Kansas Jayhawks Football

The elderly sometimes say the darndest things.

Take Lou Holtz for example. He's never been one to bite his tongue and refuses to hide his love for Notre Dame. So, while his recent shot at Charlie Weis was out of bounds and somewhat funny, it shouldn't come as a surprise.

It all started on Saturday when Kansas decided to call a fake punt on 4th-and-13 from the Jayhawks' 16-yard line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyPfIHdUw14

After watching the play, a million thoughts should be racing through your mind. What in the world are you doing? The game is tied! The punter will never make it. Seriously, is this really happening?

While it remains a mystery if this was actually a designed play call or the punter made the decision on his own, the coaching staff is likely to blame. The kicker wasn't rushed and had plenty of time to get off the kick like a normal special teams unit would have done.

So, while most chalk this up to Kansas being Kansas, Holtz felt the need to fire off a missile in the direction of the former Notre Dame coach:

Go put ice on that immediately because it's going to sting.

Weis coached the Irish for five seasons and didn't fare well. He finished with a 35-27 record, missed the postseason twice and won only one of his three bowl appearances. He was fired after the 2009 season, but not without receiving a hefty payday from Notre Dame.

In 2011, Weis received about $10.8 million in termination pay from the school, plus nearly $500,000 from Play by Play Sports, according to Steve Berkowitz of USA TODAY. That's more money than current coach Brian Kelly made that year. Weis will also receive additional payments through December 2015, per the report.

It's clear Notre Dame needed to make a coaching change and was willing to do whatever it took to get out of a bad situation. However, sometimes it's best to not say anything at all if you don't have anything nice to say.

Kansas has had opportunities to end their 22-game losing streak to FBS opponents before. Most recently, the Jayhawks failed to finish in Week 3 against Rice by giving up 10 fourth-quarter points in a 23-14 loss. 

With Louisiana Tech driving in the final minutes of Saturday's game, it looked like Kansas was doomed for another letdown. 

But Jayhawks linebacker Michael Reynolds forced a fumble inside the 10-yard line and Kansas recovered. KU's offense, which had little success scoring all day, then drove 13 plays in under two minutes and Matthew Wyman made a 52-yard field goal as time expired to give Kansas the 13-10 win. 

It was far from a good-looking or well-executed game, but at this point, head coach Charlie Weis just needs wins. And his team got one by executing when it needed to most. 

After all the dropped passes against Rice a week ago, and after the early-game miscues on fourth down, it was impressive to see the Jayhawks offense come together at the right time. The game-winning drive was still shouldered by KU's running backs, James Sims and Tony Pierson, but that's where the playmakers are for this offense right now. 

Yes, the Jayhawks passing game still has a long way to go, but Kansas is 2-1 heading into Big 12 conference play after having just one win all of last year. 

That should give this team some confidence that it can execute and win games. The defense gave up a lot of yards to the Bulldogs, but forced three turnovers. That side of the ball hasn't been the issue, though. If the offense, especially the passing game, can continue to jell, Kansas can realistically be competitive in more than a few games this season. 

That would be a monumental improvement over the so-called "pile of crap" that Weis coached a year ago. 

Ben Kercheval is the lead writer for Big 12 football. You can follow Ben on Twitter @BenKercheval. 

There are a lot of amazing stats in football you can find if you dig around long enough. As we pointed out in Wednesday's Week 1 predictions, Wofford, Baylor's opponent for Saturday, racked up a whopping 590 yards on the ground in one game last year (to just five yards passing). Now, the Terriers are my new favorite team.

But as impressive as that number is, there's another out of the Big 12 that makes absolutely no sense and never ceases to blow my mind: Not a single wide receiver for Kansas caught a touchdown pass in 2012—not one. 

Yeah, Kansas was dreadful last year and had among the worst passing offenses in all of college football—only five ranked lower in yards per game and three ran the triple option as their base playbook, per ESPN Stats & Info—but that's almost unbelievable. 

(For the record, the breakdown of passing touchdowns for the Jayhawks last year went as such: four to running backs and three to tight ends.) 

Something this egregious surely won't happen again in 2013, otherwise I'm almost positive it's a violation of NCAA bylaws. The question is who steps up in the passing game? 

Nick Harwell, the transfer from Miami (OH), would have been the natural selection. The senior has 229 receptions and 23 touchdowns for his career. But an offseason suspension and coursework issues will force him to redshirt this year. 

That turns the attention to former Oklahoma wideout Justin McCay. Like Jayhawks quarterback Jake Heaps, McCay was forced to sit out the 2012 season because of NCAA transfer rules. He only played one season with the Sooners in limited action and didn't record any stats, so he's a bit of an unknown commodity. 

But he does have ideal size (6'2", 210 pounds) and received a lot of buzz during spring practices. Head coach Charlie Weis has praised McCay's willingness to block downfield, and his physicality could prove to be valuable in the red zone.

