This is a good point and aligns with what we have seen over Campbell's tenure here. When the expectations grow and they get a target on their back, they tend to crawl into a shell and play tight. When expectations are low they play with their hair on fire and churn out impressive performances. I had KU next week as a definite loss if we ended up winning yesterday. But with the loss out of the way and people starting to doubt a bit, I wouldn't be surprised to see a good performance next week.Lea Nelson after the game with CW summed up last night better than anyone I've seen so far when she said something to the affect.... "we didn't look like a team that was playing to WANT to be 8-0... played like it was just another game.".
I think that completely nailed my feelings about it afterwards. We just didn't look like we really WANTED it. Played with hardly any emotion... played ULTRA conservatively... and played like we were just trying to prevent losing instead of going out and taking the game and getting to 8-0.
This kind of playing has cost CMC before too. He mentioned last season sometime after the Ohio loss I believe... that he realized he wasn't giving his players a chance to go out there and just play to win the game they love to play and was holding them back from being their best.
Rocco's face after getting up off the ground following his designed QB sweep run on 3rd and 10 said it all last night... he even said... "wtf are we doing??". You could tell he wanted to go win that thing... not settle for a 50 yd FG attempt. That's what separates these kids from other kids... their competitiveness and drive to win. And at times... CMC has not allowed them the chance to shine and prove themselves. It's actually sad to watch. Let them play!