Kansas Jayhawks
Head Coach: Charlie Weis
2011 Record: 2-10 overall, 0-9 Big 12
Odds to Win Big 12 Championship: 150/1
Over Under Regular Season Wins: Over 3 1/2 -135 / Under +105
All odds Courtesy of Bovada
Last season, Kansas started off 2-0 with wins against McNeese St and Northern Illinois. Unfortunately, the Jayhawks lost their next 10 games. Six of the losses were by 30 points or more. Kansas did play Texas Tech, Iowa St, Baylor, and Missouri close. They lost those games by a total of 29 points, and the Jayhawks were playing a lot better at the end of the season (a 61-7 demolition by Texas A&M notwithstanding). However, it was clear a change had to be made and coach Turner Gill was fired after 2 seasons. He is now the head coach at FCS school Liberty. Kansas has only won 5 games in the last 31 played.
Kansas hired former Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis to become the head coach in December of 2011. His last job was offensive coordinator for Florida last season. Weis was certainly a name hire, and made a big splash when it was announced. However, in the last decade Weis has proven to be a better NFL assistant than college head coach or coordinator. We will see what he can do with a Kansas football team that will always play second fiddle to the school’s illustrious basketball program. That isn’t to say success isn’t possible for Kansas football. After all it was just 5 seasons ago, that former coach Mark Mangino led the Jayhawks to a 12-1 season and an Orange Bowl victory.
Offense
Weis will serve as his own offensive coordinator. He has always been known for his ability to tutor quarterbacks. Players like Tom Brady, Brady Quinn, and Matt Cassel flourished under his watch. The offense was anemic last year with 167.4 passing yards a game, and the Jayhawks scored just 22 points a game.
Weis didn’t know who his quarterback was going to be at Kansas. Last year’s quarterback Jordan Webb transferred to Colorado. Then former Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist transferred to Kansas. Weis had recruited Crist before he was fired from Notre Dame. Crist has already graduated so he can play right away. He has battled knee injuries such as a torn ACL and a ruptured patella tendon. Crist was named the starter at Notre Dame last year but was benched in the first game after a slow start against South Florida. He would only throw 9 more passes for the rest of the season. He threw for 161 yards with an interception.In 2010, he threw for over 2,000 yards with 15 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. JUCO transfer Turner Baty will be the back-up. Kansas also has BYU transfer Jake Heaps, but he won’t be eligible until 2013.
The Kansas rushing game wasn’t terrible last year, averaging 159.4 yards per game. The problem was in most games the Jayhawks were down early and had to abandon the rushing game and throw the ball. Junior running back James Sims returns after he had 182 carries, 727 yards, and 9 touchdowns, and he also had 14 catches for 119 yards. The Jayhawks do have to replace second leading rusher Darian Miller who rushed for 559 yards and 4 touchdowns. Sophomore Tony Pierson had 71 catches, 396 yards, and 3 touchdowns. Sophomore Brandon Bourbon had 28 carries for 190 yards, and a touchdown. Sophomore Marquis Jackson will also get some carries after moving from receiver to running back this year. JUCO transfer Taylor Cox rushed for over 1,500 yards and 4 touchdowns at a junior college in Washington last season. Fullback Nick Sizemore won’t get any carries, but is a good blocking back.
Senior receiver D.J. Beshears had 40 catches, 437 yards, and 3 touchdowns. He is also the leading kick and punt returner for Kansas. Senior Daymond Patterson caught 60 passes in 2010 to lead the Jayhawks. He tore a groin muscle in the opening game last season after making only 3 grabs and a touchdown. He missed the rest of the season, but is healthy this year. Former QB Kale Pick had 34 catches, 344 yards, and 2 touchdowns last year. Sophomore Justin McCray transferred from Oklahoma, and will get some targets as well. JaCorey Shepherd had 15 catches, 252 yards, and 3 touchdowns. Christian Matthews had 11 catches last year. Jimmy Mundine and Trent Smiley will replace tight end Tim Biere who made 27 catches, 322 yards, and 2 touchdowns.
The offensive line must replace 4 year starter at center Jeremiah Hatch, and 3 year starter tackle Jeff Spikes. Tackle Tanner Hawkinson does have 36 career starts though. Duane Zlatnik and Trevor Marrongelli are the only other players with starting experience. Marrongelli will move from left guard to center to replace Hatch, and Zlatnick will move from right guard to left guard. The line could regress this year.
Defense
Last season, defensive coordinator Carl Torbush had to retire in May before the season started because he had prostate cancer. Vic Shealy was promoted to defensive coordinator and attempted to install a 3-4 defense. Needless to say, installing a new defense just a few months before the season started didn’t work. The Jayhawks were terrible in all defensive aspects. They were last nationally in scoring defense allowing almost 44 points a game. They couldn’t defend the pass or the run, had almost no pass rush, were awful in the red zone, and didn’t force many turnovers. Regardless of the system, the defense wasn’t going to be good anyway, because frankly they didn’t have a lot of talent.
Weis brought in former Dallas Cowboys’ head coach Dave Campo to run the defense in 2012. He has a ton of experience coming back, and the defense should improve if only because Campo is one of the top defensive minds in football, pro or college.
Senior end Toben Opurum was the lone bright spot on the line last year, with 10.5 tackles for loss and 4 sacks. Josh Williams (a former Nebraska transfer), Michael Reynolds and Keba Agostinho will also rotate at end. Kansas must replace their starting tackles, but John Williams, Shane Smith, Randall Dent, Pat Lewandowski, Ty McKinney and Jordan Tavai have the potential to be good.
The linebackers must replace Steven Johnson on the weakside. He had 6 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. Darius Willis had 81 tackles including 8 for loss. He should be the star of the linebacking corps this year. Huldon Tharpe, Prinze Kande, Schyler Miles, Courtney Arnick, and Notre Dame transfer Anthony McDonald add depth to a unit that should improve.
Safety Bradley McDougald had 5 tackles for loss, broke up 5 passes, and had two interceptions. Tyler Patmon and Greg Brown will start at the corners. Lubbock Smith and Victor Simmons will rotate at safety along with McDougald. I don’t know if the secondary will be better, but it’s difficult to get much worse than last year.
Special Teams
Junior kicker Ron Doherty took over late in the season and made 3 of 4 field goals. Sophomore Alex Mueller made only 3 of 8 field goals and was replaced by Doherty. Neither kicker made a field goal over 37 yards. Both will get chances this season.
Doherty will also handle the punting duties. He averaged 42.8 yards per kick with 15 inside the 20. His punt coverage team was awful though and the Jayhawks allowed 14.3 yards per return with a touchdown.
Beshears averaged 20.7 yards per kick return and 7.2 yards per punt return. In 2010, he averaged 25.6 yards per kick return but only 3.8 yards per punt return. He needs to be more consistent at both to give the Jayhawks better field position.
Schedule
Kansas opens with three home games against South Dakota St, Rice and TCU. Then comes road games at Northern Illinois and Kansas St. The rest of the schedule includes home games against Oklahoma St, Texas and Iowa St. The Jayhawks travel to Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas Tech and West Virginia.
Outlook
The offense should be better with Crist at the helm and the creative Weis calling the plays. I suppose the defense will be better, but they will go from atrocious to just bad, so that isn’t much of an improvement. If Weis is given time, I think he can turn the program around. I think they still struggle this year. Anything more than 4 wins would be a bonus for this team.
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