Most importantly, however, he's had a year to develop some chemistry with Heaps. That's something that was severely lacking not only in the passing game last year but in the entire offense. 

And how appropriately ironic would it be for a wide receiver who never so much as caught a pass in a college game to catch a touchdown for a unit that hasn't recorded one in over a year?

If McCay is everything KU coaches and players are touting him to be, he should become a go-to guy in the Jayhawks passing game this year.  

Ben Kercheval is the Lead Writer for Big 12 football. You can follow Ben on Twitter @BenKercheval. 

Kansas head coach Charlie Weis stole the show Monday at Big 12 Media Days. As detailed by the conference's official website, Weis was asked how he recruited prospects and he replied, "Have you taken a look at that pile of crap out there? If you can't play here, where can you play?”

Weis saying that is, well...pretty crappy. 

Kansas was 1-11 last year. But it did improve from the previous year in at least one respect. In 2011, Kansas finished 3-9,  but it lost to Oklahoma State 70-28 and Texas 43-0. In 2012, those margins of defeat were much closer, as the Jayhawks lost to the Cowboys 20-14 and Longhorns 21-17. 

Texas head coach Mack Brown said at Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday that Weis was doing a "tremendous" job at Kansas. Brown is spot-on. Kansas may have been the best 1-11 team in the country last year. That is not saying much, but at least Kansas is not Colorado-bad.

There are different levels of bad. Kansas-bad is losing 52-7 to Oklahoma. Colorado-bad is losing 30-28 to Sacramento State and then losing 69-14 to Fresno State the following week. 

Kansas football has stunk since 2009. It still smells bad, just not as bad as 2011's version. Four teams scored at least 59 points on the Jayhawks that season. Oklahoma State scored 70.

The team is becoming more competitive. So why disrespect it that way?  

Weis' comment about last year's team was uncalled for. That he almost boasted about his recruiting pitch—a pitch he makes to teenagers, mind you—makes it that much more uncouth.

This is the same man who railed to Fanhouse's John Walters in 2009 about the criticism his family received from Irish fans:

I'll never forgive the people who character-assassinated me without even knowing me. Those people did irreparable damage to my wife and son, and I'll never forgive them.

Weis can dish it, he just can't take it, apparently.

Kansas is Weis' second head coaching job, third if you count his one-year stint at Franklin High School in New Jersey in 1989. Weis recruits well. Landing top-five classes is noteworthy. Having a 36-38 career record as a college football head coach is not.

Weis claims he will not make excuses for anything. He even wrote a book called "No Excuses." But he has made plenty of excuses for losses. 

After a loss to Kansas State last year, Weis said, "I think the team needs to understand that there is only so much developing you can do with the seniors,” according to LostLettermen.com.

In 2009, Weis called for two passes, both of which fell incomplete, late in the game with a three-point lead, which stopped the clock and gave Michigan the ball back at its 43 after a punt with 2:13 and two timeouts remaining. Notre Dame lost 38-34. Weis' explanation, via Brian Hamilton:

So you have two choices. Are you running the ball, just to make them use their timeouts, or are you trying to win the game?

The answers to those questions should be yes and yes. Not no and yes. 

Weis vented his frustrations on Twitter after a Kansas school newspaper had "Road Kill Ahead" as its front-page headline prior to the 2012 Kansas-Kansas State game, according to KansasCity.com. More: 

“Team slammed by our own school newspaper,” Weis tweeted. “Amazing! No problem with opponent's paper or local media. You deserve what you get! But, not home!”

Weis added that he didn’t care about the image, but that he did want to stick up for his players.

“I personally could care less. You are what (sic) are," he tweeted. "On the other hand, if I don't support the players good or bad, who will??”

That's a great question. And Weis appears to have answered it at Big 12 Media Days. 

Bluster and arrogance are part of the Weis mystique. So is that New Jersey tough-guy attitude. It worked well for him when he was the New England Patriots' offensive coordinator. Kansas is not New Jersey and the Jayhawks are not an NFL team.  

This is the heartland. The breadbasket of America.

A little more butter and a little less spice in Weis' recruiting pitches to 17-year-old prospects and their moms may yield better results. Kansas will get better.

In the meantime, let's keep it classy. 

Talking to reporters at the Big 12 media days in Dallas, Texas, Kansas Jayhawks head coach Charlie Weis had some choice words in regards to the talent his team has displayed in his first year at the helm in Lawrence. 

In one of Weis' first statements after taking the microphone, Weis addressed the fact that his team was picked last in the 2013 Big 12 preseason poll, just one year after finishing 1-11 and winless in Big 12 play. 

"We're 1‑11 and picked by everybody to finish last in the league, and that's justifiable," Weis said. "If I were you, I'd pick us in the same spot. We've given you no evidence or no reason to be picked anywhere other than that."

