Kansas Jayhawks 2021 College Football Preview
Created July 21, 2021
2020 Recap
Record – 0-9
ATS – 2-7
It doesn’t get much worse than that, buh buh.
Kansas dropped all nine games and were outscored by a combined total of 376-119. They were pretty much massacred in every game but did give the Red Raiders a scare in the season finale (L 16-13). Kansas made a great HC hire by scooping Buffalo’s Lance Leipold who turned a bad Bulls program into a REALLY good one. Let’s see what he has to work with in 2021.
Kansas Jayhawks 2021 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Jayhawks averaged just 16 PPG LY (#123 FBS) and were equally poor on the ground (#116) and through the air (#112). The QB battle during fall camp should be very interesting as their top-two QBs return from LY (Jalon Daniels, Miles Kendrick) and they get a fine addition in Jason Bean from North Texas who could make a strong push for the starting gig. HC Lance Leipold loves a good ground game and he gets back the top-two RBs in Velton Gardner and Daniel Hishaw. WR Kwamie Lassiter looks like a legit #1 option after leading the team in receptions and receiving yards by a large margin (43-458, 10.7, 2 TD) but the depth at the position appears to be lacking. From the IMPOSSIBLE FILE: Kansas allowed at least four sacks in every game LY. There’s a lot of work to do up front. We expect a bit of improvement but doubt they’ll manage to average 20 PPG.
DEFENSE
The stench coming from your TV sets on Saturday afternoons LY was more than likely due to the Kansas defense. They allowed 46 PPG and gave up 55,52,62 and 59 (!) in consecutive weeks. Eight starters return on this side of the ball and they have to find a way to plug all the holes in the dam, as well as generate some kind of pass rush (9 sacks in 9G LY). The good news is that there are some decent pieces to build around. DE/LB Kyron Johnson is probably the best defensive player on the team and he put up a fine stat line LY (#3 tackler, 3 sk, 4.5 TFL), Gavin Potter does good work at LB, and they have a nice safety combo in Kenny Logan (#1 tackles LY) and Ricky Thomas (#2 tackles). This is still the worst D in the conference but expect them to show mild improvement.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The punting and PR units were mediocre LY but KR Kenny Logan booked a TD and Jacob Borcila hit 6/9 FGA.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – It’s tough to find more than one win in here and note that they face a three-road-game-in- four stretch twice.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at Oklahoma St (October 30th)
The Cowboys have no shame when it comes to piling up the points at home and note that Kansas has their biggest game of the year on deck (Kansas St).
Season Win Total
per 5Dimes July 21
Over 1.5 +175
Under 1.5 -210
MEGALOCKS says:
No leanage. Would consider taking the ‘under’ if we could find a price closer to -140.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Per the amazing Phil Steele magazine, Kansas has lost 54 straight true Big 12 road games. Yup, that’s a FACT CHECK TRUE.
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
The Jayhawks have booked 12 straight losing seasons and Lance Leipold got off to a late start in the spring. We’re optimistic about their chances to claw towards respectability over the next few years but 2021 is shaping up to be a struggle.
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
Hashtags – #RockChalk, #KUfball
Accounts to follow