Friday, September 19, 2014

Kansas Jayhawks Football Game 3: The Start of... Anything?

Army does not throw the ball much, as you would expect for a football team at a military academy that trains people for actual ground assaults. They have 124 yards passing this season, the lowest mark in the country, and that's on purpose. The Kansas Jayhawks, meanwhile, have 291 passing yards on the year. That's fifth-lowest in the country, and that's certainly not on purpose. They had 89 passing yards in the 41-3 loss to Duke last week. Sophomore quarterback Montell Cozart threw the ball a career high 27 times... and completed 11 passes, or one more than Army has had the entire season.

I would say something here about the Jayhawks having the 35th best rushing offense in the country, third best in the conference, and blah blah blah, don't need a great passing game if you have a strong running game.... but let's be real here. Three points last week at Duke. Duke football is better than you would expect Duke football to be, but three points?

This week the opponent is Central Michigan, who beat Chattanooga and Purdue before losing to Syracuse last week, 40-3. (Hmm, that score seems almost identical to one I've seen quite recently....) Statistically, the Chippewas are about as bad scoring the ball and passing the ball, but are better at defense and worse at rushing offense.

KU's even vague hopes for improvement this season (remember, three wins last year was two wins better than 2012) hinge on a victory Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium (2:30 pm CT, Fox Sports Regional). The conference opener is the following week against a reeling Texas team (Starting QB David Ash has been forced to give up the game due to recurring concussions), and a win this week would give the Hawks plenty of hope of against the Horns. The week after that, it's the team that KU beat for their third win of last season, and their only conference victory- West Virginia. Sweeping the next three games is a virtual impossibility, but two of three seems doable- if one of those wins comes this week.

But, you know, that means being able to score more points than the other team. More than three, for sure. Even a non-passing team like Army knows that. 

photo courtesy: kusports.com

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