However, perhaps his most interesting comment, which drew laughs across the conference room at the Omni Hotel in Dallas, was about how Weis' pitch to recruits who ask him about playing time. 

"Have you looked at that pile of crap out there?" Weis said. "Have you taken a look at that? So if you don't think you can play here, where do you think you can play? It's a pretty simple approach."

While surely many Kansas fans in Lawrence were possibly angered by the statement made by their head coach, Dan Wolken of USA Today had this to say about the matter: 

The Jayhawks are in the midst of a 21-game losing streak in Big 12 play. In Weis' first season as the head coach, he dismissed nearly 30 players then went 1-11 in his first season. The Jayhawks' only win was against South Dakota State, an FCS team. 

Despite Weis' public comments at Big 12 media days, the coach made sure to emphasize that his team has high hopes this year. 

"Obviously, inside closed walls or inside our walls and closed doors, our expectations are much higher than everyone else, but the proof's in the pudding," Weis said. "Until we start beating some teams in the Big 12, which is quite a challenge with the ability and talent throughout the league, we're going to be put in the same spot every year."

 *All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted

The Kansas Jayhawks will be looking sharp heading into the 2013 season. 

This week, head coach Charlie Weiss posted a Vine video, per Michael Shamburger of Big Lead Sports, that should have fans beaming with pride, offering only the slightest bout of motion sickness. 

While the video might be a tad discombobulating for some, it certainly gives you a real sense of what we are dealing with from a fashion point of view. 

As Shamburger notes, the new duds seem to "range from the normal Jayhawks unis to matte black and matte baby-blue." 

If we are grading, I have to throw an "A" on the baby blues, a color that when done right can be extremely pleasing on the eyes. 

While we await far more photos and footage of the uniforms, we enjoy the sweet sartorial game the Jayhawks are bringing to the matte black and blues, as well as the featured role for the school's mascot. 

For a more static view of the helmets, the Kansas Jayhawks' Twitter account helps us out with this tweet: 

Here is a brief glimpse of some of the attire worn by Kansas in 2012: 

Now, Kansas isn't the only collegiate program to flip the fashion switch, because Appalachian State unveiled its own slick uniforms recently, dropping the lines across the front of its jerseys, opting for a far more streamlined uniform. 

As for Kansas, the only remaining question relates to the bottoms and whether those pants will bring back the wide stripe running down the legs. 

Whatever they decide, it's clear Kansas will look a little different in 2013, and I have no complaints about that. 

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Kansas football announced Wednesday evening that the team has landed wide receiver Nick Harwell. According to the KU athletics website, "Harwell has signed a grant in aid to join the KU football program in August."

The Jayhawks have a receiving corps with limited talent in Andrew Turzilli, Justin McCay and Josh Ford. The Jayhawks went all of last season without a touchdown pass to a wide receiver.

Now, Kansas has a little bit more firepower and a big target for quarterback Jake Heaps to throw to.

Kansas head coach Charlie Weis was pleased with Heaps' four-touchdown spring game earlier this offseason. Now, Weis is really looking forward to coaching this offense.

Under Weis' guidance, the Jayhawks offense should see some improvement. With the addition of Harwell, the returning Jayhawks have a better understanding of how Weis wants to run the offense.

Heaps also spent one year watching quarterback Dayne Crist in Kansas, giving him a better idea of the offense by spectating in games and participating in practice.

The Jayhawks still have a lot of room for improvement, but picking up Harwell can help the program turn a corner and move into the right direction. Kansas won two games in 2011 and just one game last season in Weis' first year. The Jayhawks are currently riding a 21-game conference losing streak, with their last conference win coming against Colorado on Nov. 6, 2010.

Harwell, who played for Miami (Ohio), was the NCAA's second-leading receiver two years ago with nearly 130 receiving yards per game. He finished his sophomore year with 97 catches for 1,425 yards and nine touchdowns.

Despite missing three games last season, Harwell placed 13th in the NCAA in receptions per game and 14th in receiving yards per game.

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It's been a long wait for sure, but head coach Charlie Weis is doing some good stuff—a lot better than his 2012 record indicates.

Yes, a 1-11 record stinks, but take a closer look.

Kansas lost at Texas Tech 41-34, but the Jayhawks did take the Red Raiders to two overtime periods before losing. Two of the Big 12's better teams, Texas and Oklahoma State, got all they could handle from Kansas as well—the Jayhawks lost by only four points to both the Longhorns and the Cowboys. 

There were a few blowouts, like a 56-16 loss to Kansas State, but that score is misleading—Kansas was only down 21-14 at the half before the Wildcats scored four touchdowns in the the third quarter. The point here is simple: In 2011, the Jayhawks were regularly blown out, with three teams scoring 60-plus points on them. In 2012, no on scored 60 points against Kansas.

Progress has been made.

