Here we are, back after yet another bye week. The good news? It's twofold; first we should win Saturday, second, we now have eight straight weeks of football. To kick this stretch off, we face off against the Jayhawks of Kansas. Yes that Kansas, the one deep in the middle of a 14 game conference losing streak that shows no sign of ending anytime soon. Here we're going to take a look at the unstoppable force known as the Kansas defense.
The Jayhawk defense is known for it's punishing linebackers, shutdown corners, and brick wall of a line giving up yards, points, and somehow, generating turnovers. Seriously, they're 40th in the nation in turnovers, yet still somehow give up 450 yards and 30 points a game (wanna know why the hell we're 2-2? We've allowed 31 points a game). God, I'm struggling here, normally I can waste a paragraph or two talking about playmakers, chew up another few hundred words talking about the battle of the trenches, and then drop a cherry on top talking about their scheme. In this case, Kansas sucks at all of that. Well, lets waste some time talking about what they actually do well.
Through their first five games, the Jayhawk defense has forced 13 turnovers (7 fumbles and 6 interceptions). Ball control will be at a premium for the Cowboys, especially given Joseph Randles recent fumble issues. Also important will be for Walsh to make good decisions with the football, and not give the KU D a chance to pick him off (prepare yourself for a screen pass extravaganza). Both Bradley McDougald (safety) and Tyler Patmon (corner) have two picks, so the secondary has some playmakers (hey, I found two).
Welp now the Kansas fluffing is over, so let's look at what they suck at. They're not so good at stopping the run. Kansas is giving up an average of 217 yards rushing a game. The Cowboys are going for 300 a game. I'm expecting both trends to continue. Hell, realistically we could probably get about 500 yards on the ground if we wanted to. I doubt we will, but the best way to avoid interceptions is to not throw the ball, so we'll see.
Also, even with all the turnovers, the 'Hawks give up 215 through the air, which means one of two things. A, they can't get a good return from the interceptions because Weis knows the footballs are made of pig and eats them before they can move down field. Or B, the Kansas offense is so god damn bad they are unable to do literally anything with football once the defense gets it for them. The more I think about it (and this is fucking terrifying), the Kansas defense is basically our defense from last year. We gave up tons of yards, around 30 points a game, and got crazy ass amounts of turnovers. What's the difference? Look to the Schematic Advantage that is the Kansas offense (which will be a separate post).
Let's wrap this fucker up. If we lose this game we need to disband the football team. We must win the next 3 games, and it all starts Saturday. We're 24 point favorites and we should, no must, cover that bastard. We need to get back on track, and I think there's no better way to do that than by dismantling Kansas.
Go Pokes