2010 Kansas Jayhawks Football Preview

2009 Results: 5-7, No Bowl

Head Coach: Turner Gill (1st year @ KU, 20-30 Overall)

Home Venue: Kansas Memorial Stadium (50,071), Lawrence, Kansas

No team had a bigger collapse in 2009 than the Kansas Jayhawks. After a 5-0 start that saw them ranked in the top 20, Kansas lost their final seven games by an average of fourteen points per contest! The result of the bottom dropping out on the season combined with an ethics investigation into former coach Mark Mangino’s attitude towards recruits from inner city areas was a change at head coach.

The new boss is Turner Gill, who received rave reviews for his performance building the Buffalo program. Gill took one of the most moribund teams in the country and led them to a MAC Championship and their first ever bowl berth in just three seasons! A former Nebraska superstar quarterback, his name brings instant credibility throughout the Midwest and he should succeed immediately on the recruiting front. But can Gill work his magic this season with a very depleted team?

OFFENSE

The real reason for Kansas’ great success in 2007 and 2008 was an overwhelming offense that was guided by former star QB Todd Reesing, who threw for more than 10,000 yards over the last three seasons. Reesing is now gone and it will be extremely difficult to replace his exceptional production. To make matters worse, his top two receivers were just selected in the NFL draft after combing for 186 catches, 2322 yards and 17 TDs last year, leaving the pickings thin for the KU aerial attack.

Sophomore Kale Pick and redshirt frosh Jordan Webb will compete in camp to succeed Reesing. While both are talented, it seems highly unlikely that either will remotely approach the production that Kansas has enjoyed the last three years. There is some good news as things look better for their receivers. While no projected starter caught a touchdown in 2009, senior Johnathan Wilson (35 catches, 449 yards) and sophomore Bradley McDougald (33 catches, 318 yards) have the makings of a decent starting pairing. However, there is no way that this passing game remotely approaches last year’s production with a completely rebuilt unit.

The running game is also depleted, though sophomore Toben Opurum (554 yards, 9 TDs) did lead the team in rushing last year. The reason that this unit is weaker is the loss of Jake Sharp, who was a very productive tailback for the last three years. But even with the lower talent and experience level, I fully expect the running game to be significantly more productive this season as Gill prefers to focus on the running game.

The only part of this offense that isn’t highly inexperienced is the O-Line, which returns every single starter. Sophomore LT Tanner Hawkinson was a 1st Team Freshman All-American last season and they should improve with a focus on the running game this fall. While they do need to learn a new system, I have confidence that Gill will be able to rely on this group and their play could be the reason that the KU attack doesn’t fall off the map in 2010.

Overall, there are going to be a lot of changes on offense this year. The exceptional passing attack from the last three seasons will be greatly diminished and KU’s ground game will take center stage. I think that’s a smart strategy with a strong returning O-Line and a potential headlining rusher in Opurum. However, the new system combined with this group’s inexperience makes me believe that the Jayhawk offense is going to take a step back from the prolific production of the last three years.

DEFENSE

I have a lot more confidence in the defense to improve. After two straight campaigns that saw them finish in the bottom half of the league in scoring defense, I think that the Jayhawks will see improvement just based on the offense possessing the ball more often and allowing the D to remain on the sidelines. When the amount of returning defensive depth is factored in, there is the possibility for a much improved unit.

The D-Line will be led by senior DE Jake Laptad (49 tackles, 6.5 sacks), the team’s leader in sacks last year. But he’s not the only experienced lineman, as the projected starters at D-Tackle combined for 13 starts in 2009. I think that the Jayhawks will be fairly deep up front as a number of promising underclassmen are in the fold but I am concerned that Laptad’s productivity will fall off as he runs into consistent double teams this season.

Kansas also looks solid at linebacker. Senior Drew Dudley (88 tackles, 3 sacks) is the top returning tackler from 2009 and sophomore Huldon Tharp (59 tackles) was named a 1st Team Freshman All-American! With this pair roaming the middle, I feel confident that KU will get strong play from their linebackers this fall.

The secondary is probably the least experienced part of this defense. Senior cornerback Chris Harris (84 tackles) will enter his 3rd year starting and he will be heavily relied upon for leadership this fall. Also, sophomore safety Lubbock Smith (42 tackles) played well as a freshman in ’09 and I am confident that he will continue to progress. My major concern is that the Jayhawk secondary will struggle at getting their hands on interceptions after a fruitless season in that regard. I also worry that a reduced pass rush will cause this raw unit to struggle in 2010.

Overall, there are a lot of decent parts on this defense. However, KU will be learning a new scheme so there will be growing pains as they get used to things. The good news is that the offense should take up more clock with the running game this season and that will allow the new unit to break in with greater ease. A fairly easy early schedule should also help in that regard and this unit will be very comfortable heading into the meat of the Big XII slate. Even with my concerns about the pass rush and secondary, I expect better numbers from the Jayhawk defense this fall.

> Buy Kansas Jayhawks apparel and KU football & basketball jerseys and find a great selection of college Fatheads online through College Sports Fans!

SCHEDULE

As I mentioned, the non-conference schedule is rather light. The only major opponent is Georgia Tech and they have to come all the way up to Lawrence for the game. Otherwise, KU plays North Dakota State and New Mexico State at home while traveling to Southern Mississippi. After those four games open the season, KU travels to Baylor before an off week to prepare for the heart of their conference slate. Visits from Oklahoma State and Texas A&M complete their favorable draw in conference as they avoid both of the league’s big names from the South. This is certainly a much easier schedule than 2009 with both Texas and Oklahoma rotating off of the slate.

OUTLOOK

This team is going to be a very interesting juxtaposition from the 2009 season. I feel that this team is far less talented with some serious losses on offense and there will be new systems to learn on both sides of the football, but yet I wouldn’t be remotely surprised if this team won more games than last season’s squad. Why? First off all, the schedule is so much easier without Oklahoma and Texas. Second of all, I think that Gill will get a much more consistent effort from his players as I believe that he is a far superior coach to Mangino.

So how will the season shake out? I think that Kansas isn’t a threat in the Big XII North this fall with a rebuilding team and a new coaching staff. However, I do think that they are a threat to become bowl eligible with a weaker schedule and an improved focus on their ground game. On top of that, the Big XII North is a two horse race, so if the ball bounces their way against the bottom tier teams then a bowl game is certainly not out of the realm of probability. But I’m not that optimistic: I think that a completely rebuilt offense and an average defense won’t be enough to earn a postseason date. I’m afraid that Kansas will be one of four average teams at the bottom of the Big XII North and a loss at Iowa State will drop them to last place in the Big XII North for the 2nd consecutive season.

PREDICTED RESULT: 5-7 (2-6 Big XII)