What Kansas football accomplished against TCU in a 27-26 win Saturday can be considered a statistical outlier.
The Jayhawks allowed 7 yards per play, gained 4.6 yards per play on their own ... and still won. To do that, a team basically has to dominate other facets, including turnovers (KU won 2-0) and special teams (the Jayhawks received an “A” grade on my report card) while also coming through on high-leverage plays (like getting a fourth-and-goal stop on the 1 in the first quarter).
Still, this is rare. I went back on College Football Reference’s Play Index to find the last time a Big 12 team had won when allowing at least 7 yards per play while gaining less than 5 yards per play itself.