Kansas Jayhawks Season Preview

Mark Mangino is long gone and so is his 50- 48 record and his eight year tenure in Lawrence. It should be noted that he left the program in much better shape than when he arrived (fat joke because I will miss the “Big Italian”).Turner Gill took over and went 3-9 in his first season and despite not much optimism, he does have 15 starters returning.

Todd Reesing was surely missed last season as he is KU’s all-time passing leader (11,194) and his 90-33 TD/INT ratio was not too shabby either.  Last year, Jordan Webb, Kale Pick and Quinn Mecham split time as they finished 103rd in the nation averaging 161 yards per game.  Throw in soon to be true freshmen Brock Berglund and you have yourself a four man battle in Lawrence. 

There has to be improved play at the quarterback level because of all the experience returning, but it would help if the rest of the offense improved as a whole. James Sims as a freshmen ran for 742 yards and nine TDs on 168 carries (4.4). Sims is a fairly decent sized back (6’0”, 206 pounds) with decent speed, but nothing spectacular. His backups have solid speed in true freshmen Darrian Miller and Anthony Pierson.

The receiving core returns their top two play makers in Daymond Patterson (60 catches for 487 yards and two TDs) and tight end Tim Biere (four TDs). They need to do a better job at stretching the field so the running game has more room to run and with three starters back on the line there is a good chance for that to happen. 

Still, the offense is going to be dreadful if they cannot improve production from their signal callers. It is by far the biggest question mark on offense and arguably the biggest on the team. Ranking the Big 12 offenses, the Jayhawks are the worst in the Big 12 because they do not have a legit quarterback who can lead their team to victory against top competition.

The defense was so bad a year ago that former running back Toben Opurum was moved to defensive end where he is now arguably the best linemen on the team. An unnamed Big 12 opposing coach even said a year ago that no defensive tackle on Kansas would start on any of the Big 12 teams. They were gashed allowing 205 yards per game (107th) but with the entire linebacking core returning there is hope after all.

Darius Willis, Huldon Tharp and Steven Johnson (leading tackler, 95) anchor what is arguably the best unit on the entire team for the Jayhawks. Willis is a Buffalo transfer that wanted to play for Gill and now that he has his wish granted, fans can only hope he can live up to the hype he once had in high school at 6’3” and 243 pounds.

The pass defense was great when Aqib Talib led them to an Orange Bowl win in 2008, but since his departure they have struggled mightily the last three years allowing 273, 245 and 222 yards per game (114th, 96th, 65th).  

Last year, there was solid improvement made and with all four starters back, there could be even more improvement made. However, the schedule will be much tougher now that Colorado and Nebraska left there is a round robin effect being taken place as there will be nine games played.

Trips to Stillwater, Austin and College Station could turn into massacres if Gill does not get tremendous seasons out of his core players: Strong safety McDougald, cornerback Barfield, defensive end Opurum and outside linebacker Johnson.

Not enough can be stated about this schedule though. Outside of hosting FCS opponent McNeese State, 10 of the next 11 games are against BCS teams. The one non-BCS game is at home against a solid top 50 Northern Illinois Huskies squad who is coming off an 11-2 season. So the only question I should be asking: Can Bill Self win another National Championship anytime soon?

Predicted Finish: 2-10, 0-9

Predicted Bowl: None 

Predicted order of finish in Big 12: 10th