College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Kansas Jayhawks season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Kansas Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 3-9 overall, 1-8 in SEC
Head Coach: Les Miles, 2nd year, 3-9
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 67
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 117
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 71
Obviously, no one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Kansas Jayhawks Offense 3 Things To Know
– There wasn’t a whole lot of instant improvement on offense under Les Miles and the new coaching staff. The Jayhawks only scored 282 points – four fewer than they did in 2018 – but there were just enough good moments to hope for something to kick in.
And there were more than enough duds to still be concerned, scoring 20 points or fewer six times.
The biggest overall problem continues to be the lack of bulk young players building up in the system. Kansas has gone big on the quick fix of transfers over the years, and it hasn’t worked. However, there are just enough good playmakers to hope for more explosion.
CFN in 60 Video: Kansas Jayhawks Preview
– Second-leading rusher Khalil Herbert left for Virginia Tech, and Dominic Williams is off to Northern Iowa, but Pooka Williams is back after a 1,061-yard season with three touchdowns. He and sophomore Velton Gardner should be enough to form a decent 1-2 punch if the O line can come through.
The Jayhawks were okay in pass protection, and the running game wasn’t miserable, but three starters have to be replaced up front, starting with new Cincinnati Bengal OT Hakeem Adeniji. There’s bulk – the line should go around 310 pounder per man – but the tackles have to emerge.
– The receiving corps should be a plus. Three of the top four wideouts return, and Pooka Williams is a nice receiver out of the backfield. It’s a decent all-around group that can get deep – senior Stephon Robinson averaged over 16 yards per catch, and Andrew Parchment led the way with 65 grabs – but they all need steady quarterback play to make it all go.
6-5, 225-pound senior Thomas MacVittie is the odds-on favorite to take the gig, but six quarterbacks are currently listed on the roster for a wide open search. Junior Miles Kendrick adds more mobility, but MacVittie – a former JUCO transfer – is the downfield passer who can make the receiving corps go.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Kansas Jayhawks Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Kansas Jayhawks Defense 3 Things To Know
– The defense just never came around. It finished last in the Big 12 in total defense, scoring defense, sacks, takeaways, and run defense. Here’s where the lack of overall talent development over the last five years hurts.
The D was bad, and now ten of the top 17 tacklers are gone.
There are some nice parts, but there just aren’t enough of them. The secondary got the most help from the recruiting class, but replacing CB Hasan Defense and top-tackling safety Mike Lee will be tough.
Davon Ferguson is a decent safety, and there are corner options to play around with, but the defensive backs that picked off just four passes has to do a whole lot more.
– Three of the four starters on the defensive front have to be replaced. There’s not mass bulk outside of 6-4, 325-pound former JUCO transfer Reuben Lewis – there aren’t enough 300-pounders to anchor the interior – and there aren’t any sure-thing pass rushers to work around. This is where the former transfers have to rise up, with Caleb Sampson needing to be a factor on the outside.
– The defensive backs had to make too many tackles last season, but sophomore Gavin Potter and senior Kyron Johnson are decent veteran linebackers who’ll combine for well over 100 tackles. It’s going to be their job to get into the backfield, too.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Kansas Jayhawks Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Kansas Jayhawks Players
Best Kansas Jayhawks Offensive Player
RB Pooka Williams, Jr.
Suspended for the opener after a domestic violence charge, the 5-10, 170-pound All-Big Ten performer led the team with 1,061 yards and three scores, averaging over five yards per carry. He’s got the burst to tear off yards in big chunks, and he’s been tough enough to handle the ball more than 20 times per game with six games of 99 rushing yards or more in his 11 games. A good receiver, he caught 27 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns, too.
2. WR Andrew Parchment, Sr.
3. WR Stephon Robinson, Sr.
4. FB Ben Miles, Jr.
5. QB Thomas MacVittie, Sr.
Best Kansas Jayhawks Defensive Player
LB Gavin Potter, Soph.
The 6-2, 215-pounder came up with a big freshman season – he’s the exactly the type of young star the team needs more of. He’s not that big, but he can move, and he’s got the upside to lead the team in stops now that he knows what he’s doing, coming off a 56-tackle season with a whole slew of pressures in the backfield.
