Kansas Jayhawks
Overall Rank: #92
#10 Big 12
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Once again Kansas begins a new era. This time the new head man is David Beaty, who was an assistant with the Jayhawks back when they were half way decent. Coach Beaty was most recently at Texas A&M and he is a good recruiter who can bring in talent from the state of Texas. But that will not help him much right now on a team that seems to max out with three wins per season. Three wins is a good goal for now.
2014 Record: 3-9, 1-8
2014 Bowl: None
Coach: David Beaty (0-0 at Kansas, 0-0 overall)
Offensive Coordinator: Rob Likens
Defensive Coordinator: Clint Bowen, Kenny Perry
Returning Leaders:
Rushing: Corey Avery, RB, 631 yards
Passing: Michael Cummings, QB, 1,715 yards
Receiving: Corey Avery, RB, 217 yards
Tackles: Jake Love, LB, 53
Sacks: Jake Love, LB, 3.0
Interceptions: Matthew Boateng, CB, 1
Other Key Returnees: RB De’Andre Mann, S Fish Smithson, LB Courtney Arnick
Key Losses: TE Jimmay Mundine, WR Nigel King, WR Nick Harwell, DB JaCorey Sheperd, P Trevor Pardula, LB Michael Reynolds, LB Ben Heeney, S Isaiah Johnson, S Cassius Sendish,
Strengths:
The defense got better once Charlie Weis was gone and Clint Bowen took over the interim coaching duties. Bowen has stayed on the staff as a co-defensive coordinator along with Kenny Perry, who spent the last two years at TCU. That TCU influence will likely lead to more 4-2-5 formations. However, Kansas did not have too much trouble stopping the pass last season and an influx of talent in the secondary from the junior college ranks should at least make the unit serviceable. The secondary really was not tested too often though since the rush defense was so bad. It was against KU that Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine set an NCAA record with 427 rushing yards. Even in the Big 12, there is no reason to put the ball in the air against a team like Kansas. A strong defensive end unit, led by Ben Goodman, and a decent linebacker corps, led by Jake Love, should be enough to keep Kansas in a few games.
Weaknesses:
The offense has a long way to go if they hope to take advantage of the opportunities the defense provides them. This team scored just 17.8 points and totaled just 324.1 yard of total offense per game. The goal under the new staff is to limit mistakes and make big plays. Getting those big plays by speeding up the tempo sounds great on paper, but the Jayhawks lack the depth across the board to pull it off. Quarterback Michael Cummings suffered an injury in the spring and the job, for now at least, will again fall to Montell Cozart. Cozart began the 2014 campaign under center before losing the starting job to Cummings. With their top receivers gone, the pass happy offense the new staff is looking for may not come to fruition anytime soon. The big plays will have to come from the relatively experienced stable of running backs. Corey Avery is the top returner after rushing for 631 yards in 2014 and there are high hopes for junior college transfer Ke’aun Kinner.
The Bottom Line:
In most cases, Coach Beaty did a good job of filling the gaps with junior college transfers. That should mean this team will not drop off too much from last year’s three wins. But if those three wins are going to transpire, they probably need to happen in the first four games of the year. Kansas’ non-conference slate begins with home games against South Dakota State and Memphis before they head to Rutgers on September 26th. The most winnable Big 12 game comes the following week at Iowa State, a team Kansas beat at home 34-14 last season. After that, the Jayhawks will just be looking to get better with an eye towards 2016 and beyond.
Projected Bowl: None
2014 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 121.2 (109th in nation, 10th in conference)
Passing Offense: 202.9 (84, 9)
Total Offense: 324.1 (115, 10)
Scoring Offense: 17.8 (115, 10)
Rushing Defense: 209.7 (104, 8)
Pass Defense: 243.5 (86, 5)
Total Defense: 453.2 (106, 8)
Scoring Defense: 33.3 (104, 8)
Turnover Margin: 0.25 (45, 4)
Sacks: 1.58 (97, 8)
Sacks Allowed: 2.42 (91, 8)
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