Despite using a 60-point threshold as the mark of Kansas' improvement, there are the little things that point to a turnaround down the road. The Big 12 was very good last year—only Kansas failed to get a bowl berth—and Kansas still managed to be competitive in several games.

This year the Big 12 will be very strong at the top, but the quantity of bowl-eligible teams may drop—West Virginia and Kansas State have major rebuilding jobs ahead of them and Oklahoma's defense needs some youngsters to fill in the holes in the secondary.

One of Kansas' biggest weaknesses last year was sustaining its drives. The Jayhawks finished dead last in the league in both third-down conversions and red zone-conversions. Another glaring problem was the lack of teeth in the passing attack—the Jayhawks finished last in the Big 12's passing offense, which explains why once they fell behind, they couldn't catch up. Weis gave Notre Dame-transfer Dayne Crist a final shot in football, but his 1,313 yards, four touchdowns and nine interceptions didn't help Kansas' offense.

A Kansas bright spot has been running back James Sims, who returns this year. Sims was the league's leading rusher and his consistent productivity could help usher in a lethal passing attack from highly-recruited BYU transfer Jake Heaps. While most of the Big 12 teams are in the process of developing green quarterbacks to replace their veterans, Kansas has a turnkey quarterback with two years of experience. 

Weis also went heavy on JUCO transfers in his last two classes. The experience is there, it's just a question of how they handle the higher level of competition at the FBS level. Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder has perfected the utilization of JUCO transfers and Mike Gundy has also had remarkable success with them.

The Big 12 may see some heavyweights struggle this year while a newcomer to the league (TCU) may make its move to the top. But the cellar-dweller of the Big 12 may be no longer. 

Kansas will be a lot more competitive this year and it will upset a Big 12 team. 

Charlie Weis' quest to be back in college football didn't begin last year—it starts right now.

And so does Kansas' turnaround.

Despite a 1-9 record, the University of Kansas football team and fan base is surprisingly encouraged, especially after head coach Charlie Weis' offer to KU students.

As they conclude their fourth straight season without a bowl appearance, the Jayhawks' seniors will prepare for their final home game on Saturday vs. Iowa State.  They have not sniffed Big 12 contention during their time in Lawrence after a tarnished 2009 season and two-year cautiously quiet tenure under the reverend-like Turner Gill, but Charlie Weis continues to pump a little energy into a beleaguered program.

Weis previously challenged fans to fill the Memorial Stadium seats as they seek their first conference victory in over two years and only second since 2009; apparently unsatisfied with his plea, he has one-upped himself.  He will open his checkbook on Saturday and foot the bill for any KU students seeking tickets for the Senior Night in Lawrence.

With a five-year contract in hand that guarantees $2.5 million annually, the tab for a couple thousand students will not break the bank.  However, with one win (South Dakota State) in the standings and basketball season underway on campus, this is an impressively creative way to raise some eyebrows by showing appreciation to fans that have been treated to anything but success since their 2008 Orange Bowl victory.

Life hasn't gone so well for Kansas Football.

The program currently rides a 16-game conference losing streak. Its last win within the conference came in November of 2010 when it rallied from a 45-17 deficit to defeat Colorado, 52-45.

Since then, the Jayhawks have suffered through 16 games in the Big 12. They host a Texas Longhorns team ranked 23 in the BCS and 24 in the coaches poll. Although the Longhorns have a lot of momentum, this could be a trap game.

Kansas running back James Sims could be a lethal weapon on Saturday for the Jayhawks.

Despite being suspended for the first three games, Sims leads the team in every key rushing category. He’s rushed for 446 yards and five touchdowns on the year.  He’s second in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma State’s Joseph Randle in yards per game.

Sims isn’t the only monster on this team. Tony Pierson’s rushed for 386 yards and a pair of touchdowns while junior college transfer Taylor Cox has rushed for 336 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Jayhawks are going up against a Longhorns rush defense ranked last in the conference. Texas has allowed over 1,000 yards rushing in the conference in four games, and no other team is close to allowing that much so far.

Charlie Weis, Kansas head coach and offensive coordinator, announced on Tuesday via the University Daily Kansan that Michael Cummings will start at quarterback over Dayne Crist. Cummings presents another threat for Texas. Although Cummings is a redshirt freshman, his mobility can create a lot of problems for the Longhorns defense.

The Jayhawks still have a lot of holes. Last week, the offense did not score until late in the fourth quarter after the special teams unit allowed a touchdown return on a punt and kickoff. The defense also fell flat in giving up 38 points.

But if the rushing attack fights hard and hangs with the Longhorns, the Jayhawks could give their opponents a run for their money and possibly surprise a lot of fans. It is their perfect opportunity to snap their losing streak on Saturday and earn a little bit of respect in the Big 12 by knocking down one of the more prominent teams in college football coached by Mack Brown.