College Football Predictions – Kansas Jayhawks 2020 College Football Preview
August 12, 2020
2019 Recap
Record – 3-9
ATS – 5-7
Year one of the MAD HATTER was a struggle as we all expected but there were definitely some high points worth noting. They started out the campaign at 2-1 (!) after destroying Boston College on the road (W 48-24), they took Texas to the wire in Austin (L 50-48), and held their own on the road at Iowa St (L 41-31).
There’s still a ton of work to be done in Lawrence, but can these guys take a small step forward in 2020?
2020 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
Big 12 – #10
Kansas Jayhawks 2020 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Jayhawks had issues SCORING the FOOTBALL (#9 Big 12 scoring offense), running the football (#8) and MATRICULATING the ball down the field via the pass (#7). They actually got solid QB play out of Carter Stanley (2,600+ yards, 24 TD) but they need to break in a new signal caller in 2020. It’s unclear who will get the starting gig but we should expect a downgrade at the position. There’s great news at RB with the return of star RB Pooka Williams who booked another 1,000-yard (!) season on the ground whilst tallying 27 receptions. He’s easily one of the most dynamic players in the Big 12. The HITS KEEP COMING when you consider that the top-three WRs are back for duty and those three men (Parchment, Robinson Jr., Lassiter II) combined to catch 144 balls for over 1,900 yards and 16 TDs last year. So, there are weapons, but we worry about an offensive line that returns just one starter. They will certainly miss their excellent LT Hakeem Adeniji who was a rock for several years.
We doubt these guys will move up in the Big 12 offensive rankings BUT think they can definitely have their moments if the QB play is merely “average”. <grabs popcorn>
DEFENSE
Yuck.
The defense struggled last year as expected and they allowed 36 PPG (#120 FBS) and 475 YPG (#122). There are only two starters back in the mix this season, and although you could position it as a positive development given their performance LY, we like to see seasoned players returning to the team. This might be the easiest defense to analyze and “handicap” for a couple of reasons. One, they stunk last season. Two, they return essentially nobody. We won’t pretend to know how the new faces on the Jayhawks’ D will perform in 2020. Sooooooo, it seems to us that you have to assume they will STINK again, but be willing to monitor how they perform early in the campaign. They should give us an idea early on if they are EPIC TRASH or a bit better than we thought.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Hmm. PK Liam Jones missed 4 (!) XPs LY and hit just 11/18 FG attempts. On the plus side, punter Kyle Thompson is one of the better ones in the Big 12. The return game was mediocre LY.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – Coastal Carolina is their opening opponent on September 12th. Four of their first six Big 12 games are on the road. Their two most winnable games on paper (West Virginia, Texas Tech) are both ON THE HIGHWAY.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at Baylor (September 26th)
Kansas will be introducing a new QB and we won’t be backing them until we see what they have under center. Also note that the Jayhawks usually get JACKED UP for a big time opponent at least once a year, and in theory, that isn’t Baylor.
Season Win Total
Over 2.5 +145
Under 2.5 -175
MEGALOCKS says:
It’s pricey, but the under seems like a good bet. We’ll try and find a “2” with lower juice and go with that, yo. Stay tuned.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
In 1907, Kansas became one of the charter members (Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Washington – St Louis) of the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Association, which eventually became the Big Eight Conference. That conference was folded into what we now know as the Big 12 in 1996. Ergo, Kansas is the only original member of the MVIAA that is still part of the Big 12.
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
Les Miles knew this was a yuuuuuge project when he took the job. It seems certain that the Jayhawks will have another difficult season, although they have enough firepower on offense to pull an upset or two. We just have no idea what to expect from the defense, other than it will be some shade of ‘bad’. The year 2021 is probably when we see some improvement. In any event, we will be cheering for LESTICLES and the boys to bag some wins.
#RockChalk.
Want more Kansas football ?
WEBSITE
https://kuathletics.com/sports/football/
FORUM
http://boards.kusports.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=1&page=1
https://247sports.com/college/kansas/Board/Gridiron-Talk-103723/
https://kansas.forums.rivals.com/forums/memorial-stadium-slant-suite.22/
NEWS
http://www2.kusports.com/news/football/
https://www.rockchalktalk.com/
http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/2305/kansas-jayhawks
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