Kansas is 1-5 on the season and dwells in the cellar of the Big 12 Conference. It’s time to take a deep dive into how in the hell the Jayhawks got here and their upcoming opponents.
So far, Kansas football has been disappointing, to say the least. Last season, the team won nine games, including a triumphant bowl win against UNLV. Kansas finally looked like it was flipping the losing script, and fans and players alike had a lot of confidence coming into this year. Even the media looked at Kansas as a contender, as the Jayhawks were ranked the AP’s No.22 team in the country; the only preseason ranking the Jayhawks have received since the 2009 season when they were ranked No. 25.
Starting with the games that Kansas has played, as previously mentioned, the Jayhawks are currently 1-5 on the year. Fans could say, “hey, four out of five games we’ve lost this season have only been by one score,” and they would be right. They would also be right in saying that Kansas has been beaten in the waning moments against UNLV, West Virginia and Arizona State. But the problem isn’t being competitive for three quarters; it’s being competitive in the fourth quarter and closing out in “winning time,” and that’s what this team has lacked all year.
“We’re close,” Kansas head coach Lance Leipold told media after the Arizona State loss. “But as you can see, that’s a tiring old story.”
And close they are, in over half of the games the Jayhawks have lost this year, they were leading going into the fourth. But equally as bad, Kansas is being outscored 24-63 in the final quarter in those games combined, excluding the Lindenwood “beat-em-up” game.
Kansas is one of few FBS teams that have a perfect red zone scoring percentage (including field goals and touchdowns), so it isn’t turning it over when getting there, the problem is actually getting to the red zone.
Kansas fields an offense with a mostly returning roster; most of the players now seniors with bowl experience. The offense was to be given to talented redshirt junior quarterback Jalon Daniels and star senior running back Devin Neal, and watch in awe as they made magic happen between the hashes; that didn’t happen. Kansas has also struggled with penalties on offense, setting up a 104th-ranked passing offense with long down and distance every drive, putting the game plan of running the ball to set up the pass right out the window.
The departure of offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who left for Penn State last season, seems to be the reason (or scapegoat) for The Jayhawks’ inability to get the offense going. It doesn’t help Kansas fans that Penn State is 5-0 on the season and ranked No.4 in the nation. His absence can be felt all over the field, as the offense has been out of sorts and turnover-prone. Daniels has been a big part of the mistakes, throwing for only seven touchdowns to eight picks on the year. The senior has only thrown over 250 yards once during the season.
The new Kansas offensive coordinator, Jeff Grimes, has yet to find the keys to the Corvette that Jalon Daniels is, or even the garage door opener, if we’re being honest. Through all the offensive dysfunction, Devin Neal has still been the engine for this offense and is on pace for another astounding year with 584 rushing yards and five touchdowns on just 100 carries.
“I think whether it’s Jalon or any particular player, you just wish you had a few more plays that had gone your way,” Grimes said. “I think that could be said of any position. There are some things that we are doing and some other things that we are not doing as well. The bottom line is: ‘Can you score more points than the defense yields?’ We haven’t done that yet.”
The defense has been woefully disappointing as well, especially the defensive back play, which may be feeling the loss of last year’s leading tackler and borderline Jayhawk legend, safety Kenny Logan Jr. The Jayhawks sport the No. 73 ranked defense in the FBS. Third down has been a problem all year as Kansas is the No.95 ranked third-down defense and, even more surprising, a bottom-10 fourth-down defense that is allowing teams to convert seven out of eight tries. If you thought the rush defense or sack numbers would be this team’s saving grace, you would be mistaken, as the Kansas rush defense and sack numbers are both in the lower 100 of FBS teams.
Turnovers, while cleaned up recently, have been a boon for Kansas throughout the season. The Jayhawks have a negative two-turnover margin, a considerable change from last year’s plus-one, with most in crucial moments or on deep throws that end up being late reads.
On the other hand, special teams have been a mixed bag, with the lone bright spot being kicker Tabor Allen. Allen has nailed all but one of his extra points and remains perfect on field goals.
Looking ahead, Kansas looks to right the ship against the Houston Cougars. The Cougars are 2-4 on the season and most recently made a quarterback change after being shut out back-to-back weeks. The Jayhawks will then have their work cut out for them as they play three Big 12 ranked opponents in back-to-back weeks: Kansas State, Iowa State and BYU.
The Jayhawks will finish the season against the Deion Sanders-led 4-1 Colorado Buffaloes and the 2-4 Baylor Bears, who join Kansas as another team 0-3 in Big 12 play.
“We got a lot to work on, in all three phases,” Leipold said when asked about the bye. “Get healthier, reset a little bit … we’ll continue to do everything we can to prep for Houston to get ourselves on track.”
A bowl game is almost certainly out of the equation, but it will be interesting to see if Kansas can rally to make this a respectable season and save Jeff Grimes’s job if it isn’t already lost.