2. S Davon Ferguson, Jr.
3. LB Kyron Johnson, Sr.
4. P Kyle Thompson, Sr.
5. CB Kyle Mayberry, Sr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Kansas Jayhawks Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Kansas Jayhawks Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Kansas Jayhawks Offense
Establish an identity under offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon. What is Kansas football, at least in a positive way?
It all starts up front with the ground game, When it works, Kansas is at least competitive. It only managed to run for over 170 yards three times last season – that has to change, but it’s not going to be easy behind a rebuilding line.
Can the passing game keep up? It was able to come up with yards as the O tried to bomb its way back into games, but again, when it worked, the team was at least competitive.
Consistency is the biggest key. The program’s offense has to be able to make the rest of the Big 12 worry about something.
Biggest Key To The Kansas Jayhawks Defense
Start to come up with takeaways. This will never be a rock of a D that rises up and shuts a good offense down cold, but it needs to provide just a little more help with big plays.
Third down stops were a rumor – the Jayhawks were the third-worst in the nation, allowing opponents to convert 52% of their chances – but the biggest issue were the takeaways. There weren’t any.
The 2018 Kansas defense wasn’t anything special, but at least it forced 27 turnovers with two or more in seven games. Last year’s defense came up with a grand total of eight, and two of them came in the season-opener against Indiana State
On the year, the D recovered just two fumbles. However, in the two games it was able to come up with multiple takeaways, one was the win over ISU, and the other was the heartbreaking 50-48 loss to Texas.
Key Kansas Jayhawks Player To A Successful Season
QB Thomas MacVittie, Sr.
Carter Stanley had a good year. After spending his career in a quarterback rotation, the gig became his, he threw for 2,664 yards and 24 touchdowns, and he did what he could to make the offense go.
Kansas needs its quarterback to be better, though.
It’s a crowded field in the hunt to be the new starter, but the 6-5, 225-pound MacVittie is overdue to breakout and become a star. The former Pitt Panther and JUCO transfer has got the size and the arm, and now – assuming he’s able to beat out the small army of other options – he has to get ready to be in a whole lot of firefights.
Key Game To The Kansas Jayhawks Season
at Baylor, Sept. 12
Just how far has Kansas come in the last several months? It wasn’t a great 2019 season, but there were a few signs of life here and there, and then … yuck. It all ended with a 61-6 home loss to Baylor.
The 12-1, Orange Bowl-winning 2007 season – a string of ten games – was the last time the Jayhawks were able to beat the Bears. It’s the Big Ten opener, and it’s on the road. With New Hampshire before, win in Waco, and it’ll likely be the first 2-0 season since 2011.
– Kansas Jayhawks Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Kansas Fun Stats
– 1st Quarter Scoring: Kansas 122 – Opponents 40
– Rushing TDs: Opponents 32 – Kansas 10
– Fumbles: Kansas 11 (lost 6) – Opponents 11 (lost 2)
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Kansas Jayhawks Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Kansas Jayhawks Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
Can Kansas take a positive step in the second season under Les Miles?
He’s still a great head coach, and he’s still dealing with a program that needs a whole lot of reworking. The hope is for offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon and the rest of the staff to come up with something more with the parts they still have.
Pooka Williams is an all-star running back, the receivers are good, and the quarterback play should be fine. But the lines are the concern – they have to be a whole lot better for the Jayhawks to finally turn a corner.
There isn’t a high bar here. 2009 was the last time the program won more than three games in a season, and 2008 was the last winning campaign.
This can be a decent season and the team can and should be stronger, but there can’t be a miss like the 12-7 loss to Coastal Carolina.
Set The Kansas Jayhawks Regular Season Win Total At … 4
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 3.5
Enough already, Kansas.
Beat New Hampshire. Beat Coastal Carolina – even though it’s on the road. Win two Big 12 games for the first time since 2008.
It’s not just that the program keeps losing, it’s that it keeps losing by having what seems like the exact same season over and over again.
Expect the offense to be better and open it up a bit more, and it’ll need to with another mediocre year from the defensive side.
Kansas will win three games – because that’s what Kansas does – but expect Les Miles and his coaching staff to be good for one more.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
