losing streak, are still searching for their first victory for coach David Beaty. The last time Kansas lost its first two games was 2002.
Montell Cozart was just 13 of 28 for 118 yards passing for the Jayhawks, though he did have a TD run. Ke'aun Kinner added 113 yards rushing and another touchdown.
The Tigers spotted the Jayhawks a 10-0 lead thanks mostly to their own mistakes. Tevin Jones fumbled on their first offensive play and Kansas turned it into a field goal, and a three-and-out on the Tigers' next possession set the Jayhawks up for a 73-yard touchdown drive.
But the perennial cellar-dwellers were unable to sustain the momentum.
Sam Craft's short TD run helped Memphis to draw even by the end of the first quarter, and Doroland Dorceus's scamper made it 17-10. The Jayhawks tacked on a field goal a few minutes later, but Lynch answered with a short TD toss to Jones with 32 seconds left before the half.
It took just 56 seconds out of the break to put the game away.
Mose Frazier took a handoff out of the shotgun, glided to his left and then turned up field. He left one Kansas defender on the turf with a smooth cutback, and then out-raced the rest of the secondary on 60-yard scoring run that gave the Tigers a 31-13 advantage.
By then, a decent crowd on a postcard-perfect evening must have decided to spend the rest of the night tailgating. There were as many empty seats in Memorial Stadium as full ones.
The Tigers put up three more touchdowns and a field goal against a Kansas defense that was repeatedly gouged by the Jackrabbits last weekend. In fact, things got so out of hand that Lynch sat the final 8 minutes as backup Clay Holgorson took over at quarterback.
Cozart also took a seat late in the game. Deondre Ford finished it out for Kansas.
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AP College Football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org
